eSkills: Making the Information Society a Reality

CEDEFOP, e-Skills workshopThessalonika, 23-24 June 2005

Hugo LuedersCompTIA Director Public Policy EMEA

Overview

• Introduction: e-skills on the global agenda• eSCC – general information + initiatives• e-skills: status and outreach• Multi-Stakeholder Partnerships• eSCC priorities

- ICT CareerPortal- WSIS 2005, Tunis

• eSCC new developments• Conclusion: Tunis Declaration

Introduction: eSkills on the global agenda

• With the new “i2010 Communication”, the UNESCO event on “ICT Capacity building”, and the WSIS 2005 event in Tunis e-skills are again on the global agenda

• e-Skills raise awareness about the economic importance of ICT training and skilled workforce development in the ICT-embedded economy …

• ICT training and certification increases GNP per capita and thus real wages, making the entire workforce more globally competitive: they are in the 21st century what literacy was in the 19th: without it, you fall behind …

eSCC Members –European Executive Committee

A Multi-Stakeholder Partnership( www.e-scc.org )

• Composition:– representatives of commercial, informal and

formal ICT training sectors = industries, governments, training institutions

• Objectives:– secure endorsement for and use of commercial,

informal (open, distance or adult learning) and formal (state-recognised) ICT training certifications within government endorsed education and training frameworks across Europe

eSkills initiatives -

• ITALY - "Vola con Internet" (Fly with the Internet)

– Project carried on in 2004 in the framework of a programme aimed at increasing computer literacy among teenagers

– Offered Italy's half-a-million 16-year-olds the opportunity to buy an ECDL Skills Cardat a reduced price, and giving them free access to an online programme compliant with the ECDL Syllabus. Teenagers could also take the ECDL examinations free of charge.

• UK

– The UK National Health Service (NHS) (publicly funded organisation providing free health care to all UK citizens) adopted ECDL as the reference standard for basic IT skills in 2001. It is planned that 450,000 of the 1.3 million employees will be trained for ECDL certification over the next five years

• BELGIUM

– Belgium has launched an initiative aimed at bringing ECDL certification to the unemployed. Both the Flemish and Walloon governments operate a scheme whereby job-seekers can participate in ECDL programmes and work towards certification free of charge

eSkills initiatives -

• Exin: a Dutch-based worldwide IT examination provider

– Establishes educational requirements and develops examinations in Information Technology.

– Has developed ITIL certificates in IT Service Management (ITIL).– EXIN has already certified more than 250.000 IT-professionals world-wide.

Partnerships with international agents and authorized examination centers enhance the accessibility of EXIN’s examinations.

• EXIN's services

– Certification schemes for international standards like ITIL, CMM, MOF, ASL and DSDM

– Examination programs: exams and exam requirements– Registration: as an individual or as a group– A full range of IT books in the e-bookshop

eSkills initiatives – Cisco

• The Cisco Networking Academy program : e-learning program, providing students with the Internet technology skills essential in a global economy

– The Cisco Networking Academy program provides the opportunity for students to obtain two levels of certification: Cisco Certified Networking Associate (CCNA) and Cisco Certified Networking Professional (CCNP). Both certifications are designed to meet employment standards for the networking industry

– Since its inception, over 1.6 Million students have enrolled at more than 10,000 Academies located in high schools, technical schools, colleges, universities, and community-based organizations.

• Academy Curriculum and Cisco certifications are publicly recognized

– Embedded in vocational framework in UK– Officially approved by Belgian educational authority– Hungarian vocational training certification mapped to Academy curriculum– Integrated in official public education by 13 Bundeslander (Federal States) in Germany

eSkills initiatives -

eSkills: status and outreach

• In the ICT-embedded economy growth depends on the existence of human capacity with necessary basic and professional e-skills

• Awareness of e-skills needs a priority:

– Re-launched Lisbon Strategy: “Working together for growth and jobs”• Need for “improve[d] skills of the labour force” coupled with use of

Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) to boost productivity

– i2010 : « European Information Society 2010 »• Commission commits to promoting “education and training policies so that

Europe has “the skills it needs to (…) use ICT”.

