BOOSTING THE ROLE OF HEIs IN THE INDUSTRIAL TRANSFORMATION TOWARDS THE INDUSTRY 4.0 PARADIGM IN GEORGIA AND UKRAINE
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The HEIn4 project has been funded within the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union. The Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) is responsible for the management of all Erasmus+ actions.
Industrialised world rapidly changes its development paradigm which brought most advanced countries on a brink of new industrial revolution, Industry 4.0, which could boost productivity and value added and stimulate economic growth. EU is among the most prominent leaders in this process.
Industry 4.0 is a term applied to a group of rapid transformations in design, manufacture, operation and service of manufacturing systems and products. Technological transformation and operation excellence (including automation, connectivity, robotisation, industrial internet of things etc.) itself do not constitute 4th industrial revolution. Really revolutionary change requires reconfiguration of enterprise’s business model in order to assign much greater significance to creation of value from generated data, to give more central role to end-users (customers) and networks that enable value creation.
For economies in countries of former Soviet Union the global industrial transformation poses existential challenge: many existing factories are outdated; even advanced enterprises usually opt for the well proven technologies being reluctant to invest into breakthrough solutions. This greatly relates to predominance of short-term strategies and focus on making fast profit instead of aiming at long-term competitiveness. If this trend is not taken care of properly, technology gap will inevitably grow.
In Ukraine the Industry 4.0 is not unknown and the certain level of awareness has been created notably in relationship to Internet Technologies, Artificial Intelligence and, to some extent, manufacturing. This includes also recently performed EU-funded Erasmus+ project ALIOT (Internet of Things: Emerging Curriculum for Industry and Human Applications, 2015-2018) which focused creation of professional community in Internet of Things, robotics, computer networks and microcontrollers. Some “grassroots” initiatives also are known with most prominent “Industry 4.0 in UA” (industry4-0-ukraine.com.ua) created by Association of Industrial Automation of UA. However, all of them focus on technology side.
For Georgia Industry 4.0 is relatively new concept, though HEIn4 participants already had research activities with relevance to this topic. One of main research priorities for HEIs is development of Georgia's Human Capital. Training and research focus on identifying skills and competencies needed for future employability in Georgia and provision of education to meet these needs taking into account the Industry 4.0 paradigm. Georgian participants of HEIn4 plan to work in partnership with relevant Government Ministries and disseminate outcomes of this initiative in order to help them make well informed policy decisions. No any EU funded projects with relevance to Industry 4.0 existed in Georgia so far.
Analysis performed allows to identify COMMON PROBLEM for both Georgia and Ukraine as follows: the disproportion between availability of technologies relevant to Industry 4.0 and lack of the experience in re-setting of business models hinder the comprehensive industrial transformation.
HEIn4 project addresses the identified need of bridging this disproportion by reinforcing the role of HEIs in assisting 4th Industrial Revolution in Georgia and Ukraine through:
-building the capacities in HEIs (human resource and institutional units);
-delivery of tailored courses for the industrial personnel;
-launching the consultancy services for industrial companies (large and SME);
-setting new taught module for Master students.
Through intervention in this sphere HEIn4 project will assist not only wider uptake of new technology but also will help to deliver an added value to a full possible extent and thus enable exploitation of all opportunities the Industry 4.0 delivers.
HEIn4 project aims at solving the identified problem of disproportion between the availability of technologies relevant to Industry 4.0 and the lack of experience in Georgia and Ukraine in re-setting the business model of an enterprise in order to enable comprehensive utilisation of the opportunities arising under emerging paradigm of the new Industrial Revolution.
The WIDER PROJECT OBJECTIVE is - to reinforce the role of HEIs in assisting the industrial transformation in Ukraine and Georgia under the Industry 4.0 paradigm.
SPECIFIC PROJECT OBJECTIVES are:
The content of the courses and the consultancy services delivered under Objective 2, as well as the module developed under Objective 3 and curriculum revision under Objective 4, will not only ensure the longterm leadership of the HEIs in an ongoing industrial revolution but will address such urgent needs of industry as:
HEIn4 will contribute solving the industry’s existential need - to remain competitive under conditions of the 4th Industrial Revolution.
In the national context, the objectives correspond to the state agenda and are geared towards the important socioeconomic targets (industry’s competitiveness, role of the HEIs in a society, employability of graduates, skills shortage avoidance etc.) which will also ensure and that the EU assistance will feasibly result in substantial progress in the project field delivering the sustainable results which can be widely multiplied across both Georgia and Ukraine.
