BACo Timisoara 2013 Final report by BESTorg

B E S T

Bringing Education A c a d e m i c s

and Entrepreneurship a n d

C o m p a n i e s

under studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; scope 14-20 July 2013 F o r u m

Timisoara, Romania T i m i s o a r a 2 0 1 3

PRO

VIP

Table of contents Introduction 3 People involved 4

Facilitators 4

Participants 6

C o m p a n i e s

Partners 7 PROVIP 7

Timisoara Startup Hub 8

F o r u m

Schedule 9 Virtual Internships

Introduction to internships 10

Introduction to Virtual Internships 12

Interaction between stakeholders 14

Evaluation of PROVIP platform

Virtual Internships vs Entrepreneurship 19 Entrepreneurship 21

Introduction to Entrepreneurship 21

Business model 21

Startup rally Summary 25 Thanks 26

A c a d e m i c s a n d

Experts 5

B E S T

T i m i s o a r a 2 0 1 3

B E S T A c a d e m i c s a n d

Introduction The Educational Committee of BEST (Board of European Students of Technology), together with Local BEST Group Timisoara, gathered 16 motivated European students from several countries willing to participate in the event “Bringing Education and Entrepreneurship under Students’ Scope”. From the 14th to the 20th of July, several discussions about Virtual Internships and Entrepreneurship leaded by experts and BEST facilitators took place in Timisoara.

C o m p a n i e s

The current development of virtual communication channels gave rise to new opportunities for European students to improve their technical knowledge as interns of a multinational company. In this context, Universities play an important role in the communication between students and companies. PROVIP (Promoting Virtual Placements), a project financed by the European Union Lifelong Learning Programme, strives improve the communication between involved parties and promote this new concept of work placements.

F o r u m

During this event, BEST facilitators team aimed to obtain students’ opinion on several topics related with Virtual Internships, more concretely with the interaction between each stakeholder and the communication platform.

T i m i s o a r a 2 0 1 3

These days, entrepreneurship is a hot topic worldwide. The lack of job opportunities and the increased access to new technologies, which allow people to create their own business are just two examples for why Entrepreneurship might be the key to open many doors for future professionals. Having Timisoara Startup Hub present in the event enabled participants to have a bigger overview of what it takes to be an entrepreneur, as well to get more familiar with some tools which allow to put ideas into a business model. In this report, all the details of “Bringing Education and Entrepreneurship under Students’ Scope” can be found. From the schedule of the event and people involved, to the most concrete outcomes of the several discussions related with Virtual Internships and Entrepreneurship.

P eople involved Facilitators Natalia Mazur - Trondheim, Norway João Pacheco - Porto, Portugal Ioannis Mentekidis - Thessaloniki, Greece Çagrı Basaran - Istanbul, Turkey

B E S T A c a d e m i c s a n d C o m p a n i e s F o r u m T i m i s o a r a 2 0 1 3

B E S T

Experts

A c a d e m i c s a n d C o m p a n i e s F o r u m T i m i s o a r a

Radu Ticiu Timisoara Software Business Incubator

Vlad Isac Timisoara Startup Hub

2 0 1 3

Radu Marinescu Timisoara University

Participants Andrzej Michalski - Gdansk, Poland Attila Katona - Budapest, Hungary Daniela Friedl - Graz, Austria Florent Pelletingeas - Paris, France Liudmila Lyapine - Ekaterineburg, Russia Maren Hulbak - Trondheim, Norway Maurizio Billi - Turin, Italy Miao Sun - Porto, Portugal Mykyta Olimpiev - Kiev, Ukraine Olga Vrousgou - Thessaloniki, Greece’ Oscar Alegre Sese - Barcelona, Spain Réka Mihály - Budapest, Hungary Sniedze Ozola - Riga, Latvia Stella Postlethwaite - Graz, Austria Timi Ojo Rus - Madrid, Spain Victor Manuel Martin Barrios - Barcelona, Spain

B E S T A c a d e m i c s a n d C o m p a n i e s F o r u m T i m i s o a r a 2 0 1 3

