ICT SKILLS IN EUROPES t a t e o f P l a y a n d t h e W a y F o r w a r d

André Richier

Principal AdministratorE-Business, ICT Industry and Services

Enterprise and Industry Directorate GeneralEuropean Commission

Email: andre.richier@cec.eu.int

MAJOR MILESTONES

2000 Lisbon European Council and e-Europe

2001 Informal Council on ICT skills, Lulea, Sweden

European e-Learning Summit, La Hulpe, Belgium

Task Force and Action Plan on Skills and Mobility

2002 Benchmarking Report of the ICT skills Monitoring Group

European e-Skills Summit, Copenhagen, DenmarkCouncil Conclusions on ICT and e-business skills

2004 Synthesis Report of the European e-Skills Forum: “e-Skills in Europe: Towards 2010 and Beyond”

European e-Skills 2004 Conference, Thessalonica, Greece

EITO SURVEY 2001

An ICT skills shortage equivalent to 1.2 million jobs was identified in Europe in 2000, with a possible increase to 1.5 million in 2003

Europe’s shortage in e-business skills was estimated at 0.7 million in 2000, growing to 2.2 million in 2003 (24% of total demand)

E-BUSINESS WATCH

LONG TERM CHALLENGE

A COMPLEX ISSUE

MANY VARIABLES

DEMAND SUPPLY

- GDP growth - Demographics

- ICT sector growth - Graduate numbers

- e-Business - Workforce mobility

- e-Government - Immigration / global sourcing

- Outsourcing - Women entering ICT sector

- Regulation and public initiatives - Education and training

- Industry initiatives - e-Learning (flexible, just in- Public/private partnerships time, on demand learning)

THE E-SKILLS FORUM

Platform for dialogue between stakeholders

Four Issue Papers (2004)

Supply and demand aspects of e-skillsRapporteur: [Mrs Manninen], Technology Industries of Finland, Career Space and EICTA

Managing social change and sustainabilityRapporteur: [Mr Skyte], Amicus and UNI-Europa

International aspects of e-skills Rapporteur: [Prof. Stucky], University of Karlsruhe and CEPIS

Public Private Partnerships Rapporteur: [Mr Lueders], CompTIA and eSCC

Final Synthesis Report (September 2004) “e-Skills in Europe: Towards 2010 and Beyond”

MAJOR EVENTS IN 2004

Industry Training and Certifications Workshop (24-25 March 2004, Brussels) organised with Cedefop and eSCChttp://europa.eu.int/comm/enterprise/ict/policy/ict-skills/bru/index.htm

European e-Skills 2004 Conference (20-21 September 2004, Thessalonica) organised with Cedefop, ICT industry and leading stakeholdershttp://www.eskills2004.org

CEN/ISSS ICT Skills Workshop (December 2004) http://www.cenorm.be/cenorm/businessdomains/businessdomains/isss/cwa/ict-skills.asp

THE WAY FORWARD (2005)

Study on “e-skills supply and demand and foresight scenarios” in cooperation with OECD, Cedefop, Eurostat and other relevant Commission services

Development of a long-term approach and clarifying the implications of global sourcing

Communication on the competitiveness of the ICT sector followed by an Action Plan

Network of European Experts (January 2005) and Advisory Group

European e-Skills 2005 Conference

EUROPEAN FRAMEWORK

Towards the development of a European ICT Skills Meta- or Reference Framework

Umbrella approach giving shelter to all existing models Skills Framework for the Information Age Advanced IT Training System etc.

Key success factors: Commitment/organisation/ownership Industry needs and involvement: ICT is a global industry, ICT skills are everywhere (cross-sectors) Maintenance/convergence/international dimension

MULTI-STAKEHOLDER PARTERSHIPS

Towards the development of a European ICT skills and career portal

Promotion of role models and networking of learning centres

Defining standards for the implementation of mutual recognition of modules and units of training and credit transfer

Bridging formal and non-formal education: new ways for certification, accreditation and assessment

Research into legal, financial and institutional frameworks for scalable and sustainable multi-stakeholder partnerships

Promotion of digital literacy and of “e-citizen”

Thank you !

For further information:

European CommissionEnterprise and Industry Directorate-GeneralUnit D4: E-business, ICT industry and servicesB – 1049 BrusselsFax: +32 2 296 95 00Email: entr-ict-e-commerce@cec.eu.int

Website: http://europa.eu.int/comm/enterprise/ict/policy/ict-skills.htm