Brussels, 19/12/2013 (Agence Europe) - Member states are aware of the need to put strategies in place in order to make up for the digital skills shortage of job seekers on the labour market. The adoption of truly effective policies, however, remains limited and only a few member states are committed to this aim. That was the conclusion reached by experts after a conference organised by DG Enterprise and Industry at the European Commission, held in Brussels last week, in partnership with the European e-Skills Association.
At the present time, the European Union has some 274,000 jobs vacant in the field of information and communication technologies (ICT). That number could grow to 509,000 by 2015 and to between 750,000 and 1.38 million - according to the most pessimistic scenario - by 2020. This is a real challenge for the employment market, with most job seekers having insufficient knowledge in the new technologies. The conference brought together experts, academics and political representatives who gave an exact overview of the situation in the different member states, took close stock of forthcoming developments and discussed the strategies to be set in place at national and European levels. The European Commission is aware that it is a matter of urgency to set policies in place that will be able to meet the challenge and reverse the current trend. Early 2013, it launched a “Grand Coalition for Digital Skills and Jobs”, calling on active collaboration in areas such as training to the service of business, aid to professional mobility, the certification of skills, improved school and university curricula, greater awareness of the problem and the setting in place of an environment that is appropriate for young innovative businesses. At national level, although all member states are aware of how urgent it is to adopt effective policies, few have adopted a concrete strategy and those that have done so are those where the situation is the least urgent. Universities and commercial schools do not always deliver courses that are highly specialised in ICT skills. The United Kingdom and Ireland are in the lead in this respect. Belgium, Germany, Denmark, France, Malta, the Netherlands and Sweden are generally relatively successful when it comes to the training of their work force in ICT skills. In addition to advanced knowledge in new technologies, experts also stressed there was a need for training to ensure there are highly specialised leaders in ICT, able to identify and conceive “business models” needed for creating the successful businesses of tomorrow. In January 2014, the Commission is to trigger a communication and a far-reaching European awareness campaign, “e-Skills for Jobs”, and will develop a new initiative on “e-Leadership”, intended to encourage entrepreneurs, managers and IT specialists to develop their skills at the highest level. (IL/transl.jl)