B E S T A c a d e m i c s a n d C o m p a n i e s F o r u m T i m i s o a r a

P artners PROVIP

PRO

PROVIP (Promoting Virtual Mobility in Placements) started in autumn 2012 and will last for two years. Over 10 European companies, universities and organisations are actively involved in developing this project. PROVIP is supported by the European Commission under the Lifelong Learning Programme and is a follow-up to EU-VIP (Enterprise - University Virtual Placements) It aims to promote the outcomes of the previous project with companies as a main target group. Basing themselves on the earlier outcomes they want to develop a virtual platform that would enhance and facilitate communication between the three stakeholders. During EU-VIP, several pilot projects were launched that helped to develop guidelines. However, during those internships several problems occurred that PROVIP aims to solve with the help of this platform. Many of the issues were connected to the social aspects and communication troubles during the placement. Also, placements varied a lot execution wise, leaving some stakeholders disappointed with the outcomes or methods and tools used during the placement.

VIP

The pilot project will be launched this Autumn 2013 and this symposium is organised in order to provide studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; input on the topic of virtual internships. Visit: provip.info

2 0 1 3

Timisoara Software Business Incubator Timisoara Software Business Incubator provides support to start-up businesses and young entrepreneurs by assisting them in their development and networking. This is done by providing amongst others office space and equipment, training sessions, consultancy and promotion on events. Visit: www.it-incubator.biz Other companies and startups that were involved in the project are:

Timisoara Startup Hub Provides offices and working space for startups and teams on the very beggining of their carrer. Moreover, they are organising many events where young entrepreneurs can present their ideas or gain knowledge and contacts in the business world. Visit: www.startuphub.ro

123-contact form Company provides quality, cost-effective forms and surveys for web and mobile devices. Their vision is to incorporate a web form on every website, while their core values are attention to detail, ease of use, quality customer support and team synergy. Visit: www.123contactform.com

B E S T A c a d e m i c s a n d C o m p a n i e s F o r u m T i m i s o a r a 2 0 1 3

Simply social Simply social helps other companies to create and manage their social media programs. They help the companies to promote themselves and tell their stories via various social media (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.) Visit: www.gosimplysocial.com

This company specialises in building quality social and casual games. Visit: www.2o.com

e-spres-oh It is a software company that developes programs and plaforms closely connected to education and its development. Visit: www.e-spres-oh.com

Movidius Movidus produces chipsets for multicore, low-power devices that are used for image processing. It was established in 2005 in USA and currently has it offices in Romania, Ireland and USA. Visit: www.movidius.com/about-movidius

Unified Post Unified Post is a company that specalises in online folw of invoices and other docummentation. A platform that they have creaded, gives other companies all the tools they need to quickly and securely exchange documents with others. Visit: www.unifiedpost.ro

B E S T A c a d e m i c s a n d C o m p a n i e s F o r u m T i m i s o a r a 2 0 1 3

Schedule Time 7:30 8:00 8:30 9:00 9:30 10:00 10:30

Monday Wake up! Breakfast Moving to the uni Opening session

Introduction to Virtual Mobility

Evaluation of the platform

Break

Interaction between stakeholders

Intro to Entrepreneurship

Break

Entrepreneurial ecosystems

Free time

Break Expectations

11:00 Break 11:30 12:00

Event Schedule Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Wake up! Wake up! Wake up! Wake up! Breakfast Breakfast Breakfast Breakfast Moving to the uni Moving to the uni Moving to the uni Moving to the uni

