Initially supported by the European Programme Leonardo da Vinci, AFI-MAC offers a real pan European network of resources focused on start-up Incubators and Entrepreneurship.
- MAC stands for Multi Actors Cooperation and includes many types of stakeholders.
- AFI stands for Accompaniment and support For the creators of companies in Incubators.
AFI-MAC has been set up by a wider informal network of networks via the MAC-Team aisbl (International NGO).
www.e-incubator.eu. See also the AFI-MAC key outcomes
The AFI-MAC Mission:
The overall aim of the AFI-MAC project is to contribute to the development of knowledge-based economy in Europe by assisting SME managers and other decision-makers in building a fertile environment for knowledge-based entrepreneurship and new business formation:
- To raise awareness of the significance accompaniment of the managers in a seedbed of companies,
- To develop a proactive training tool for SME and network development,
- To enable learning through case examples of good practices in management,
- To setup an economic development tool for the accompaniment of the creators of company and territorial animation
- To start a panel of trainees in incubator to follow and make evolve competences of these new creators;
- To disseminate good practices in the management of business intelligence.
In the last years, a major change occured in the labour market and in the job situations. The reasons for this are the changing of organisational structures and market conditions in several companies.
For all working people, and in particular, for the Entrepreneurs, it is necessary to understand their business processes.
The AFI-MAC project develops and provides a system based learning for entrepreneurship empowerment. The technical view is based on an existing groupware software solution and other multimedia objects.
Each trainee can design and organise its own learning system and vision. It is possible to work online at own pace in full autonomy for each trainee.
Some of the AFI-MAC outputs
This solution supports the learning motivation, as well the life long learning motivation of the trainee.
The AFI-MAC project deals with the various working roles for each trainee. For the trainees it is possible to see and feel different points of view of the working processes and company culture.
The goal of the accompaniment is not to predict or to reach the success or the failure of the business itself, but to support the success of the entrepreneur. Without any doubts, the entrepreneurs which are accompanied will gain in sustainability.
Enrichment of the accompaniment are usually observed together with sustainability. The added value of the accompaniment is never measured in term of acquisition of knowledge, but on the benefit to the company.
A qualitative study, carried out by the APCE on the unemployed creators having ceased their activity, demonstrated the very positive impact of the joint creation experiment and the accompaniment. The creator who becomes unemployed reacts and reintegrates the job market definitely better by preparing with more effectiveness a new creation or having found a better paid employment. The benefit of the accompaniment, even for those which ceased their activity, thus goes beyond the only consideration of the sustainability of the company.
To accompany a contractor throughout his/her development path, supposes that the dynamics and specificities of its personality, its know-how, its mobilization resources and its project located in multiple environments are taken into account.
AFI-MAC provides adapted training for incubators, coaches and entrepreneurs on how to build and support creation of a company depending on each of the key target groups with corresponding accompanying guidelines and support activities.
The second level of identified needs relates to the training delivery system. This identification of needs directly comes from the professional side requests (enterprises, mainly SMEs) in coordination with the vocational training institutes. e-Learning providing self-learning system completed by an action-training approach where the beneficiary is the key actor is the preferred solution. It enables beneficiaries to progress depending on their own work constraints together with a clear applied usage of learning results directly in their own working environment.
Concerning accompanying/intermediary actors, this target audience has been identified as keen in using internet or technology based tools (direct correlation between innovation attraction, Internet media and implementation of sustainable development actions).
AFI-MAC partners:
- MAC-Team aisbl - Belgium
- Bordeaux Productic - France (coordinator)
- International STAR Training - France
- Kaunas Business College - Lithuania
- Federation of Scientific and Technical Associations NOT - Poland
- CiDEB – Centro de incubação e Desenvolvimento de Empresas em Biotecnologia - Portugual
- Fondation Ynternet.org - Switzerland
- Enterprizer Technologies Ltd - United Kingdom
See also the AFI-MAC key outcomes