The region of Gävleborg faces major employment challenges. It is a multifaceted issue and one parameter is the low access to educated labour in the region. Gävleborg also faces the issue of being one of the regions with the greatest difficulty in matching the supply and demand in the labour market. In addition to having the largest unemployment rate in the country, there is a particularly large difference in unemployment amongst the region of Gävleborg in comparison to nationwide for foreign-born and young people. The same issue also concerns people in Gävleborg with upper secondary education (gymnasieutbildning) at the highest level. At the same time, the government's overall goal in its Digitalisation Strategy is that Sweden should be the best country in the world in using the possibilities which the digitalisation entails. For the industrial sector, digitalisation means that the conditions will change in many ways and thus the need for competence will change. As production is rationalised and new demands are placed on the employees the industrial work is expected to become more qualified, not least in digital competence areas. The lack of the right skills can lead to both growth in SMEs being hindered at the same time as many individuals risk being excluded from the labour market. In addition, there are problems such as the industrial sector being strongly predominated by men, which can give rise to an exclusionary jargon and culture in the workplace as well as higher rates of illness. One of the five sub-goals of the national Digitalisation Strategy is that people should be able to develop and use their digital skills to be able to follow the digital development in order to both get and keep an employment. Digital competence also enables enhanced innovation and competitiveness within organisations or companies. This project will be carried through Future Position X (FPX) in collaboration with IF Metall Gävleborg. The aim of the project is to support the digitalisation of small and medium-sized enterprises, especially in the industrial sector, to meet the challenges which the region faces. The target group consist of small and medium-sized manufacturing companies in the region of Gävleborg and their employees. FPX has extensive experience in running development projects focusing on employment and digitalisation. IF Metall contributes with a solid knowledge in the industrial sector as well as experience of running ESF projects. Both actors have a strong connection to the Gävleborg region. The project will work towards the following objectives: • To contribute to regional skills enhancement in the field of digitalisation. • To contribute to the strengthening of the area of digitalisation in the region. • To contribute to the development of new products and services in the region. • To contribute to the creation of new jobs. • To build a long-term sustainable method for working with digitalisation aimed at SMEs in the region. The project also has several project goals, one of which being that 100 people from small and medium-sized companies in the manufacturing industry in the Gävleborg region will participate in digital education. The project generates an accuracy and increased opportunities for actual change through tailor-made education based on an analysis of needs in small and medium-sized industrial companies. Opportunities for change will be generated both at the individual and company level and from a regional perspective. This is achieved through a strengthened position for workers in the labour market, business development for the individual company and a general increase in digitalisation in the industrial sector. Below are examples of activities that will be included in the project: • Digitalisation opportunities • Needs analysis for participating companies • Industry validation for employees • Individualised training packages • Project planning, execution and management of digitalisation projects • Evaluation of results at the company