Public speaking

Exam

Break

12:30 Interaction exercise

13:00

Entrepreneurship 2

Exam Start-up rally

13:30 14:00

Lunch Lunch

14:30

Lunch Lunch

15:00 15:30

Introduction to internships

16:00 16:30

Summary of the day

Linking session Summary of the day

Announcement of exam Creativity and innovation

Evaluation

Break

17:00 17:30 Free

Free

Summary of the day

Free

Closing Session

18:00 Free

Free

18:30 19:00 Dinner

Dinner

19:30

V irtual Internships Introduction to internships For this session we had two goals: to obtain information on studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; background regarding internships as well as familiarize them with the concept. Through that we wanted to ensure that all participants possess the same knowledge. The short introductory discussion showed that few students had participated in internships, and most of their experiences were not positive. Moreover, the concept of virtual internships was completely unknown. Reasons someone would like to participate in an internship, and how a student interested in getting an internship would go about finding one were discussed. Students fell that the most important reasons of getting an internship are experience (both in their study field and in the business world), networking and the possibility that the internship leads to a job later on. The reasons for companies to get interns to work for them, on the other hand, are the fact that the company can search for new talent and come in contact with new working methods and free ideas, and at the same time there might be financial motivation from the state to do so. Finally, the fact that a company gets a short term cheap (or even free) employee was considered important. We asked students to let us know how internships work in their countries and whether students must search for a placement alone or if the university provides it.The approach to find internships varied a lot between universities, but students seemed to prefer finding the internship by themselves, as they felt that this way it is easier to get what they want, and at the same time you get more involved from the beginning. In addition, support from the university was considered important, and the importance of career days was highlighted. Previous discussion showed that the most common ways to find an internship was either do it on your own or be provided by university. Taking this as starting point, participants were split in two groups and given the task to list advantages and disadvantages of both aspects. Results are summarized in tables 1 and 2.

B E S T A c a d e m i c s a n d C o m p a n i e s F o r u m T i m i s o a r a 2 0 1 3

Table 1: Advantages and disadvantages of getting an internship via univer sity

Advanatages • Requires less paperwork • It fits better to your studies • It’s more stable, you have more support • You can come in contact with companies easier • The process is faster • You might get a scholarship for it • It’s easier to get an international internship

Disadvantages • You have fewer choices • There’s the pressure and stress of your university • It might be required you work for free • It might be boring

Table 2: Advantages and disadvantages of getting an internship on your own

Advanatages • Show the company initiative and motivation, valuable characteristics for an employee • You improve your searching skills • You can get exactly what you want • You improve your communication skills • Working with local companies gives you an overview of the job market

Disadvantages • It’s harder to find, to organize your possibilities and make the first contact • The quality is uncertain • It might not be recognized with the university as part of your studies • The company might take advantage of you

Further, skills gained during internships were discussed. The ones that showed greatest value for students were: communication skills, work experience, networking, self-organization, time management and responsibility, certain hardskills related to the placement, cooperation and teamwork, experience in work culture and work ethics, and finally the ability to work under pressure. At the same time, students felt like many desired skills were not gained through an internship, such as leadership skills, career advancement, the opportunity to make mistakes, decision making, responsibility for the company, and it was mentioned that some internships might be limiting intern’s creativity.

Introduction to Virtual Internships

The goal of this session was to gain studentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s input on how they imagine an ideal virtual internship. The imaginary internship was split into sections and each section was evaluated in further detail.

Section 1: Duration and workload Duration of a virtual internship is dependent on several factors. The most important variables pointed out by students were the difficulty of the task and whether the student is during that time having some subjects on his University or not. Also, the duration of the project that the student is working on in the company should be taken into consideration. Nevertheless, students shared the opinion that independently on the above mentioned, virtual internships should be from 6 to 12 months. Another important aspect was deadlines within the project and having the ability to manage them and have a clear overview at all times. A good computer platform that is easy to use was seen as a key factor to make it happen. Also a weekly report to monitor workload and progress or a presentation to the team in order to bring coworkers closer together and all updated was proposed. In order to keep university involved and updated a monthly report should be written by the intern. Students saw flexible working hours are a huge advantage. In case the internship was to be combined with full time studies not more that 2h a day should be expected from the intern. It was pointed out that most of the work would be done during the weekend due to other obligations. If the internship is a full time job, regular working hours should be applied. In both cases necessary adjustments according to the time zones should be made to avoid any misunderstandings.

Section 2: Communication Communication during the internship focused on three main points, university involvement, relation between company and intern and the tools used to facilitate it. According to students, university should be involved throughout the whole lifetime of the internship. It should promote virtual internships to its students and then follow-up on milestones. They should monitor the progress and next to the company, ensure success of the project. The overall involvement would be

B E S T A c a d e m i c s a n d C o m p a n i e s F o r u m T i m i s o a r a 2 0 1 3

limited, as company is mostly responsible for the project however fixed meetings or reports should be filed. In case of difficult tasks an ongoing communication should be held to be able to guide the intern and solve emergencies. Communication between student and the company should focus on the various tasks and problems the student has to solve and also consist of mutual feedback regarding the project and communication. To ease this process a platform that combines various tools would be needed, where students could upload outcomes of their work and also keep an overview over upcoming tasks. Other tools like email or Skype are necessary to have more personal communication and faster feedback.