– Competitiveness and Innovation Programme (CIP) April 2005. • Commission‘s proposal recognizes that « An inclusive Information Society

(…) calls for “widening ICT accessibility and digital literacy”

eSkills: the global reach

• Global Vendors– Microsoft, Intel, Cisco, Motorola,

Siemens, Nokia, Vodafone, IBM, HP, Oracle, SAP, Dell

• Global Solutions– PC, Printers, Networks, Wireless,

Mobile, Convergence, PDA, Web Solutions

• Global ICT Skills Standards– Certifications

• Microsoft, Cisco, HP, CompTIA etc.

– Skills Models and Skills Passports• Microsoft, Cisco, HP,

CompTIA etc.

• Local ICT Skills Models– SFIA (UK)– Advanced IT Training System

(Germany)– CareerSpace (Europe)– NITAS and TCC (USA)– Many others

• Local ICT Skills Initiatives– Skills Hub (Australia)– eSkills UK– ICT Education Initiative (Jordan)– e-Skills Forum Europe– Many others

• Mix of Education MSPs– Community/Vocational Colleges– Universities– Commercial IT Training– New Learning Systems and

Methods

eSkills: a global approach

• ICT fundamental to all ICT-embedded industries– It’s not just about ICT Professionals and the ICT Industry or sectors– Banking, Health, Automotive: a cross-sectorial approach

• Mobility of labour– Within the EU and across the world– Off- and In-shore effect – not just about cost, it’s about where the skills are

• Cost/Speed of ICT implementation– Lack of appropriate skills slows down ICT development– Lack of appropriate and reliable skills prevents reliable implementation

• Position of the EU vs. developing regions– Asia moving ahead rapidly– Middle East making significant investments and changing quickly

• Demands of Industry don’t wait– Government and academic systems generally slow to change– Industry-based e-Skills certifications to fill the gap

e-Skills development: MSPs

• Coordination of national and international policies not sufficient to ensure workforce is adapted to new environment (adequately ICT skilled)

• Only active partnerships between public institutions, business, academic, and other social partners canfacilitate adaptation to industrial change

• MSPs vital to ensure greater demand-supply alignment between curriculum and real-value needs

The deployment of new training clusters

Benefits of eSkills MSPs

• For the public - future proof training and match of demand

- closer alignment of supply and demand- maximum access for citizens to training

• For the employee - current, real-valued e-skills- public funding for recognised e-skills- greater employment chances

• For the industry - workplace-ready employees- match of supply and demand- reduction of costly re-training

eSCC - Current Priorities

• The EU ICT CareerPortal

– Informational website based around recognised ICT skills standards– Aim to provide employers and employees with visibility of required e-

skills certifications for a range of IT job profiles, across EU borders– Outline proposal submitted by eSCC to the EU Commission– Feasibility study?

• The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS)

– Second phase, Tunis, November 2005

– Action Plan calls to “ensure that young people are equipped with knowledge and skills to use ICTs, including the capacity to analyse and treat information in creative and innovative ways, share their expertise and participate fully in the Information Society.”

– eSCC has applied to hold a parallel Thematic Workshop on “e-Skills: Making the Information Society a reality” (in cooperation with the European Commission - DG InfoSoc/DG Enterprise)

Why an EU ICT CareerPortal?

• Lack of standards/definitions for ICT job roles

• ICT present in all industries and constantly changing

• Dynamic nature of ICT industry requires constant updating of ICT skills required to perform the work

• Technology is changing the learning model

EU ICT CareerPortal -Initiatives & Challenges

• Several developments of e-skills standards• Use of ICT certifications within formal & informal

learning• Several initiatives to create e-skills passports• Challenge: to establish a process for e-skills

standards to be adopted by industry, academiaand government across Europe

Customizable portal allowing countryspecific data and information on jobs,career advice, and learning providers

Current eSkills initiatives

• Several developments of e-skills standards

– USA – NSSB, CompTIA Tech Career Compass– UK – SFIA– Europe – CareerSpace– Several others – e.g. KIBNET, GRIP etc.

• Use of ICT certifications within formal & informal learning

– De-facto global standards for ICT– Encourage mobility or labour– Some organizations recognizing as credit towards formal learning

• Several initiatives to create Skills Passports

– e-Skills UK– European Skills Passport / Credit Transfer– CompTIA Career ID

Existing ICT CareerPortals

Global

ITProAustralia

Australia US Europe

Job detail page

Certificationsare mapped

directly toskill

categories.