HEIn4 project consists of three core blocks designed to bring the established objectives of the project and four sets of supportive actions aimed to ensure smooth implementation of the project, high quality and sustainability of its deliverables.
Workpackage 1 – Study the experience of EU HEIs
Workpackage foresees 2 rounds of training visits to EU partners. The first round is for academic staff from Georgian and Ukrainian HEIs with a purpose to learn the new teaching methods and content of the curriculum relevant to business management under conditions of the new Industrial Revolution. The second round is for administrators from Georgian and Ukrainian HEIs (rectorate, faculty deans) with a target to learn the institutional issues – institutionalisation, interfaculty collaboration, feedback to curriculum from industry etc.
Participants of training visits will be selected based on such criteria as experience in curriculum development, language skills, commitment to project goals and gender equality. Participants of study visits will be involved to deliver the creative outcomes of the project and will share their experience at Seminars in Georgia and Ukraine.
Following activities will be carried out:
Workpackage 2 – Curriculum for Industry 4.0
Workpackage is designed to satisfy the urgent needs of industry by providing the specialized retraining courses for employees and by enhancing the teaching of Master programmes by delivery Industry 4.0 context and thus to equip graduates with the better employment opportunities and strategically prevent the skills shortage in a longer term perspective.
Optimal duration of course will be defined based on the EU experience in consultations with the industrial partners. Teaching materials will be developed in order to ensure fast conversion of initially on-site training into mixed and distance learning formats.
To more comprehensively exploit the expertise attained, the HEIn4 project will deliver the insights on the new transdisciplinary competencies required for operating the factories of the future and how this can be addressed in higher engineering education.
Following activities will be carried out:
Workpackage 3 – Capacity building
Workpackage is designed to improve the capacities of Georgian and Ukrainian HEIs to embed the aspects of Industry 4.0 concept into the teaching practice and to provide the relevant up-to-date service for industry.
Within this workpackage the Virtual Factory Learning Lab will be created at each Georgian and Ukrainian university – partner of HEIn4 project. Labs will be established as a training platform for simulating the real business processes in virtual environment.
To get acquainted with real life business management in the Industry 4.0 context, the staff members of the Labs will visit the EU industrial partner Volvo Cars Gent which is one of the most advanced European enterprises and a leader in application of the Industry 4.0 technologies and business management principles. Experience will be shared on Workshops in Georgia and Ukraine.
Lab’s staff will consolidate the human resource from various faculties for rendering the consultancy services. Scope of these services will not be limited only to the project context (business management reconfiguration) but will even go wider including also mastering of new technologies.
Following activities will be carried out:
Workpackage 4 – Quality plan
The set of QC activities will be performed in order to keep the relevance of project activities to the needs of the target groups and to ensure the high quality of project deliverables. The mechanisms of both internal and external QC will be applied.
From the inception of the project the Reference Group, responsible for Quality Control are created at each Georgian and Ukrainian university including: vice-rector (head), faculty dean, member of academ staff, student and representative from industry. Meetings of Reference Gropus will be organised for discussion of achieved results and brainstorming. Upon the evaluation by Reference Gropus, the adjustment mechanisms will be developed, where necessary to ensure that outcomes are reached as planned.
The questionnaire will be developed to collect the feedback from attendees of new courses in order to further improve the quality of teaching and to better address the needs of particular sub-groups (e.g. large industry, SMEs, production and services sectors and so on).
Following activities will be carried out:
Workpackage 5 – Dissemination
Workpackage foresees the of actions developed to ensure that all target groups of HEIn4 project are aware of project, understand their benefits and committed to act towards the wider objective of the project within and beyond the project lifetime.
Following activities will be carried out:
Workpackage 6 – Exploitation
Pilot trial of the project deliverables will be started during the project’s lifetime in order to assess the quality and, while the project is on-going, to introduce the necessary improvements in case any gaps or problems will be identified. This Workpackage will contribute to the sustainability of project results after HEIn4 project will be finished.
Following exploitation activities will be carried out:
Workpackage 7 – Management
Project management strategy is focused on delivery of high quality outcomes by:
-consolidated teamwork of all project partners;
-clear leadership;
-transparent decision-making;
-balanced responsibilities.
The operational project management will be performed by Project Management Board that will have the semi-annual Coordination Meetings were partners will:
-discuss Activity Evaluation Reports;
-discuss and evaluate performance/deliverables
-approve contingency measures with respect to identified risks/assumptions;
-schedule upcoming activities/events.
