The Gaia-X project MERLOT has successfully completed its first project year!
We have learned a lot. We collaborated with stakeholders within and outside the consortium, we discussed, aligned, designed, validated, and re-designed again. We experimented with different concepts and solutions. This was an exciting, creative, demanding, fast-moving and extremely productive year.
Here are two main challenges we faced:
- Alignment of technical requirements from GXFS, IDS, and EDC, business requirements from EduTech service providers, and UI/UX requirements from multiple end-user groups representing different parts of education domain.
- Navigating through the emerging concepts, approaches, and technical components provided by the different stakeholders, and designing own solutions, while working around “white spots” in available infrastructures.
Here is what we have achieved:
- Underlying infrastructure of MERLOT data space is specified and implemented.
- Requirements on MERLOT marketplace for Smart Education Services are specified.
- AI-based learning path recommendation, a chat-based UI and an Embodied Conversational Agent are prototyped.
- Mock-Ups of the Career Path and Learning Path Assistants are available.
- Piloting partners are onboarded; stakeholder network is being maintained.
The Year 2 of the project has a strong focus on the development and piloting of the designed solutions. By the mid of the project in June 2023 we plan to have implemented an MVP of the MERLOT Marketplace – Portal for Organisations and the Career Path Assistant and have at least one Smart Education Service connected to the EDC.
We are looking forward continuing our journey together with existing and new partners!
