NTG represented at Research & Development day – Breda University of Applied Sciences

The year 2020 will be a defining year for Research & Development atBreda University of Applied Sciences(BUas). Brand new ‘labs’ and facilities have been established that support the research and development (R&D) and business and innovation (B&I) departments of this Higher Educational Institute.On October 1st, BUas organized its first R&D day, welcoming over 100 lecturers, management staff, support staff, students and externals who would like to become more connected to the research and development department.Lobke Elbers, the communication manager of theNext Tourism Generation Alliance (NTG), presented the next step for the EU tourism sector and discussed the NTG Project Approach for Skills Development in Tourism.

Collaborative skills development within different academies

She raised awareness for collaborative skills development on digital, social and green skills towards a number of delegates with expertise in leisure, hotel, F&B but also media and gamification, logistics and mobility. Skills development is an important topic to investigate from industry, educational and research perspective.

通过共享的foll Lobke开始她的演讲owing words with the audience:

‘’When it comes to skills development in general, three main challenges are involved on global, European, national and regional level: a single country cannot fix it. I speak of the threat of climate change and technological disruption, especially the rise of artificial intelligence, robotics and building a better society, a viable environment for the human being and all living beings and a better future for those who will come, we will find a laudable sense for everything we do.

We need to give up what was important in the past for our future.

Technological progress and globalization offer endless opportunities for innovation, growth, and jobs. These developments require skilled people that are willing to adapt, who are able to drive and support change. In order to address skills gaps that may prevent the tourism industry from growing, the Next Tourism Generation Alliance project focuses on a Blueprint for Sectoral Cooperation on Skills and was launched as part of the New Skills Agenda from the European Commission.’’

As a result of this presentation, researchers from other academies within BUas are invited to join the discussion about skills development and share their knowledge. For example having a close collaboration with the International acknowledged Academy for Digital Entertainment (ADE), will result in knowledge sharing on digital skills development, sharing best practices and cases where industry and education work together to improve the content and impact of the Next Tourism Generation tools, toolkits, modules, and the NTG blueprint.

Research and development at Breda University of Applied Sciences

Jos van der Sterren, Director Academy for Tourism at Breda University of Applied Sciences, mentioned that the Research and Development Day has the main purpose to interconnect the various research communities of BUas and let them share the developments and innovations in order to find potential co-creations. Furthermore, Frank Oostdam fromANVRstressed the fact that research and educational institutes should focus on collaborations and connecting with the tourism industry in order to stay relevant.

Follow the efforts of the Next Tourism Generation via ourwebsite,Facebook,Twitter| #NTGskillsalliance or viaLinkedIn