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Tknika
Lanbide Heziketari Aplikatutako ikerketa eta Berrikuntzako EAEko Zentroa

UNEVOC Centre (Uni/Research) since 2017

Tknika is the Institute for the Innovation of the Vocational and Educational Training System in the Basque Country (Spain). It was established by the Department of Education of the Basque Government in 2005 to promote innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship in VET centres of the Basque Country (Spain).

Through networking and direct involvement by the Basque Vocational Training teaching staff, the centre develops innovative projects in the areas of technology, education and management.

Tknika is certified with ISO 9001:2000 (Quality Management System) and UNE 166002 (Innovation in Management System). This ensures that our systematic work meets the highest standards of quality and facilitates innovation in all our projects.

Tknika´s vision is to become a reference of innovation for education and LLL in Europe, and to reach such targets we have adopted a strategy of collaboration in network at two levels:

• In the Basque Country (Spain), Tknika coordinates all the vocational training colleges (both public and private) in innovation projects and it also maintains a strategic monitoring service in contact with universities, companies and technology centres, allowing us to keep updated of the latest developments, ideas and approaches to innovation in the areas to which we refer later.
• At an international level, membership in international networks of vocational training colleges, technology centres and associations as EFVET (European Forum of Vocational Education and Training), TA3 (Transatlantic Alliance) or WFCP (World Federation of Colleges and Polytechnics) allows us to share tools and knowledge about the steps being taken in different countries in the field of innovation.

All projects to be developed in Tknika have to be both innovative and focused on the acquisition and transfer of knowledge. Usually, the project managers are trainers but sometimes, depending on the project, they are specialists from the industrial world. The transfer of the results of the innovation projects must take place in the shortest possible time and should affect the whole system: public and private centres, SMEs, learning communities, local agencies, etc.

TKNIKA operates in the following areas:

• The area of applied innovation
• The area of quality management
• The area of new teaching methodologies
• The area of entrepreneurship
• The area of internationalisation

Mission

To make research and applied innovation core fundamental elements of professional training in Euskadi, to make progress in new learning settings and processes, and to reduce the skill gap from when an idea or technology comes about until society can take advantage of it. By means of technological watch, design, development, implementation and transfer of innovative products and services in Areas of Permanent Improvement, Learning, Technology, Internationalisation and Business Ventures to vocational training centres, and from thence, to the business sector. Through a dynamic open to collaboration and establishing alliances with companies, university research departments and technological centres, fomenting the creation of networks, teamwork and creativity.

Vision

To be THE European point of reference in applying advanced practices to transfer knowledge to the business network though vocational training centres.

Values

1. Responsibility.

2. Organisational commitment.

3. Teamwork.

4. Proactive attitude and initiative.

5. Client-oriented.

6. Creativity.

7. Working seriously, but in a good mood.

Objectives

1) Promote and support the technological innovation processes in Vocational Education and Training centres and companies to achieve a more competitive and dynamic Vocational and Training system

2) Collaborate with Vocational Training centres and SMEs in the development of the Information Society Technologies and the Information and Communication Technologies.

3) Promote innovation processes to create more flexible, participatory and dynamic structures based on collaboration, trust in people, in the autonomy and the ability to manage teams.

4) Work with the centres in the development of an entrepreneurial culture and in the creation of new companies sorted by VET students.

5) Design new learning environments and new methodologies to acquire competences and skills to answer to the needs of the industrial and service sector as well as of the primary sector

6) Design, develop and evaluate international projects that will have a strong impact in the daily activity of the colleges and offer different countries the possibility to carry out training processes addressed to trainers, trainees and employees in our centres or in the country of origin.

7) Develop and use of a technological awareness system that allows TKNIKA to be updated about changes in innovation anywhere in the world.

8) Ensure the efficient and effective transference of the results of the projects to the Vocational and Training system and to the SMEs.

Regular tasks

A) Applied Research

In this regard, the objective of Tknika´s Department of Applied Innovation within the scope of Vocational Training is to reduce the time that passes between when a new technology arises until Basque society benefits from it, and to research technologies to develop new market niches in Euskadi.