Following management activities will be carried out:
Contact person: Geert de Lepeleer
Contact person: Paulo Ávila
Contact person: Victor Kordas
Contact person: Bart Thoen
Contact person: David Gegechkori
Contact person: Lela Turmanidze
Contact person: Ani Chelishvili
Contact person: Annie Vashakmadze
Contact person: Iryna Shvets
Contact person: Mykola Melnychuk
Contact person: Volodymyr Shatokha
Contact person: Iryna Nyenno
Contact person: Ievgen Ryzhenko
We are glad to share with you the information about main activities and achievements of HEIn4 project. Presented materials are developed for public use and you are welcome to download, read and distribute them with the appropriate reference to the HEIn4 project.
DISSEMINATION STRATEGY of HEIn4 PROJECT
EXPLOITATION STRATEGY of HEIn4 PROJECT
Information and news about HEIn4 project activities:
Project leaflet in Georgia for the period from January 2020 to June 2020
Project leaflet in Ukraine for the period from January 2020 to June 2020
Project leaflet in Georgia for the period from July 2020 to December 2020
Project leaflet in Ukraine for the period from July 2020 to December 2020
Project leaflet in Georgia for the period from January 2021 to June 2021
Project leaflet in Ukraine for the period from January 2021 to June 2021
Project leaflet in Georgia for the period from July 2021 to December 2021
Project leaflet in Ukraine for the period from July 2021 to December 2021
Project leaflet in Georgia for the period from January 2022 to June 2022
News on HEIn4 project activities in the newsletter of Business and Technology University, 30/06/2020
News about the seminar-training from Festo at Lutsk National Technical University, 15/10/2020
DonNTU news about webinars from European universities (in Ukrainian Language), 15/10/2020
News about the seminar-training from Festo at National Metallurgical Academy of Ukraine, 16/10/2020
News about the webinar from Festo at the National Metallurgical Academy of Ukraine, 30/10/2020
News about the awarding of the participants of the training with the Certificates from FESTO company within the HEIn4.0 Project, published on the website of Donetsk National Technical University (in Ukrainian language), 01/12/2020 and in English language;
News about the joining of HEIn4 project to the Industry4Ukraine platform, 14/01/2021
Article “New Tech Lab at BTU & planned Volvo workshop” published in Interpressnews.ge, 25/03/2021
Article “VR solutions for Business at BTU new Tech Lab” published in Entrepreneur.ge, 25/03/2021
News “Opening ceremony of the Industry 4.0 Lab at BTU” published on BTU website, 25/03/2021
News “VR Solutions for industry at BTU new Laboratory” published on BTU website, 25/03/2021
News “Volvo Masterclass at Industry 4.0 Lab” published on BTU website, 25/03/2021
Announcement of the International webinar from European partners: "Digital twins: overview and case studies", 19/04/2021 (information published on the website of Donetsk National Technical University). Additional information on the Facebook page of Donetsk National Technical University, 19/04/2021
Information about DonNTU scientists’ participation in international scientific forum “International Conference on Water, Energy, Food and Sustainability” (ICoWEFS 2021), 17/05/2021 on the DonNTU web-site; Information on the Facebook page of Donetsk National Technical University, 17/05/2021;
News “HEIn4 Lab at BTU” published on BTU website, 02/06/2021
Article “INDUSTRY 4.0: A LABORATORY COSTING 700 THOUSAND UAH HAS BEEN OPENED AT LUTSK UNIVERSITY” published on the website of the First Informational Agency “Volyn News”, 23/06/2021;
Article “Teachers at Lutsk NTU are trained to the use SmartFactoryLab equipment” published on the website of Lutsk National Technical University, 25.06.2021;
Case Study “Best experiences and Practices of Georgian and European Universities”;
Case Study “Higher education towards fourth industrial revolution: European and Ukrainian cases”;
News “BTU Global Initiative” published on BTU website, 13/09/2021
News “Tech Labs at BTU” published on BTU website, 15/09/2021
A seminar on teaching the discipline "Industry 4.0: Business Management" under the Erasmus + project was held at DonNTU, 08/12/2021 (offical web-site publication). Publication on the Facebook page of Donetsk National Technical University, 08/12/2021;
Opening of a new Mini-Factory Learning Lab within the Erasmus+ project at the Department of Chemical Technologies and Chemical Engineering at DonNTU, 15/12/2021 (offical web-site publication); Publication on the Facebook page of Donetsk National Technical University, 15/12/2021;
Information about Virtual Training Laboratory at DonNTU, 04/01/2022;
Nyenno, I., Truba, V., Lomachynska, I., Mazur, O. (2021). Digital public goods as a means to support affordable and clean energy. Polityka Energetyczna – Energy Policy Journal (Scopus), 24(4), 139-152. https://doi.org/10.33223/epj/144907; https://epj.min-pan.krakow.pl/Digital-public-goods-as-a-means-to-support-affordable-and-clean-energy,144907,0,2.html
Nyenno I. Digital public goods as a basis for achieving the goals of sustainable development of the state. Market economy: modern theory and practice of management. 2021. Volume 20 № 2 (48). Pp. 116-127. https://doi.org/10.18524/2413-9998.2021.2(48).243684; http://rinek.onu.edu.ua/article/view/243684
Article: A team of scientists represented LNTU at the Royal Institute of Technology (Sweden) published on the website of Lutsk National Technical University A team of scientists represented LNTU at the Royal Institute of Technology (Sweden).
