Inclusive scientific project of the European Social Fund

Digital Marketing Capacity Building - Empowering Persons with Physical Disabilities for Remote Work (DI-MARC) Capacity Building - Empowering Persons with Physical Disabilities for Remote Work" abbreviated DI-MARC).DI-MARC project was approved within the extremely competitive call ESF-2022-SOC-INNOV of the European Social Fund plus (ESF), and was scored by the reviewers with 96/100 points, which is one of the highest marks that projects in the field of social sciences from Serbia received in the programs financed by the European Commission. The project implementation period is 24 months (October 1, 2023 - September 30, 2025). DI-MARC project is implemented by Department of digital economy of the Institute of Economic Sciences in cooperation with nine institutions from Serbia, Croatia and Montenegro, within the Employment and Social Innovation Component of the European Social Fund plus, as the main of the EU program in the field of work, employment and social policy, which is also open to candidate countries for EU membership.Partners participating in the implementation of the project:Institute of Economic Sciences, Belgrade, Serbia - project managerRegional Agency for Development and European Integration, Belgrade, SerbiaAssociation of persons with disabilities Belgrade, SerbiaJaglac - association of persons with disabilities with intellectual disabilities, Orahovica, CroatiaCenter for Entrepreneurship, Osijek, CroatiaEntrepreneurship - Development Center of the Municipality of Erdut, CroatiaMunicipality of Erdut, CroatiaMAMM, Nikšić, MontenegroAssociation of Disabled Youth of Montenegro, Podgorica, MontenegroMunicipality of Kotor, Montenegro Gora. The DI-MARC project is focused on the implementation of digital technologies in the function of improving inclusion, that is, on improving the digital marketing competencies of people with physical disabilities for remote work. Remote work creates an exceptional potential for the employment of people with physical disabilities, however, the key challenges they face are partial or complete exclusion from the labor market and the lack of digital competencies required for employment, both in the traditional labor market and on digital platforms for remote work (Upwork, Freelancer, Fiverr). In this regard, the goal of the DI-MARC project is to improve the competencies of persons with disabilities, which is achieved by (1) assessing the level of their existing skills and competencies and (2) creating and implementing training programs aimed at building and improving the competencies needed for work. The digital marketing segment was selected as the primary one for research because the demand for jobs in this field has significantly increased on remote work platforms, and the opportunities for employment of people with physical disabilities are the greatest in the field of digital marketing.