FIT 4S ustainable Employability

In order to implement an integrated system of self-tracking devices and (e-)coaching for sustainable employability in companies, we will establish six living labs in the North Sea Region. Together, these living labs make up the ‘FIT4SE project’.

This way we develop new partnerships between businesses, knowledge institutions, public administrations and end users with a view to long-term cooperation (post project) on developing products and services.

For these six living labs, we will determine where self-tracking devices and (e-) coaching can provide added value. Next, employers and employees’ view on sustainable employability and the added value with and without technology and/or (personal)coaching will be investigated, as well as the use and usefulness of technology and/or (personal)coaching for specific target populations (e.g., older employees). A special focus will also be placed on the storage of data, ethics and privacy issues as ownership and developing a dashboard for the end-user (employees, employers, life style coaches). Finally, we will recommend on optimal implementation strategies for the North Sea Region as a whole throughout the project. After three years a durable living lab infrastructure for increasing sustainable employability by the use of self tracking devices and (e-)coaching should be established.

Introduction
The use of sensor technology/self-tracking devices in combination with personal coaching, to increase sustainable employability, has assessed its effectiveness in a pilot study done during the Interreg IVB project iAge. The intervention is not widely used in practice yet.  

For a successful implementation of this innovative solution we need to face different issues

Quadruple Helix: end-user involvement in design (in our project the total group of end-users constitutes of three different subgroups: employers, employees and life style coaches)

• Familiarity with the technology
• Organizational embedding
• Privacy and ethical clarity of data-ownership
• Clear gathering, storage and presentation to end-users of BIG Data
• Validated combination of technology and coaching that can be generalized to different target groups on the labour market in the North Sea Region.

We will start six living labs in the North Sea Region: the FIT4SE project.

In this project, we will develop an integrated approach for stimulating sustainable employability, study implementation strategies, and determine the added value of the use of sensor technology/self-tracking devices and (e-)coaching on a large scale basis.

These living labs must serve as a showcase for displaying the role technology and (e-) coaching can play for employees and employers, thereby contributing to the innovation climate in different sectors in the NSR. 

In the first year of the project we will discuss what we understand a living lab to be, how they will be set up, and how they will serve to gain a better understanding of supporting companies (employers and employees) stimulating sustainable employability by the use of self-tracking devices and
(e-)coaching.

The second year the Living Labs will be implemented in phases at six locations in the NSR. This way we will be able to create feedback and learning loops. The third year the lessons learnt will be communicated an the deliverables are valorized to the whole NSR and beyond.

 What is a living lab?  
There are many different notions on what a living lab entails. The definition of a living lab, given by the European Network of Living Labs [3: “A Living Lab is about experimentation and co-creation with  real users in real life environments, where end-users together with researchers, firms and public institutions (quadruple helix) look together for new solutions, new products, new services or new business models.” Translated to a company setting, a living lab is a company where new technological solutions are developed, introduced and evaluated in cooperation with coaches, employers and employees. Moreover, our living labs also support a research infrastructure, supervised by qualified researchers from different areas in the NSR.

To increase employability and labour productivity in the North Sea Region.

Sustainable Employability 

Direct benefit

1: users of the tools
employees, fitness >, employability >
employers (costs <, productivity >)

2: supplier ICT tools
Businesses = ICT development/system integrator

3: supplier of the coaching
B2B value proposition  = service provider/professional coaches

Outcome government (local and national)

-       Lower unemployment

-       Increase human capital

Impact state

-       Welfare >

-       Economic growth

Robert Gordon University, Abderdeen - Scotland

Mentor, Kortrijk- Belgium

BND, Kortrijk - Belgium 

Jade Hochschule, Oldenburg-Germany

Sentiso, Hamburg-Germany

Middlesex University, London-England

RESOC|SERR Midden-West-Vlaanderen

University College Zealand, Denmark

Municiplaity Køge, Denmark

Knowledge partner Schweden / Norway with excellent knowledge on

• privay/ethics and IT

OR

• e-coaching/online coaching