The EUnited We Code project is part of this commitment to promote digital skills and ensure access to the digital world for all, regardless of gender, ethnic origin, social status, educational level, etc. Indeed, the partners of the project – Simplon France, Simplon Romania, Factoria F5, BeCode and POUR LA SOLIDARITÉ – are convinced that digital transformation must be inclusive and cannot be dedicated to a purely economic return, nor address a privileged audience. It is essential to make an advantage of the economic situation by enabling everyone to acquire digital skills on an equal foot so as not to perpetuate the current unequal cycle within highly qualified trades.   

In this respect, the EUnited We Code project aims to strengthen and spread innovative pedagogy in digital professions for low-skilled people, developed by the social and solidarity company Simplon.co. Among all subjects discussed at the beginning of the project, the partners decided to focus on optimising the recruitment and place of trainers within Simplon.co and its factories. At the end of June, the project partners met in Brussels during a hackathon, a creative, participatory and collaborative process, dedicated to digital innovation!

Three action levers to reinforce the trainers profile have emerged from these discussions: develop an interactive digital compass, implement a mobility program and devise a guide for the recruitment of trainers. 

The digital compass

The digital compass is an interactive online platform where trainers form several Simplon factories can exchange, discuss, ask questions about their experiences, the difficult situations they face, etc. The aim is to strengthen synergies between trainers so that everyone can develop in its role.  

The mobility program

The objective of the mobility program is to connect a trainer from Simplon’s network with a training centre located in another European city or country, offering them the opportunity to live a fascinating and significant experience abroad.

The recruitment guide

The recruitment guide was designed along a timeline: “attract – assess – onboard”. It consists of several components: a list of platforms trainers can be found, a catchy message to be spread on social networks, the ideal candidate profile, a job description, the different steps in the recruitment process, an interview guide, an evaluation grid, and a passport.

These different tools will now be refined and presented at the final project conference to be held in November 2019, in Paris.

The rapid dissemination of ITCs throughout the European society is, beyond an economic challenge, a social challenge, that Europe has to seize! At the time of the implementation of a new European Commission and when European deputies are setting up in Brussels, civil society – to which EUnited We Code is fully joining its forces – is campaigning for an open and proactive Commission that will make digital skills a challenge equal to the social and sustainable Europe that we are calling for.

*A factory is a “Simplon School” that has swarmed elsewhere in France, in Europe and the world.