LEONARDO DA VINCI

TITLE: VENUS – "Assessing Training Methodologies and Multimedia Tools in Virtual Banking Environment"

Background

The acqusition of new skills and investment in human resources have been declared key aspects of the European Union’s strategy to increase medium term growth, improve the competitiveness of European economy, create more jobs and to promote social cohesion. This is in recognition of the fact that all the workers require the relevant skills to work diligently, efficiently and at a high quality within their respective workplace. The emergence of the information society, European integration and market internationalisation have led to a change in the need for training measures in most sectors. The accelerating pace of technological change means that copanies and workers require the intangible investment of vocational training. Helping the work force to adapt to these developments requires training measures which are flexible and innovative.

Needs

Workers representative organisations will soom be concerned with the problem of how to deal with new contracts and collective agreements concerning the Remote/Virtual Banking technologies which will affect working organisation and qualification requirements within the workforce.

Common strategy

The project complements the actual strategies of the social partners (workers’ representatives organisations) as everyone of them had invested substantial resources on technological vocational training in the last 2-3 years. The project is about the most advanced in terms of technological development, which requires investing important resources, not only financial but also human.

Goals

Venus Pilot Project focuses on objective m, because it is promoting co-operation of Social Partners (FABI, COMFIA-CCOO, INE/OTOE, Euro-FIET on the analysis of skill requirements and identification of training needs, with respect to Virtual Banking (tech) innovations. Co-operation is envisaged in order to understand which key skills are relevant to the mentioned technological development in financial sector. Venus also aims at identifying the impacts of V.B. on the functioning of the internal (EU) market in terms f requirements needed for the specific labour market (banking sector).

It will operate within the framework of the introduction of Virtual Banking, focusing on the testing of a B.V. simulation environment, enabling new Virtual Banking technologies to be taught in the optimum way.

This pilot project will enable both bank unions and bank workers to develop and anticipate new training nees springing from the introduction of Virtual Bank, in the context of social dialogue.

Impact

The 3 main identified areas of impact are:

On the training of bank workers representatives and bank workers (belonging to the banks that are partners of the pilot project).

On the participation of unionists (that works in the banks participating the project) and workers in the development of company based training plans.

On the development of human centred technologies which, in cooperation with employers, promote the innovative use of Virtual Banking in technologies.

Beneficiares

The target groups of beneficiaries of the pilot project are specified with regards to phases of the pilot project

Direct Beneficiaries: Workers representatives of partner organisations

Intermediate Beneficiaries: larger number (ca. 30) of workers per organisation whose job is related with those sectors that might change as Virtual Banking technologies will be introduced. Total 30*3*3=270 workers

Wider EU Banking Community: as a result of further dissemination.

Equal Opportunities

It is foreseen that Venus pilot project will have a positive, actual, impact by giving female workers’ representatives the chance to participate in developing innovative tools to face these changes, whilst ensuring the inclusion of equal opportunities as an element of the contractual agrrements.

Contents

The content of the pilot project is focused on the following:

Development of practical simulation about what Virtual Banking and how it works.

Developing training package (methods and support tools) with simulation.

Dissemination

PROJECT LEADER

FABI - Federazione Autonoma Bancari Italiani - ITALY

PARTNERS

EURO- FIET – BELGIUM

COMFIA-CCOO – SPAIN

INE/OTOE – GREECE

Universita Cattolica del Sacro Cuore - ITALY