In Austria there has been a lack of skilled workers in many areas for some time. Among other things, this particularly affects jobs that are intended to drive the energy transition forward. According to Labor and Economics Minister Martin Kocher, almost 15,000 of the so-called “green jobs” were vacant by the end of April. The Viennese startup ecoTRN offers a solution by making specialist training location-independent and multilingually scalable. This is made possible by a combination of virtual reality and gamification in several languages.
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Education as the key to the energy transition
The learning platform is aimed at trainees, customer service employees and specialists such as electrical engineers and installers. Through the use of virtual reality and gamification, the learning system offers interactive and practical training that is intended to accompany the learners individually. “The energy transition is one of the greatest challenges of our time and we are convinced that education is the key to success,” says Jakob Selinger, owner and founder of ecoTRN. Selinger founded the young company last year.
According to Selinger, the startup wants to offer professionals the opportunity to further their education in the areas of green energy technologies and sustainability. This should improve their career opportunities in the green economy. “By using the latest technologies such as virtual reality and gamification, we create a unique learning experience that motivates and specifically promotes the skills of the learners,” says Selinger.
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ecoTRN wants complete reskilling for green jobs
ecoTRN particularly wants to reach existing professionals in the fields of electrical engineering, heating and cooling technology and building installation who are interested in renewable energies. Another target group are companies that manufacture and install photovoltaic systems and heat pumps and need skilled workers for their work. The platform is also aimed at training institutes that already offer courses in the field of renewable energies and would like to offer their participants an innovative solution.
In the coming year, the start-up will focus on doing classic upskilling – preparing existing specialists for green jobs with additional training. After that there should be a complete reskilling for green jobs with the vision “from the supermarket checkout to a green job in the energy transition”. The ecoTRN offer can be offered in countless languages, is location-independent and freely scalable. “We believe that ecoTRN can play an important role in the energy transition by training qualified professionals for the green economy,” says Selinger.