Quality Assurance in E-Learning for European Small-to-Medium Enterprises

At the Lisbon Special European Council: Towards a Europe of Innovation and Knowledge of March 2000, ¹ the European Union (EU) Heads of States and Governments agreed to make the EU ‘the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-driven economy by 2010’ (European Council, 2000). In 2010, it is generally agreed that the outcomes of the Lisbon Strategy are at best mixed. The European Commission (EC) report Europe 2020: A Strategy for European Community Growth observes that the EU was moving in the right direction before the global financial crisis but this event wiped out many of the gains, so that strong economic policy coordination and growth based on knowledge and innovation are now even more essential than before (European Commission, 2010). Achieving these goals will require continuing modernization and there is a common belief that this will entail the development and adoption of e-learning in business and industry, including small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs). This chapter outlines e-learning in European SMEs and discusses the quality assurance (QA) issues in this context.