e-Skills
Fostering Competitiveness, Growth and Jobs
e-Skills: Definitions
• ICT Practitioner skills
Capabilities required for researching, developing, designing, strategic planning, managing,
producing, consulting, marketing, selling, integrating, installing, administering, maintaining,
supporting and servicing ICT systems
• ICT User skills
Capabilities required for the effective application of ICT systems and devices by the individual.
At the general level, they cover “digital literacy” which relates to the confident and critical use
of ICT for work, leisure, learning and communication. In the workforce, ICT users apply
systems as tools in support of their own work. ICT user skills cover the use of common
software tools and of specialised tools supporting business functions within industry.
• e-Business skills (also called e-Leadership skills)
Capabilities needed to exploit opportunities provided by ICT, notably the Internet, to ensure
more efficient and effective performance of different types of organisations; to explore
possibilities for new ways of conducting business/administrative and organisational processes
and/or to establish new businesses
A Broad Set of Skills
Successful innovation with ICT also requires:
• cross-disciplinary, cognitive and problem-solving skills
• understanding of the fundamentals of business
• communication skills
• competence in foreign languages
These skills should be provided in a lifelong learning context
and in the wider context of a core set of competences
equipping all citizens for a knowledge-based society
The e-Skills Pyramid
e-Business
skills
ICT practitioner skills
ICT user skills
digital literacy
e-Business skills (also called e-leadership skills): these correspond to the capabilities
needed to exploit opportunities provided by ICT, notably the Internet; to ensure more
efficient and effective performance of different types of organisations; to explore possibilities
for new ways of conducting business/administrative and organisational processes; and/or to
establish new businesses.
ICT practitioner skills: these are the capabilities required for researching,
developing, designing, strategic planning, managing, producing, consulting,
marketing, selling, integrating, installing, administering, maintaining, supporting
and servicing ICT systems.
ICT user skills: these represent the capabilities required for the
effective application of ICT systems and devices by the individual.
ICT users apply systems as tools in support of their own work. User
skills cover the use of common software tools and of specialised
tools supporting business functions within industry. At the general
level, they cover "digital literacy".
Europe’s Pyramid Ratings
ICT Practitioners in Europe
Overall trend: steady growth in numbers
• More than 4 million ICT practitioners* in Europe
• From 2.73 million in 2000 to 4.14 million in 2010
• Number has doubled since 1995
• Majority of ICT practitioners (54.5%) are working in ICT
user industries
• 45.5% are working in the ICT sector
‘Inflows’ = down (e.g. computer science graduates)
‘Outflows’ = up (e.g. retirements)
* ISCO213 computer professionals and ISCO312 computer associate professionals
ICT Workforce Development
(EU12 and EU15) 1995-2008
ICT Workforce EU27: 2000-2010
EU27 - Core ICT jobs (ISCO 213, 312)
4,500,000
4,000,000
3,500,000
3,000,000
2,500,000
2,000,000
1,500,000
1,000,000
500,000
0
2000
EU27 2,726,
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
3,173,
3,175,
3,203,
3,251,
3,520,
3,686,
3,793,
3,934,
4,047,
4,144,
Decline of Supply
Computer science graduates in EU27
140000
120000
100000
80000
60000
40000
20000
0
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
Forecasts: Excess Demand
700
1'000 jobs
600
500
Turbo Knowledge
400
Investing in the Future
300
Back to Normal
200
Tradition Wins
Stagnation
100
0
-100
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
Sources: Foresight Report for the European Commission: "Anticipating the Development of the Supply and Demand of e-Skills in
Europe 2010-2015“ (empirica and IDC, November 2009) and IDC White Paper "Post Crisis: e-Skills Are Needed to Drive
Europe's Innovation Society", November 2009
Communication on e-Skills
Adopted by the European Commission on 7 September 2007
• The Communication on “e-Skills for the 21st Century”
includes a long-term e-skills agenda. It was followed by:
• An e-Inclusion initiative
Adopted by the European Commission on 8 November 2007
• Council Conclusions concerning the e-skills strategy
Competitiveness Council on 23 November 2007
• Europe 2020 Flagships adopted in 2010 (Digital Agenda,
Innovation Union etc.)
Action Lines at EU level
•
•
•
•
•
Promoting long-term cooperation
Developing supporting actions and tools
Fostering employability and social inclusion
Raising awareness
Promoting better and greater use of e-learning
Main Activities at EU Level
(2008-2011)














Benchmarking Multi-stakeholder Partnerships
European e-Competence Framework
European e-Skills and Career Portal
Monitoring Supply and Demand
Assessing the Impact of Global Sourcing
Developing Foresight Scenarios
Benchmarking: Financial and Fiscal Incentives in Europe
European e-Competences Curricula Development Guidelines
European e-Skills Workshops and Conferences
European e-Skills 2010 Week: Awareness Raising Campaign
E-Learning Exchange Mechanisms
External Evaluation
Assessing impact of cloud computing, cyber-security and green IT
European Framework for ICT Professionalism
External Evaluation
• Good progress has been made
• ICT industry, governments and stakeholders are
increasingly partnering
• European Commission is the driving force to promote
e-skills in Europe
• National governments followed (e.g. new initiatives in
The Netherlands, Malta etc.) or refocused their own
existing initiatives (e.g. e-Skills UK etc.)
European e-Competence Framework
European e-Competence Framework
• A common pan-European framework for ICT practitioners in
all industry sectors : it is a reference framework of 36 ICT
competences that can be used by ICT user and supply companies,
the public sector, educational and social partners across Europe.
• The framework provides a tool for:
 ICT practitioners and managers, with clear guidelines for their
competence development
 Human resources managers, enabling the anticipation and planning of
competence requirements
 Education and training, enabling effective planning and design of ICT
curricula
 Policy makers and market researchers, providing a clear and Europe-wide
agreed reference for ICT skills and competences in a long-term
perspective
European e-Competences Curriculum Guidelines
e-Skills Industry Leadership Board
European e-Skills and Careers Portal
New Initiatives in 2012
• New initiative on e-Leadership skills: vision, roadmap
and foresight scenarios (SMEs and start-ups)
• European Quality labels for ICT industry based
training and certifications (based on EQAVET)
• European e-Skills Week (26-30 March 2012)
• New Communication of the Commission « Towards a
Job-rich Recovery » accompanied by the Commission
Staff Working Document « Exploiting the
Employment Potential of ICT » (Draft March 2012)
European e-Skills Week
•
•
•
•
March 2010: first awareness raising campaign on e-skills
Target groups: ICT Practitioners and young people
More than 440.000 people participated in 1.300 events
284 Stakeholders (42 Pan-European) including educational
institutions, public bodies, NGOs, associations and industry
European e-Skills Conference (19/03/2012, Brussels)
European e-Skills Week 2012 (26 – 30 March 2012)
http://eskills-week.ec.europa.eu
Contact
 European Commission
DG Enterprise and Industry
Unit D3: ICT for Competitiveness and Industrial
Innovation
B-1049 Brussels
e-mail: andre.richier@ec.europa.eu
 http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/sectors/ict/e-skills/index_en.htm