Successfully realized internal project titled Digital Competences of Persons with Disabilities in Serbia and Engagement in Online Platform Work

The IEN research team, Milena Lazić, Ph.D., Valentina Vukmirović, Ph.D., and Jelena Banović, Ms.C., successfully implemented the project Digital Competences of Persons with Disabilities in Serbia and Engagement in Online Platform Work - DigCompOSI. The project was funded by IEN as a winning project proposal in the internal competition for funding young researchers' projects Nada22.

The project identifies the problem of long-term unemployment and material deprivation of persons with disabilities in the Republic of Serbia and points to the potential of digital labour platforms and digital entrepreneurship to overcome this problem. The project builds on the findings of the reports of relevant international institutions and the analysis of national legislation, which demonstrate the need to make the digital economy inclusive for persons with disabilities by providing a detailed overview of the requirements of the online labour market, on the one hand, and the level of digital competences of persons with disabilities in Serbia, on the other. By identifying the gap between the required and existing digital competences and proposing relevant educational courses, the project contributes to the efforts and existing initiatives on the territory of the Republic of Serbia to close the digital skills gap and improve employment prospects for persons with disabilities.

The results of the project were published in a leading journal of international importance and in the proceedings of prestigious national and international conferences. In addition, the project idea and the results obtained served as the basis for the design of a study and a public policy analysis, as well as for two international project proposals (1. Digital Marketing Capacity Building - Empowering Physically Disabled Persons for Remote Work / European Social Fund+ (ESF) - Social innovations for a fair green and digital transition (ESF-2022-SOC-INNOV) / European Commission and 2. Remote Work Capacity Building - Empowering Digital Transformation for Physically Disabled People / KFAS Kuwait, Research Grants Program, Cycle 1 / KFAS Kuwait), both of which were approved for funding.

More details about the project and its results can be found here.

Congratulations to our young researchers.