OpenScout

Targeted Project funded under the eContentplus programme from September 2009 – October 2012), Budget: 5,6 Mio EUR (202 776 EUR for own institution, Role: partner)

OpenScout stands for “Skill based scouting of open user-generated and community-improved content for management education and training”. OpenScout is a project co-funded by the European Commission within the eContentplus Programme as a Targeted Project in the area of Educational Content (Grant ECP 2008 EDU 428016). OpenScout started in September 2009 and has a duration of three years. OpenScout aims at providing an education service in the internet that enables users to easily find, access, use and exchange open content for management education and training.

The management education market is largely diversified, training topics range from general management and leadership to very specific issues like managing risks in banking industry. Despite the resulting growing need for management education and content the potential of already existing open learning materials is hardly exploited, neither in the business sector nor in SMEs where the need for lifelong learning is even greater. Within its portal OpenScout offers easy-to-use competence-based federated search and retrieval web services, provides an openly accessible tool library for improvement and re-publishing of open contents and establishes an open user community that opens up their content and adopts OpenScout web services in real contexts of use.

Additionally, OpenScout provides a number of extensions and plug-ins that allow users to seamlessly integrate OpenScout search functionalities in their favourite learning environment like Learning Management Systems, Social Networks or mobile devices. In partnership with the European Association of Technology Enhanced Learning (EATEL) the OpenScout project has created the Special Interest Group (SIG) Open Content for Business and Management in September 2012. The main goal of the SIG is to drive and promote Open Education for the Business and Management domain also after the project’s formal end. The SIG maintains and extends the successful portal, user community and services of OpenScout and aims at being the single access point for people engaged in this field.