Study Visits

Study Visits

The study visits aim to promote the knowledge and the cooperation of the members and inspire them to develop more their idea. Each Hub should select the sites for the study visits taking into consideration the sectors has chosen. The key thematic sectors are blue growth, green growth and the Cultural and Creative industries. Some good ideas for study visits per sector are:

Blue Growth: shipyards, marines, Large companies in the field of blue growth, organization that use open data for maritime reasons.

Green Growth: solar farms, wind farms, institutions using environmental open data

Cultural and Creative Industries: museums, school of fine arts, cultural organization that are in need of open data

Two national or transnational study visits will be organized by each national, or regional HUB to the members and the interested stakeholders. The scope of these visits is to acquire an extensive knowledge of the good practices of other Hubs, labs and companies related to OPEN Data that could be implemented in the specific context of each partners region and selected sector, green, blue and Culture and Creativity. The study visits provide great opportunities for discussion, networking, and future cooperation moreover to exchange of innovative ideas and practices. Targeted promotion of the programme will increase the participation of groups such as decision-makers at local, regional and national level, Open data SMES, and representatives of the labor market responsible OD and LOD.

 

Some benefits of the study visits might include:

• Drawing the attention of the policy and decision makers to the importance of liberation of Data and promotion of Open data practices.

• Diffusion to project results.

• Contribution of the participants, host and organizer to European exchange of good practices and cooperation.

• Promote the program and attract new members.

 

Methodology

This study visit methodology will allow partners to identify some potential challenges, barriers and support instruments that might be used for a better implementation of the task. It also helps

the national and regional hubs to plan and disseminate the programme results in a more efficient way. The methodology is based on ideas, reflections and examples of good practices from Knowledge Innovation Market and SARGA.

Duration: The duration of the study visits should be of minimum one and half hours, where the participants will visit a site (a company, public entity, association, conference, symposium, etc) with the objective of learning from best practices of other Hubs or companies in community creations and fostering of open data usage.

Number of participants: Minimum 10 people should participate in each study visit, preferably hub members and interested SMEs.

Each partner has to pursue the following steps to ensure an effective implementation of the study visit.

• Preparation

• Implementation/Site Visit

• Reporting

Preparation

Essential planning work should be done prior to the study visit. The following steps can be used as a guide for the preparation phase.

1. Scout potential supporting partners to host the visit

2. Select three entities that might be of interest

3. An initial meeting or phone call discussion with the supporting partners. The aim of this meeting is to discuss the visit and reasons behind selecting that specific entities. Moreover, it is an opportunity for the organizing partner to disseminate about ODEON project and its purpose.

4. Inviting some speakers if the partner plans to deliver a formative session during the visit.

5. Finalizing the agenda, venue, and key speakers.

6. If the Hub is national and there are more than one partner per hub, the organizing partner can plan an online session for the interested stakeholders from other regions that can benefit from the study visit.

1. Communication activities. Participants should be invited by email, or phone calls. Moreover, the partner can use social media for the diffusion of the activity.

Implementation/Site Visit

1. The organizer must be on the site at least an hour before.

2. Check if there is no logistic and technical issues.

3. A short introduction to the study visit should be given by the organizing partner.

4. In case of visits to the company’s premises, the host entity can present the organization, its objectives, projects, lessons learnt, ect. This way the participants get the chance to interact directly with someone from the organization and obtain added information relevant to identify a possible transferability of the model to their own regions and companies.

5. The session can be followed by some other key note speakers or sector experts.

6. Signatures of the participants should be collected and some pictures of the session should be captured.

7. Then, the visitors can do the tour.

8. At the end, participants can share their ideas, highlight the lessons learnt, and exchange different point of view and conclusions.

Reporting

• The minutes have to be prepared using the template provided by the lead partner.

• The pictures and list of participants have to add as Annex.

• The report has to be uploaded in drive and the lead partner has to be informed.