To this end, we designed the Euskadi Vocational Training Technological Innovation System, which seeks to support society and especially SMEs in the challenge posed by competing for high added value. Said system is based on the Basque Government´s Specialisation Policies, which establish priorities, and is rolled out under the Basque Vocational Training Plan through Tknika and vocational training centres.

The procedure for the aforementioned priorities takes place at Tknika and begins with an initiative surveillance, prioritisation and selection process, which are then carried out through different programmes, and then ends by transferring them to rest of vocational training centres and SMEs.

In addition to the initiatives included in the Euskadi Vocational Training Technological Innovation System, Tknika also works at ELKARNET, whose client are the centres. At ELKARNET, we take care of updating, maintaining and optimising systems, the centres´ connectivity and IT infrastructures, so that they can fully optimise and use the possibilities that they offer.

B) Continuous Improvement

These are the projects that are being developed in this área:

1) TKLEAN. The TKLean Continuous Improvement Method´s objective is to increase efficacy and efficiency for all process activities so that management for the centres is increasingly agile and flexible.

It has a design based on the concepts of the culture Lean that helps the optimization of the processes and their activities

2) IPMS is an advanced Integrated Management System for Processes that differs from the IPMS in that it also covers issues related to the environment and occupational safety, meeting the requirements of the ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 45001 standards (OHSAS 18001)

For the centers that have a more advanced management system, and using the same simple systematic that of the IPMS, it helps the management of the processes guaranteeing, besides the quality of the services, the environmental management and that of the health and job safety, the deployment of the strategy and the orientation to the results by means of the continuous improvement and the fulfillment of the requirements of three standards

3) PMS is a Process Management System that aims to be a reference for centers to design their own management system in line with to their objectives and strategies,while meeting the requirements of the ISO 9001 standard (regarding quality)

Using a simple systematic helps the management of the processes of any organization guaranteeing, besides the quality of the services, the deployment of the strategy and the orientation to the results by means of the continuous improvement and the fulfillment of the requirements of the standard

4) Hobbide is Euskadi´s framework for vocational training management, self-evaluation and improvement, based on the EFQM model and promotes a culture of excellence and permanent improvement.

It helps to show the relation between good results and good management, aligning and bringing the EFQM model to the Process Management System and favouring the homogeneous interpretation of the model in the centers.

It helps the accomplishment of periodic self evaluations of the management of centers by means of the ehobbide informatic tool.

C) Department of Entrepreneurial Activity and Change Management

Social acknowledgement of the role of innovation and entrepreneurial initiative as core agents to generate a country´s wealth and well-being is a determining factor in promoting economic and social development.

Design and develop initiatives

Designing and developing initiatives in close collaboration with vocational training centres, oriented toward reinforcing entrepreneurial initiative and culture amongst the centres´ students and teachers.

Encourage and promote the transformation of vocational training centers

Encouraging and promoting the transformation of vocational training centres, making it easier to apply focuses and models to manage innovation, through watch, creativity, idea-development, innovation project management and result transfer activities

D) Learning Processes and Methods Research

The Department of Learning Processes and Methods Research mainly has two scopes of action:

Researching, designing and applying methodological models that improve learning processes within the scope of vocational research.

The methodological section revolves around the implementation, design, development and roll-out of the ETHAZI model and the projects and services developed at the department to roll out the model. The main ones are the ETHAZI digital repository, the SET (Skills Evolution Tool) assessment tool and focus, training programmes oriented toward methodological change, the development of innovative learning spaces and building collaboration networks and alliances with reference-point national and international entities in applying advanced learning methodologies.

The design, development and training programme management that drive TKNIKA´s transfer process.

The following lines and objectives are worked on mainly in the second section:

Design, development and programme and training action management for effective use and transfer of results to projects and services.

Active contribution to the internationalisation of FPeuskadi (Euskadi Vocational Training) by designing and developing specific training programmes, participating in speeches and events and assessing application of the model in other countries, as well as participating in European projects.

Focus and interest