- to take students out of their comfort zone of learning to not only develop business plans/models but also create innovative products and services. With an emphasis on listening, user empathy, whole-brain thinking, collaboration, and experimentation, the Design Thinking process offers a complementary approach to existing courses.
- encourage students to start their social businesses – whether or not they proceed and really found enterprises, they will develop entrepreneurial mindset and key business knowledge and essential skills and attitudes including creativity, teamwork, risk management, financial management, etc. Key element is to develop innovative businesses who can grow and self-sustain. It is essential for students to work side by side with managers and experts who will provide guidance and mentorship throughout the process. Statistics show that about 50% of new businesses fail during their first five years. One of the key challenges for entrepreneurs remains the support in the crucial phases of the business lifecycle and their growth. In this respect we aim to prepare young entrepreneurs to get through this period.
- to develop necessary digital skills for both target groups – one, we aim for digital business creation by student teams and second, lecturers use open educational resources to deliver the course and make it available widely. Furthermore we will focus on a learners’- centred pedagogy using ICT and interdisciplinary approach to make personalized and adaptive learning possible.
- develop empathy, ethics, values, and sense of social responsibility.
The course will be implemented within majors as follow: in SULSIT – “Technology entrepreneurship and innovation in IT”, Deusto – “Industrial design” and in business majors. During the testing phase both universities will involve interdisciplinary students with additional majors.
In the process we will involve external experts from business, VC firms, ICT, and other background in order to support the process and help both lecturers and students gain new perspectives, knowledge and skills from practice.
The collaboration at EU level will avoid duplication of work and will allow pooling of skills and existing knowledge, which is a greater added value than could be achieved by purely national spending. Economists estimate that between 50 and 80 percent of economic growth comes from innovation and new knowledge (Mulgan, 2006). It also helps to overcome some of the barriers to lasting and sustainable economic growth such as youth unemployment across countries.
