The second transnational project meeting (TPM) of GT4SME took place online in the middle of June. As the strategic partnership aims at working on a case-SME during the thematic TPMs to boost work-based learning, an SME from Serbia, D-PLAN d.o.o., was invited to a virtual workshop.
Based in Belgrade, Serbia, D-PLAN d.o.o. is a company that digitizes paper-drawn architectural plans and converts them into 2D and 3D digital files. During the workshop, the company’s co-founder and project partners discussed the company’s activities, main challenges it faces in Serbian vs. international markets, what kind of positive impact the company has on the environment through digitizing in the architectural sector, what kind of funds might be available for the company’s growth at the national and European levels.
The first session with the company’s co-founder had the form of ‘understanding the case’ and the project partners asked various questions pertaining to the project’s core issue: sustainable SME- growth and -transformation in four topic fields: Internationalization, Financial Access, Digitalization and Impact. The second session had the form of ‘internal brain-storming’, during which the project partners -without the presence of the case-SME- talked about the company’s current status, challenges and opportunities particularly related to company mind-set, internationalization and funds. Finally, during the third session, the project consortium presented its ‘evaluation and suggestions’ to the company’s co-founder.
Working online on the case of D-PLAN d.o.o. provided the project partners with a virtual work-based learning experience. The consortium had the chance to apply and test the workshop methodology virtually and to determine the points-to-be-improved until the next thematic TPM in September.