Brussels, 19/11/2013 (Agence Europe) - On 18 November, the European Commission, together with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), launched a new online self-assessment tool for universities to measure how entrepreneurial they are. The website is called HEInnovate. “Entrepreneurial skills and mind-sets are more important than ever in today's global markets. That applies as much to universities as enterprises. I am confident that this new initiative will encourage European higher education institutions to become more entrepreneurial and open to opportunities”, said Androulla Vassilliou, European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth.
HEInnovate enables institutions to assess their performance in seven areas: leadership and governance, organisational capacity, teaching and learning, pathways for entrepreneurs, university-business exchange, the internationalised institution, and impact measurement. Marks from 0-10 can be awarded for entrepreneurship according to the different criteria. The website then generates results for the institution, highlighting areas of strength and weakness. It also helps the institution improve its performance by providing links to customised examples of good practice. The Commission says that HEInnovate is not a benchmarking or ranking tool: all results and data remain the property of the user and will not be kept or stored by the Commission or the OECD. There are no fees or registration costs to use the service. In 2014, the Commission and the OECD will hold workshops and events across Europe on how to get the most out of the website. (IL/transl.fl)