Competence combines three aspects, knowledge, know-how, attitudes and resources.

Guy Le Boterf, a French expert on competence to whom our didactic paradigm is related, gives us a dynamic definition of competence: a Kaleidoscope of resources that changes continuously shape and colour.

“Competence is the combination of relevant resources that the individual mobilizes to reach a particular result”

According to Le Boterf’s paradigm any analysis of competence has to be contextualised to the typology of product, service and organisation. For example, a violin maker’s result, her or his performance (a wonderful violin with a perfect and harmonious sound) is the result of the ability, the competence to perform a series of key activities by combining and mobilising in the best possible way the wealth of individual (personal) and network (external) resources. Similar examples of the relation between resources, competence and results may be imagined for a skilled producer of Parmesan, a dress, a microchip.

What is the formula that conjugates the concept of competence to the individual, the company/organisation and the territory? How can we maximise competence development processes across these levels and increase the knowledge the competence and social capital of a specific territory?

The Regional Competence project has developed a series of open source tools and methods to map and monitor the competence:

• The Individual Competence Data Base (ICDB), an open-source programme combining and compiling individual information on the individual and network resources of each person.
  
• The Regional Competence Data Base (RCDB) an online open-source solution presenting a picture of the overall core competence of the organisations and companies in the territory.
  
• A series of participatory methods and tools to facilitate the involvement of individuals and companies and activate virtuous development processes among the local stakeholders.
  

Given the complexity and the multifaceted nature of the competence issue, the method to map and analyse and develop competence requires a strong interaction with the end-users and is based on a bottom-up, incremental process:

1. A consensus building phase is activated by identifying and engaging the main local stakeholders involved in the competence development aspects to identify common grounds and share the same language. This means involving, meeting interviewing companies, organisations, trade unions, associations of entrepreneurs, training agencies…
   
2. Companies and organisations are then met both individually and collectively in seminars and workshops to raise awareness and express the individual and collective needs of the organisations relating to competence development. The collective meetings are organised initially by sector (i.e. Smes, local authorities, Trade Unions…) and envisage a consecutive path of cluster and collective meetings engaging the actors from various sectors to establish communities of practice, study circles or working groups.
   
3. Interested companies are advised on how to activate and engage the personnel in the competence mapping and on the use of the supporting tools (ICDB and RCDB). This includes training on internal participatory methods to contextualise and develop a tailor-made competence development plans and a period of coaching from the RC team.
   
4. The management is also engaged to drive and support the process and to collect the information relating to the individual competence (ICDB) and elaborate the general core competence of the organisation (RCDB).
   
5. There is a feed-back from user to improve and adapt the tools further.
   
6. The information gathered at the Regional lever (RCDB) is analysed and used also by local authorities and “super partes” organisations to stimulate further collective common cooperation and competition (competition) actions among the local users and to engage other participants. These may include common training programmes among several organisations, planning and implementing strategic awareness and development actions and so on.
   

The need to map and valorise and monitor the competence is perceived by most organisations as it can represent the added value that gives a distinctive features of the organisation.

The tools and methods of Regional Competence may be used at different levels by organisations, companies and local authorities:

• Companies and organisations can use the Individual Competence Data Base to monitor and develop the competence of their human resources that work for them.
  
• Companies and organisations can use the Individual and the Regional Competence Data Base be visible on the territory, to create networks, links and exchanges that promote and feed the synergy between companies.
  
• Local authorities can use the Regional Competence Data Base to obtain a better vision of the strengths and weaknesses of the territory from the competence point of view. This is done with the aim of launching relevant integrated actions to valorise the core competence and vocation of the territory and intervene to correct eventual weaknesses.
  

By Italian Regional Competence Team