Fostering SMEs Digital Innovation through Advanced Training and Design Thinking. Italy as a Case Study

The mismatch between demand and availability of digital skills is currently one of the key challenges for entire industries in the digital era. The mismatch is particularly critical for SMEs, which most often lack both the critical mass to upskill their employees with in-house, corporate academies and the know-how to scout for start-ups to support their innovation journeys. In the present paper, we advocate a new role for business and executive schools to foster the convergence of higher vocational education and small and medium enterprises, favoring the diffusion of digital competences and enhance ecosystem competitiveness. We discuss the effectiveness of the approach with an analysis of the results of a two-year digital innovation project that has involved around one hundred companies and over four hundred students from fifteen tertiary vocational institutions across Italy