Article: Digital leadership training for civil servants of public administration at LNTU published on the website of Lutsk National Technical University
Article: LNTU scientists took part in a study visit to Portugal as part of the Industry 4.0 project published on the website of Lutsk National Technical University
Study Visit BSU team in Leuven Catholic University-in Georgian page of the Quality Assurance Centre
Study visit BSU team in Leuven Catholic University-In Georgian page of the University website
Study Visit BSU team in Leuven Catholic University. News on the Georgian page of the Faculty website
Study Visit BSU team in Porto; Georgian page of the University website
Study visit BSU team in Porto; Georgian page of the Quality Assurance Centre
Meeting with the international company Axon in BSU-News on the Georgian page of the Faculty website
The workshop "ecosystems and technological entrepreneurship under the conditions of the 4th industrial revolution" held in BSU (news on the English page of the university)
The workshop "ecosystems and technological entrepreneurship under the conditions of the 4th industrial revolution" held in BSU (news on the Georgian page of the University website)
The workshop "ecosystems and technological entrepreneurship under the conditions of the 4th industrial revolution" held in bsu+agenda of the workshop (on the Georgian page of the university website (announcement)
The workshop "ecosystems and technological entrepreneurship under the conditions of the 4th industrial revolution" held in BSU (news on the Georgian page of the faculty website)
Innovation Laboratory opens in BSU-news on the Georgian page of the University website
Videos about HEIn4 project activities:
Video-presentation: IoT Smart Health Framework, 11/10/2020;
Video-presentation: PROFIenergy: Smart Energy Saving using PROFINET, 15/12/2020;
Video-presentation: ProfiCloud: IoT framework for remote industrial applications, 15/12/2020;
Interview with Vice Rector of DonNTU "Participation of DonNTU teachers in international projects" for Ukrainian TV Company "Orbita", 19/05/2021 (additional Youtube link)
Opening ceremony of the Virtual Learning Factory at the Odessa I.I. Mechnikov National University
Overview of the Virtual Learning Factory of the Odessa I.I. Mechnikov National University
Computer modeling and artificial intelligence: Modern Virtual Laboratory has opened at DonNTU, 10/12/2021 (additional Youtube link).
Information about the HEIn4 project on the websites of project partners:
For any enquiries concerning the HEIn4 project please contact the relevant member of the project management team:
Project Coordinator: Mr. Geert De Lepeleer
Project Co-Coordinator in EU: Prof. Philippe Saey
Project Co-Coordinator in Georgia: Ms. Ani Chelishvili
Project Co-Coordinator in Ukraine: Prof. Volodymyr Shatokha
Project Administrator: Ms. Ellen Matthijs
Project Administrator: Assoc. Prof. Oleksandr Zhadanos
Contact person at Katholieke Universiteit Leuven: Mr. Geert De Lepeleer
Contact person at Instituto Politécnico do Porto: Prof. Paulo Ávila
Contact person at KTH Royal Institute of Technology: Mr. Victor Kordas
Contact person at Volvo Cars Gent: Mr. Bart Thoen
Contact person at Akaki Tsereteli State University: Mr. David Gegechkori
Contact person at Batumi Shota Rustavelli State University: Prof. Lela Turmanidze
Contact person at Business and Technology University: Ms. Ani Chelishvili
Contact person at Georgia's Innovation and Technology Agency: Ms. Annie Vashakmadze
Contact person at Donetsk National Technical University: Prof. Iryna Shvets
Contact person at Lutsk National Technical University: Prof. Mykola Melnychuk
Contact person at National Metallurgical Academy of Ukraine: Prof. Volodymyr Shatokha
Contact person at Odessa I.I.Mechnikov National University: Prof. Iryna Nyenno
Contact person at Daughter Enterprise “Festo”: Mr. Ievgen Ryzhenko