EURIM Working Group on Information Society Workforce Skills

Introduction and Terms of Reference

Group Outputs (Papers and Briefings)

Other Relevant Documents & Links

Members Page – for meeting details, minutes, working drafts, and additional group information

Previous work programme for this group

Introduction and Terms of Reference

This group builds on many years of work on IT Skills needs and on Lifelong Learning networks, from “Re-skilling Europe for the Information Society” (1997), through “E-Skills Summits” in 2001 and 2002 and responses to a whole slew of consultations – often repeating the same questions every other year or even in parallel from different agencies. But apart from the Millennium Bug-busters Programme, updating the skills of the existing workforce has been outside departmental priorities since the 1980s.

Meanwhile the skills of those currently working in the UK ICT industry atrophy, except for those who are lucky enough to work for employers who have not outsourced but have invested in their own staff. There are also problems with the quality and quantity of new entrants as the throughput of Computer Science courses has halved in recent years and departments struggle to survive in the face of funding cuts.

Objective
To create and maintain a globally competitive workforce at all levels, from basic technical and linguistic competence through system specification, development, integration and operation to product and service research, design, development and implementation, using the need to ensure world class (including security and resilience) communications infrastructures for the 2012 Olympics to expedite progress.

Strategy
Parliamentary and Political: to build on the work of the CPHC and E-Skills and actions arising from meeting of the all-party groups with Bill Rammell in July. The aim will be to work in co-operation with others to ensure that ICT is treated as a strategic industry for which skills are in critical shortage, including to secure public support for conversion and update training funding for those without employers or otherwise unable to secure employer support.

Industrial and Professional: to use the Cybersecurity KTN skills mapping exercise to identify those (employers and suppliers as well as professional bodies and trade associations) willing to work together with the sector skills councils and others to define the skills needed, ensure the necessary provision and remove the obstacles that have prevented this in the past. The lessons from this exercise will be used to inform the Parliamentary Stream and help bring about long-term change with regard to information society skills as a whole. The outputs from the KTN mapping exercises are expected to be available in draft to enable detailed planning in the autumn for implementation in 2009-10.

Group Outputs (Papers and Briefings)

Other Relevant Documents and Links