Brussels, 27/01/2014 (Agence Europe) - On 24 January, European Commission President José Manuel Barroso and European Commissioner for the Digital Agenda Neelie Kroes met CEOs from the across the global economy at the World Economic Forum in Davos, with the aim of expanding the alliance created last year to deliver training and jobs in the digital sector (“the Grand Coalition for Digital Jobs”). Corporate leaders were invited to sign the Davos Declaration in order to show their commitment to meeting the objectives set for 2014 - creating 100,000 new traineeships by the end of 2015. “The Grand Coalition for Digital Jobs uses the economies of scale we have at the EU level to bring qualified people and innovative employers together. (…) I urge all those who have not yet joined up to seize this opportunity to help Europe drive the next ICT revolution”, Barroso stated. Kroes added: “I meet so many young people with initiative, who are desperate for opportunity. And I see companies in desperate need of workers with digital skills. The coalition matches the two together, and helps thousands of people to build their lives. Changing lives is worth every minute and euro invested.”
The objective sought on 4 March 2013, the date on which the Grand Coalition was set up in support of digital jobs (see EUROPE 10798), was to unite efforts at the levels of governments, companies and the world of education in order to help fill the 900,000 vacant jobs that are due to open up in the digital sector by 2020. Currently, 42 partner organisations have filled 2,200 new jobs in this sector, 5,277 new traineeships and apprenticeships, and delivered training courses for 269,000 people, thus fulfilling commitments they had taken with the Grand Coalition. Partners include Cisco, Google, Microsoft, Oracle, Samsung, SAP, Telefonica and other digital industry groups and associations and members of civil society. The coalition's action in 2014 will focus on the consumer goods and retail sectors, which increasingly need workers with digital skills, in both shops and factories. As well as the objective of creating 100,000 new traineeships by the end of 2015, the parties commit in the Davos Declaration to: (1) cooperate with other stakeholders to modernise education and training systems so that no student leaves school or higher education without a basic set of ICT skills; (2) raise awareness of ICT and underline the importance of devoting part of corporate marketing budgets to promotion campaigns for new technologies highlighting the great career opportunities that this sector offers. (IL/transl.fl)