High-Tech Skills Industry: Increasing EU's Talent Pool and Promoting the Highest Quality Standards in Support of Digital Transformation

• Published in: European Commission
• Main Authors: van der Linden, Niels, Ed, Siebes, Co, Ed, Korte, Werner, Ed, Hüsing, Tobias, Ed, Kolding, Marianne, Ed
• Format: Report
• Language: English
• Published: European Commission 17.06.2019
• Subjects: Best Practices; Business; Competition; Conservation (Environment); Employment Qualifications; Energy; Expertise; Foreign Countries; Guidelines; Industry; Information Technology; Job Skills; Labor Needs; Leadership; Organizational Change; Professional Personnel; Professionalism; Social Change; Social Responsibility; Strategic Planning; Talent; Talent Development; European Union
• DOI: 10.2826/879267
• ISBN: 929202535X; 9789292025359

Skills are at the heart of industrial policy. The EU Industry Days 2019 demonstrated that skills are one of the main concerns of business leaders and social partners. Finding enough people with right skills and access to talents are key for the future of European industry. To prepare the longer-term vision of EU industry, the European Commission established a high-level industrial roundtable: Industry 2030 with the mission to reflect on key elements of industrial transformation towards low carbon, socially responsible and competitive European industry. In addition, the Strategic Forum of important projects of common European interest identified key strategic value chains that require well-coordinated action and investments, joining industry, regions, member States and the EU The Commission promotes industrial competitiveness with all its major initiatives including the Investment Plan for Europe, Single Market Strategy, Circular Economy Package etc. ... and the Skills Agenda for Europe. The digitisation of the economy is fundamentally changing the way enterprises operate. However, many of them do not fully use this potential as they are lacking a digital transformation strategy, expertise and necessary capability. They also face significant shortages of IT professionals; in particular small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have difficulty in recruiting skilled staff. The Digital Skills and Jobs Coalition brings together Member States, social partners and education providers to tackle this issue. It is in this context that this report is being published. The main aim is to present how enterprises, especially SMEs, could increase their digital capability. This includes the competences of both managers and staff, as well as the use of relevant organisational (and business) processes. The report also shows how an appropriate combination of ability, competences, methods, tools and technologies can be achieved. The key lesson is that success is enabled by competences and professionalism at individual and team level and by organisational capabilities at enterprise level. They are indispensable and mutually reinforcing. Mapping digital organisational capability and IT competences is difficult, as their interplay is not always readily understood. This challenge is further compounded by the large number of IT organisational and management frameworks. This brochure presents an overview of the state-of-the-art, testimonies, best practices and proposals for a digital organisational reference framework taking into account the existing e-Competence Framework, which is a standard providing a common language for competences, skills and proficiency levels for IT professionals. For Europe to thrive it will be crucial to increase its talent pool and to promote the highest quality standards in support of digital transformation. [This report was co-produced by Capgemini Invent, Empirica, and IDC.]