e-Leadership is of crucial importance for companies – especially SMEs and start-ups - and industry to excel in their business operation. For effective e-leadership, the skills required are seen as those which enable people with very strong ICT skills to lead qualified staff from ICT and other disciplines towards identifying and designing business models and exploiting key innovation opportunities. Their success is defined as making best use of developments in ICT and delivering value to their organisations. Demand is growing throughout European industry to improve the quality of e-leadership, covering organisation leadership in ICT innovation to deliver business value. Research has confirmed a significant shortage of e-leadership skills across Europe - a call for action.
The European Commission e-Leadership initiative started in 2013 has focused on the leadership needs of top decision-makers and professional leaders at larger enterprises. These leaders oversee portfolios of both well-defined and emergent innovation opportunities. Successful design and implementation requires developing and engaging highly qualified staff to achieve the target value. With this further initiative on ‘e-leadership Skills for SMEs’ which started in 2014 the Commission is now targeting SMEs and start-ups.

The objectives of the event are to:

• Inform SMEs and start-ups about newly developed training and higher and executive education offers on e-leadership supporting them exploiting innovation opportunities emerging through developments in ICT and in delivering value to their organisation.
• Communicate the e-leadership and the lessons learnt from these developments and the teaching of first cohorts of participants in different types of courses and in different countries to all stakeholders and keen to promote innovation through e-Leadership.
• Inform about the European higher and executive education landscape and further training offers in the areas of e-leadership and digital entrepreneurship.
• Demonstrate to institutions, universities and business schools e-leadership courses developed and piloted in different contexts and countries and for different target groups as well as lessons learnt and guide education and training institutions to develop e-leadership programmes.
• Encourage employers – especially SMEs and start-ups - to make use of e-leadership programme and course offerings and to team up with education and training institutions to develop these in line with their needs.
• Inform policy-makers and government representatives interested in promoting digital innovation and developing appropriate national policies and initiatives of different type and in different policy areas about already existing successful national policies and initiatives in this area which they may want to take as inspiration and for their own work.

This event is targeted at innovative employers especially from SMEs and start-ups, entrepreneurs, current and aspiring e-leaders, professional associations, universities and business schools as well as (especially the morning session) policy-makers interested in promoting digital innovation and developing appropriate national policies and initiatives of different type and in different policy areas.

There is no charge to attend the event. Anyone expressing an interest will be sent a link to the outputs of this event.
Please register your interest here.

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This event is targeted at innovative employers, current and aspiring e-leaders, professional associations, universities and business schools as well as policy-makers interested in promoting digital innovation. There is no charge to attend the event. Anyone expressing an interest will be sent a link to the outputs of this event.

Session 1: e-Leadership Policy and Education & Training Landscape

Chairperson: Erik Neumann, Project Lead Software Campus, EIT ICT Labs

Session 2: e-Leadership for SMEs: Success Stories, Training Courses, Programmes, MOOCs

e-Leadership Flyer
You can obtain background research on the e-leadership topic by accessing a flyer at the following web site: http://eskills-guide.eu/documents/

Local organizer contacts:
Erik Neumann: erik.neumann(at)ictlabs(dot)eu
Maren Lesche: maren.lesche(at)ictlabs(dot)eu

Event Secretariat:
Mira Zöller: mira.zoeller(at)empirica(dot)com
Werner B. Korte: werner.korte(at)empirica(dot)com

Event language
The conference language will be English but statements and contributions in German are possible.

Venue
EIT ICT Labs Berlin Node
Ernst-Reuter-Platz 7 | 6th floor
10587 Berlin (Germany)