•Skill Gap•Assessment is linked directly to each job

Other portal examples

• eSkills UK www.e-skills.com/cgi-bin/wms.pl/335• SFIA www.sfia.org.uk• CEN/ISSS www.cenorm.be• Career Space www.career-space.com• Career InfoNet www.acinet.org/acinet/default.asp• UK jobsite www.jobsite.co.uk• ECDL www.ecdl.com/main/index.php• EUCIP www.eucip.com• APO/Fraunhofer www.apo-it.de• EUQuaSIT www.euquasit.net• ChooseIT www.chooseit.ie

EU ICT Career Portal - Goals

• Provide information to companies, learning providers and individuals to help meet demand for needed e-skilled worker force worldwide

• Help the job seeker wherever by mapping e-skills certifications and training to specific jobs

• Establish and maintain through multi-stakeholder partnership uniform job definitions and e-skill standards to enable lifelong learning for ICT-professionals

EU ICT CareerPortal - Benefits

Company• Assists with developing job descriptions and manage companies

ICT career needs

New Entrant or Existing ICT Professional• Helps explore careers in the ICT industry, plan training and

compare jobs

Learning Provider• Helps develop training schedules, courseware and curriculum

based on ICT skill standards

Career Advisor• Assist individuals with career goals and planning training and

certification needs

EU ICT CareerPortal – Next Steps

• Feasibility studyCommission study into viability and demand for EU Portal,including long-term maintenance and business model

• Open tenderSpeedy implementation of solution proposed in feasibilitystudy via open tender

• Follow-up and uptakeSupport for publicity / marketing to encourage widespreaduptake and use

WSIS – eSkills provision in the Information Society

Possibility for a joint eSCC/European Commission Workshop

• Theme

“e-Skills: Making the Information Society a Reality. Bridging the Digital Divide through Multi-Stakeholder Partnerships”

• Rationale

Need for a renewed focus on e-skills provisions worldwide

• Objectives

- Ensure adequate consideration of e-skills issues by public bodies- Ensure that investments in ICT infrastructure and governance are

truly sustainable and deliver on the promises made- Promote Multi-Stakeholder Partnerships (MSPs) to enhance

e-skills provisions across the world

e-Skills : bridging the digital divideWhat’s about CEDEFOP at WSIS?

Main issues

• Current policies and strategies for developing e-skills for theInformation Society

• A view by the business and training sectors on e-skills needs ande-skills provisions

• The role of MSPs (professional experiences and best practices)

• The deployment of new roles for key participants (governments,academia, and industry)

eSCC: new developments

• EU Member States Chapters

– pan-European Executive Committee, supported by National Chapters at Member State level

– aim to translate EU-level objectives into new e-Skills policies in each country by providing local policymakers with industry expertise and guidance

– Existing national initiatives– Challenge: link up these

various Member State initiatives with EU recommendations on e-Skills policy

• Consultation Group

– forum for non-member supporters of the e-SCC and its principles

– support the work of the e-SCC Executive Committee and its Member State Working Groups

– Aimed at e-Skills users having an interest in helping ensure that EU and Member State policies in the e-Skills domain are capable of responding to the needs of industry in ICT-embedded society

– Launch at Cisco premises (Brussels) 15 July 2005

Conclusion: Tunis Declaration

A multitude of new forms of e-skills MSPs

• The deployment of new forms of ICT education and e-skillstraining (the 21st century education paradigm ...) implies differentfunctional roles and associative partnerships between the keystakeholders concerned

• This is the paradigm change in e-skills training compared to theclassical top down chain under the traditional education and training scheme

• The eSCC Tunis Declaration will try to reach out to build on theeSCC Multi-stakeholder issue paper for the eSkills Forum and willdevelop needed perspectives for this new paradigm and practice

Contact

Hugo LUEDERSCompTIA, Director Public Policy EMEA

6, Rond Point SchumanB- 1040 Brussels

Tel. +32-2/234.78.22e-mail: hlueders@comptia.org

web: www.e-scc.org