INVITE – The future of continuing vocational education and training

Society is in a constant state of rapid change. What was considered distant future yesterday has become reality today and could already be outdated tomorrow. Societal and technological trends such as digitalization, an aging society, or the evolution of mobility present significant challenges for continuing vocational education and training (VET). Society faces such important questions as: How can access to vocational training be made available to everyone while incorporating new technologies? How can classes and courses be more closely aligned with the needs of teachers and students? How can learning success be sustainably increased and become measurable? INVITE, a contest for digital innovations in education and vocational training, is looking for answers to these and many other questions.

Who is responsible for INVITE?

The INVITE contest for digital innovations is embedded in the German National Continuing Training Strategy (Nationale Weiterbildungsstrategie/NWS), which is an initiative of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung/BMBF), which is funding INVITE with a total of approximately 80 million Euros. The Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (Bundesinstitut für Berufsbildung/BIBB) is responsible for scientific questions and administrative tasks regarding INVITE and it is supported by VDI/VDE-IT regarding technological questions. An advisory board with representatives from fields such as vocational training in practice, politics and science reflects on and contextualizes the contest’s activities and results.

At the heart of INVITE are 35 projects, which consist of 34 competitively selected research and development projects and one scientifically-oriented project called INVITE-Meta. These projects are carried out by 182 renowned institutions working in various industries and disciplines, and over 400 developers who are working on digital education innovations for the future of vocational training. These institutions include a variety of public and private entities such as universities, research institutions, professional associations, companies, platform providers, and startups. They bring in diverse perspectives and share a common goal: the creation of an innovative and secure digital space for vocational training.

 

About INVITE

INVITE is an initiative of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB) which focuses on advancing the digitalization of VET. From 2021 to 2024, the BMBF is funding a total of 35 competitively selected projects that play a crucial role in shaping an innovative, digital, and secure space for the vocational education and training of the future. INVITE aims at ensuring that everyone can, by use of digital means, easily and quickly find the training that suits them and their current situation the best. These state-funded projects simplify finding suitable training-opportunities, strengthen user-orientated approaches of educational platforms, and expand the range of AI-supported training offers. Among the applications developed are AI-based recommendation systems to facilitate finding suitable learning opportunities and to create individualized learning pathways, learning analytics, chatbots that accompany learning processes and mobile applications to facilitate learning “on the go”.

Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any further questions.