Crisis, no matter if it’s financial, environmental or political, is a driving force for transformation of the economy and the businesses. Tоday, the digital transformation of the businesses is more needed than ever, since the global need of preventing and managing situations that can affect the market conditions and the traditional ways of doing business. While no one can anticipate organisational, financial, environmental, technological crisis, it’s important that new businesses are ready to handle these situations should they ever occur. New business models, digitalisation of services and products, remote work systems, cyber security, digital channels for communication with clients and employees are key factors for sustainability of every emerging business. Being an Entrepreneur in the Digital Age means to be aware of how to run a business which is agile and prepared to react to every crisis by implementing the right technologies. The educational programs in entrepreneurship should be also adapted by considering the emerging needs of sustainability and digitalisation.

This paper discusses the Erasmus+ “SMART Youth” project which aimed to:
1) address the emerging needs of the new generation of entrepreneurs by launching a new third level curriculum;
2) build on the capacity of the staff in higher education institutions and other training organisations;
3) stimulate creativity of young people and to make them think about crisis management, new business models and sustainability through digitalization.

Before the creation of the new Curriculum, the project conducted research on risks and opportunities and on the needed digital skills for future entrepreneurs. The Curriculum included six courses focused on development of specific skills that entrepreneurs need when starting a business that is agile and can work or adapt to work during crisis. A virtual bootcamp was organised to test the Curriculum and to foster transnational interactions and the exchange of knowledge between lecturers, students, successful businesses and solution providers.

A key output of this project was a “Smart business toolbox” where young entrepreneurs have access to training videos and different types of tools and materials that will help them to start their sustainable businesses, to find digital technologies and reliable business solutions, to assess their digital competences, to find inspiring stories and best practices.

The project team maximised the number of the organisations implementing the Curriculum, by developing a recognition toolkit that ensures credit transferability, sustainability and substantial impact.

Keywords: Digitisation, Skills, Transnational Education, Entrepreneur, Youth Training.