Low skilled adults are one of the groups that is strongly influenced since the beginning of the EU financial crisis as the EU Labour Force Survey data clearly indicates. Low-skilled workers were more severely hit as their employment rates strongly decreased (ECB Report 138). One of the problems that prevent the integration of low-skilled adults in labor market is their lack of proper training. Furthermore, as the MLP programme reports, although on-the-job training is valuable for many trainees, the most low-skilled jobseekers need additional basic skills training. As EEPO admits in its review for upskilling unemployed adults, there are relatively few national policies that focus explicitly on training for low-skilled unemployed adults. Additionally a large survey carried out by OECD on a large sample of adults from all EU countries (OECD2013) The Survey of Adult Skills) indicates that adults with low literacy,  numeracy and digital skills report poorer health, lower income, lower civic engagement, less trust and are threatened with social exclusion.

The proposed project aims to fill the gap by suggesting integrated approaches and providing a mix of skills for numeracy and digital literacy therefore responding to the exact needs of the target group. IntoDIGITS suggests the empowerment of low skilled adults by developing 42 trainer’s digital tools for the implementation of innovative workshops/activities that develop the numeracy and digital skills.

This project builds upon a successfully completed project, EMKIT. The objective of EMKIT was to tailor a trainer’s empowerment online tool in order to empower low skilled adults to reach active citizenship (AC). EMKIT was based on the AC ladder (scale), an innovation introduced in EMKIT.This scale suggests that an adult who is living in isolation (stage1) must progress through all stages in order to achieve AC. These stages are:

• Isolation
• Going Outside
• Joining In
• Voluntary Work
• Working on Professional Qualifications
• Active Citizenship

IntoDIGITS aims to:

1. Develop 2 Qualification Frameworks for the Numeracy and Digital Competence(NDC) tailored for the specific target group in a specific context (see innovation elements)
2. Based on the Learning Outcomes (expressed in knowledge, skills and competences -KSCs) of these QFs enrich activities offered at each stage by designing 42 new workshops for the development of the NDC. The activities developed in EMKIT did not tackle the numeracy and digital skills of the adults which are vital for the succession from one stage to the next on the AC ladder.
3. Develop 42 online digital tools for the newly developed workshops for trainers for the development of the NDC and incorporate then in a new online tool (IntoDIGITS)
4. Develop a digital assessment tool that will assess the numeracy and digital skills in link to the adult’s current position on the AC scale. Based on the results, the trainer/mentor can choose the appropriate workshops/activities for the trainee to a) eliminate any gaps identified on KSCs and b)facilitate his/her accession to the next level of the AC scale  

The direct target group is trainers/mentors who work with low-skilled adults (i.e trainers/mentors in Adult/VET Education and mentors at Public Employment Services). Trainers will benefit by a more complete new tool that also develops 2 important context specific competences (i.e. ND Competences for low skilled adults to progress on the AC scale)
Also, low-skilled adults will benefit by provisioning a high-quality tool that encompasses activities enabling them to access/improve their position in the labour market and become active citizens.