Section 3: Promotion and information Further promotion of the virtual internships as well as the information students find necessary in order to apply for a job were handled. Proposed communication channels were: social media, universityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s website, job fairs, posters, internal events at the university, such as conferences, faculty meetings etc. Professors should be also actively involved in promoting internship offers and more personal approach like a targeted mail was seen as an effective tool. However not only university should take initiative in initiating the internships. Companies should also promote their job offers and they could potentially involve student organizations to organize promotion events to enhance the impact. Since most of the students arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t familiar with the concept of virtual internships all job offers should contain a short definition of such internships as well as list of differences and advantages over regular internships. In addition to basic information, such as duration, task, workload, future possibilities, success stories from previous interns should be shared.

Section 4: Tasks Lastly students focused on task assignment and evaluation. It was proposed that tasks should be assigned after an interview and short test period. Also, the intern should be able to choose a task from a list of available tasks and the most suitable one should be assigned via trial and error process with continuous feedback and adjustments. Moreover, the task should be part of some bigger project to give the intern a chance to contribute to companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s development. Then outcomes should be presented on online group meetings via short presentation to keep an overview of the project and keep

everybody involved updated on the progress. Final evaluation should be done by mentor and intern together.

B E S T

Various tools should be discussed beforehand and the favorite one chosen. Interns should also have the ability to evaluate other interns’ work however this should be done anonymously to avoid any conflicts.

A c a d e m i c s

To finalize the session, participants stated the advantages and disadvantages of Virtual Internships.

Table 3: Advantages and disadvantages of Virtual Internships Advanatages

Disadvantages

• mobility • flexibility (special conditions) • different countreis, different econimies • access to university resources • no extra costs for intern • autonomy • company saves resources • avoid possible conflicts • enhanced creativity by choosing preferred work space • empowered diversity for company • more place are available and more students can apply

• self organisation • lack of physical access (intranett, equipment) • lack of social interaction • different time zones • limited subjects • communication problems and misunderstandings • limited resources • slow process • information breach • low attachment • difficult knowledge transfer

Interaction between stakeholders One of our main focus points was interaction between stakeholders. After identifying key features of an virtual internship, potential situations and problems were evaluated.

List of Possible Tasks to Students Participants made a brainstorm on general tasks and their structure, which could be delivered to the virtual intern. Listing those features, we may find the following:

a n d C o m p a n i e s F o r u m T i m i s o a r a 2 0 1 3

B E S T A c a d e m i c s a n d C o m p a n i e s F o r u m T i m i s o a r a 2 0 1 3

• • • •

divided in smaller parts increasing difficulty tools assistance

• beneficial • research involvement • sharing of availability

Overcome Lack of Technical Knowledge of the Student One of the main problems the student could face during its virtual internships is the lack of technical knowledge on the topic he is working on. After asking participants this issue, participants thought about ways to overcome this problem: • • • • •

change internship ask for help from the company mentor help from professor check for past projects similar to yours

• online course + written instructions • seminars • other interns • inform the company • books • peer group

Overcome unavailability of Company Mentor From past experiences of face-to-face interns, the unavailability of the company mentor it’s also a problem which may define the failure of the whole goal of an internship - help the student to apply his technical knowledge in a company and gain experience on the topic. Consequently, students presented some ideas to overcome this problem: • try to communicate with another mentor • arrange a back-up mentor • talk to the university • try to reach mentor via different communication channels

• wait • find the authority replacement • tell the company about the problem – get new mentor • university mentor • other interns

Behaviors of each Stakeholder One of the most important opinions we wanted to hear from participants was the most suitable behavior from each of the 3 stakeholders during the virtual internships.

