European rural areas can be characterised by gender-selective migration since the number of women leaving rural areas exceeds the number of men doing so. Globally, women remain less likely to participate in the labour market than men, are more likely to be unemployed than men, and are over-represented in informal and vulnerable employment. Women in rural areas of the EU make up below 50% of the total rural population, they represent 45% of the economically active population, and about 40% of them work on family farms. The unemployment rate in rural areas began to decline during the analysed period (2013-2017); women have been more affected by unemployment than men (7.1% vs. 7.6% respectively). The biggest rate of women’s unemployment is registered in rural regions of Greece. (IPOL_STU (2019)608868). Although women in rural areas of the EU make up just below 50% of the total rural population, they represent 45% of the economically active population, and about 40% of them work on their family farms. Moreover, their importance in rural economy is probably even bigger, since their participation through the informal rural economy is not statistically recognised. Female entrepreneurs represent only one third of self-employed people in the EU and women farmers represent 30% of the total number of EU farm managers. They tend to have smaller farms than men, but take more calculated risks than men. Women’s ideas for innovation are as marketable as men’s, but they are not recognised by predominantly male stakeholders (COPA, 2017). All the above mentioned led the DigiWomen partnership to approach women coming from disadvantageous rural areas as end beneficiaries through the provision on modern and innovative methodologies and tools to effectively educate themselves. The VET trainers responsible for implementing training courses for these women will guide and support them creating tailored to their needs. Through training and skills development, rural girls and women can play a much greater role in the development of green food and agricultural value chains, both as current and future agricultural workers and entrepreneurs. (IPOL_STU (2019)608868). The purpose of the DigiWomen project is a transnational cooperation among 5 partners with the same needs and characteristics; to educate VET trainers to support women coming from disadvantageous rural areas to train themselves in a more business education and training focusing on developing job qualifications, leadership skills and bookkeeping. To achieve it the DigiWomen project comes to enhance their skills on financial, digital, agricultural and English language literacy. To this end, women will receive equal opportunities through the use of modern and innovative digital training tools; an E-learning Platform which will include particular curriculum for VET trainers and support them to create attractive and friendly modules. Thus, the consortium members decided to approach particular target groups which are dominant in their area of intervention. The project addresses mainly to target groups as follows:•Women with low job qualifications coming from rural areas trying to incorporate in labour market or create their own business•VET trainers/ coaches/ mentors as relevant professional categories of staff which are involved with women to their integration in the communities. The objectives of the project are as follows:•The provision to VET trainers of digital tools which will help them to organize better their training courses and enhance their skills on training approach to women coming from rural areas.•The development of basic skills in financial, digital, agricultural and English language literacy provides women with basic knowledge and skills so as to look for better working conditions•The development of a curriculum (knowledge – skills - competences) for the VET trainers on a collection of literacies’ qualifications suitable for supporting women to enter in the labour market•The stimulation of women to educate themselves on the proposed literacies by the project so as to look for better working conditions or think of creating their own business. •The raise of awareness of “woman entrepreneurship” in rural areas.The expected results of DigiWomen project are located on the job qualifications that participants would acquaint after the project completion. VET trainers and women coming from disadvantageous rural areas will be the significant beneficiaries of the project as they will be trained in multiple subjects and will gain, except for the knowledge, personal development qualifications as confidence and self-esteem. The fulfillment of the project’s objectives on upskilling for better working conditions or dealing with entrepreneurship after the implementation of project actions.

In 2010 European Commission proposed a 10 – year strategy which was triggered by the economic and social crisis that Europe fell into those years. The Europe 2020 Strategy has been the EU's agenda for growth and jobs over the decade. It emphasises smart, sustainable and inclusive growth in order to improve Europe's competitiveness and productivity and support a sustainable social market economy. In 2011, the term Industry 4.0 was coined as part of the growth through digital transformation strategy of EU, conducting roadmaps to promote the digitalization of manufacturing. Industry 4.0 is a comprehensive concept as well as a new trend in manufacturing (and relevant sectors) based on the integration of a set of technologies that enable ecosystems of intelligent, autonomous as well as decentralized factories and integrated product-services (C. Santos, 2017).The Industry 4.0 trend is altering the production capabilities of all industries, including the agricultural sector. It is built on an array of digital technologies: Internet of Things, Big Data, Artificial Intelligence, and of digital practices: cooperation, mobility, open innovation. It concerns a transformation of the production infrastructures such as “connected” farms, new production equipment and “connected” equipment. The result is to enable both an increased productivity and quality and environmental protection. But they also generate modifications in the value chain and business models with more emphasis on knowledge gathering, analysis and exchange. Precision Agriculture is the core methodology engaged with the definition of digitalization of agriculture. The most essential challenge in the adoption of Precision Agriculture Methodology is the ability of farmers to invest and upgrade their practices of production. The workforce in agriculture is ageing, with over 56%over 55 in Europe (Euractiv, 2016). The digital skills of the workforce are thus limited and require additional investment in training to adopt technologies. Taking all the above mentioned into consideration, the consortium members decided that the current project will contribute to the development of an E-learning Platform as a digital tool to meet agricultural stakeholder’s needs on their education and training, with regard to the incorporation of precision agriculture applications in their farms. The purpose of the project is a transnational cooperation among these 5 partners with the same needs; to help farmers and other agricultural stakeholders to reassess their agricultural needs using Precision Agriculture as a tool of development aligned with the international trends of the sector. The current project addresses mainly to target groups as follows:1.Farmers2.Technical staff in rural production3.Agricultural consultants / Agriculturalists4.VET Trainers specialized in rural developmentThe project’s objectives focuses on:1.The stimulation of farmers and technical staff working in rural production to cope with the most up-to-date techniques and methodologies concerning the digital farming and more particularly the precision agriculture. 2.The development of the curriculum (knowledge and skills) of the trainers and the consultants of the agricultural sector on precision agriculture applications3.The introduction of innovative methodologies and applications to farmers according to the modern technological progress and the reform of institutional guidelines in European policies and international suggestions4.The implementation of a digital E-learning Platform on Precision Agriculture which will be a useful tool for the VET trainers on educating and teaching, incorporating the project outcomes in their sessions. The e-Learning platform and the accompanied handbook will be elaborated to work as means of exploiting by the VET trainers providing them a new teaching methodology during their training process. During the project implementation, the VET trainers of every partner will be trained on how they will teach farmers and other agricultural stakeholders using the Precision Agriculture Handbook for Beginners (IO1) and the Precision Agriculture VET Curriculum (IO2). The content of the Beginners’ Handbook and the Curriculum will be the educational material on precision agriculture which partners will develop. Then, they will incorporate it in the E-learning platform (IO3) and the VET trainers will exploit it to train farmers and relevant stakeholders. On the project's completion, VET trainers of every partner will have obtained the knowledge and the skills along with relevant competences to train the members of the above mentioned targets groups effectively on the importance of precision agriculture application in succeeding a more qualified workforce for a more sustainable agriculture.