Company profile • • • • • • • •

Be involved Provide a mentor Quick help in case of problems Clear, professional, consistent in requests Ask and give feedback Well organised Trustworthy Give challenging tasks

• Strive to improve students skills • Be flexible towards student’s needs and ideas • Provide suitable tasks • Supportive • Provide training • Provide tools and data • Understanding • Motivating

• • • •

Professional Self-motivated Hardworking Actively involved in the project development

Univeristy profile • • • •

A c a d e m i c s a n d C o m p a n i e s F o r u m

Student profile • Willing to lear new things • Respectful towards company’s working methods • Proactive • Creative • Open to criticism

B E S T

Actively involved in the project • Supportive Helpful in administrative matters • Proactive in connecting student’s Feedback work progress with companies Provide tools and knowledge una- • Protect rights of the students vailable in the company

T i m i s o a r a 2 0 1 3

B E S T A c a d e m i c s a n d C o m p a n i e s F o r u m

Interaction between stakeholders To finish the session, we asked participants how did they feel the interaction between each of the stakeholder should be, in their opinion.

• Promotion • Compulsory Communication • Deadlines • Virtual Internship as part of degree program • Scholarship • Professor <-> Student colse relationship

• Student connected to HR/mentor/ • Constant communication by mail, phone, skype, • Weekly meetings & on demand • Communicate about tasks, problems, progress, reports, ideas, schedules • Gather expectations towards each other to ensure effective, friendly atmosphere

T i m i s o a r a 2 0 1 3

• • • • • • • •

Company should send offers to university Universities should look for certain positions and specific programs Companies should provide feedback about student knowledge University should ask about student performance Specified way of communication between the two Specified people (mentor/teacher) Universities should send requirements about the program Transmit the student complaints

Evaluation of PROVIP platform

This session was led by Roman Verraset from KU Leuven and was in form of a virtual conference. Firstly different stages of the virtual internship were explained and then mockups of the platform were presented. Students have evaluated the version they have been shown and proposed some new features that in their opinion would improve the platform and in extend the quality of the virtual internship. Studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; main concerns were that few companies will be themselves at the platform and after finding the job, many will abandon it for using other tools they are more familiar with. Although they find the platform very intuitive they would like to have an introductory video on how to use it. Moreover, since university isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t that involved in the process, the focus while developing the platform should lie on the interaction between students and companies. Another drawback that they was identified was connected to endorsing studentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s skills. Since they have to be confirmed by the university and chosen only from a certain pool of possibilities, many of the skills that student has and that are useful for the job might be left out. Many of them would like to see testimonials from students that worked at given company before. A common structure for all testimonials was proposed where students can pick some things from drop-down menu or tick boxes that would rank certain aspects of the internship. However, a free text box is also necessary for other comments. Other things students would like to see there is a list of things that the company is willing to do during the internship, give a mentor with some certain amount of hours assigned only for working with the intern, access to their intranet or databases, etc. Also a live chat was proposed to make it more dynamic and interactive. One big feature that students found very useful is a forum, both a private one and an open one. They would like to be able to talk there with other interns about their job and experiences and potential problems without anybody from company supervising them and they would also like to have a possibility to communicate with the company, all together (if there are more interns in the same company) when similar questions occur.

B E S T A c a d e m i c s a n d C o m p a n i e s F o r u m T i m i s o a r a 2 0 1 3

Virtual Internships vs Entrepreneurship In order to bridge topics of virtual mobility and entrepreneurship, we asked participants to list advantages and disadvantages of entrepreneurship. Then they were presented with earlier outcomes of similar exercise for virtual mobility. By comparing both cases many similarities have been found, which of those are highlighted in the following tables.

Table 4: Advantages of Virtual Mobility and Entrepreneurship Virtual Internships • • • • • • • • • •

Flexibility Mobility International experience Access to multiple resources Low costs for intern and company Autonomy Small conflict risk Enhanced creativity Empowered diversity More opportunities

Entrepreneurship • • • • • • • • • •

Be your own boss Flexibility Dream fulfullment Contribution to society Intrinsic motivation Increased creativity Inspiration for others Fast income Possibility to engage family Greater self-developement

Table 5: Disadvantages of Virtual Mobility and Entrepreneurship Virtual Internships • Self organisation • Lack of physical access to equipment • Lack of social interaction • Various working methods • Applyable for limited number of subjects • Communication problems • Slow process • Easy information breach • Low attachment

Entrepreneurship • • • • • • • • • •

High risk Huge workload Lack of support Demands different skills Financially unstable High level of responsibility Highly market dependent Stressful Hard to quit Highly bureucratic beginning

What students have concluded is that virtual internships and entrepreneurship donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t immediately have direct links to each other or same advantages or disadvantages, while in some cases they are even contradictory. However it was pointed out that student that had a virtual internship will be more likely to be entrepreneurs in the future. The set of skills that are developed during a virtual internship are needed from young entrepreneurs. Throughout such internships they will gain experience on how to manage their own time and resources as well as how to plan a project which is a starting point for a start up. Also entrepreneurs are more likely to hire virtual interns since they donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have resources to hire a new employee, even part time. They are also more likely to relate to a case of a student looking for a job and will be more willing to provide opportunities that could help out the younger generation.

B E S T A c a d e m i c s a n d C o m p a n i e s F o r u m T i m i s o a r a 2 0 1 3

E ntrepreneurship Introduction to Entrepreneurship

Radu Ticiu and Vlads Iscu from Timisoara Startup Hub were leading this session. Their goal was to give an introduction to entrepreneurship, mindsets and tools that are used by young entrepreneurs. A video about Start-up kids was shown, where young and successful entrepreneurs from across the world talk about their life, their work and their passions. Many stories about how it all began and what problems had to be concurred were shared in this video. For many students it was highly motivational since most of the entrepreneurs were in their early twenties. Afterwards we looked closer at tools that are used when starting your own business. Main focus lied on lean canvas where all aspects of the prosperity of a company are clustered for assessment. Students in groups of four formed an imaginary company that evaluated their future work with the aid of lean canvas.

Business model After introduction from Radu Ticiu to basic planning of a start-up and explanation of initial phases students were working in groups on their own imaginary businesses. They were put into the role of young entrepreneurs and were supposed to set up a business plan with the help or Lean Canvass. Throughout this exercise they learned the first basic steps within entrepreneurship as well as got familiarized with the factors that influence a company.

Start-up rally

B E S T

The session is designed specifically for the participants of event. In order to offer them an experience of how newly established entrepreneurs manage their bussineses. The participants were divided into two groups according to their interest and current study fields. Afterwards, both groups were guided to different start-ups which are all managed by young, enthusiastic entrepreneurs with different work environments and focus areas in professional life. Participants had the chance to breathe the atmosphere of dynamic, promising bussineses; their working methods, their culture and the frank insights of entrepreneurs. The outcomes of the rally were very positive. The participants reacted the trip as one of the most inspiring activities they ever had in their lives. The modern, futuristic and lively atmosphere of start-up working spaces were particular highlights. There were a lot of informal, joyful talks made, contacts were shared for future occasions. This practice proved to be very useful and beneficial experience for participants.

A c a d e m i c s a n d C o m p a n i e s F o r u m T i m i s o a r a 2 0 1 3

Timisoara Startup Hub

B E S T A c a d e m i c s a n d C o m p a n i e s F o r u m T i m i s o a r a 2 0 1 3

Summary From the 14th until the 20th of July, 16 european students expressed their own opinions about Virtual Mobility and got to know more about Entrepreneurhsip. It was a pleasure for BEST to serve as bridge between this participants and the two partners who played a big role in “Bringing Education and Entrepreneurship under Students’ Scope”: PROVIP and Timisoara Startup Hub. Several recommendations were considered during this event and will be taken into consideration to PROVIP future actions. BEST is honored to take part of this initiative and hopes the outcomes of the event can be a great input to PROVIP project success.

Thanks We would like to thank all the people involved in organising this event and helping us in making it happen. Special thanks go to: PROVIP partners present at the meeting in Pavia, for providing ideas for the content Roman Verraest, PROVIP for preparing and conducting session about virtual platform Radu Ticiu and Vlad Isac, Timisoara Startup Hub, for sharing their knowledge and experience on Entrepreneurship Owners and founders of involved start-ups for inviting us over to their offices and sharing with us their stories Radu Marinescu, University of Timisoara for the inspiring lecture about the link between university and Entrepreneurship Local BEST Group Timisoara for organising this even

B E S T A c a d e m i c s a n d C o m p a n i e s F o r u m T i m i s o a r a

Contact: Natalia.Mazur@BEST.eu.org

2 0 1 3