skills for smart industrial specialisation and digital ......table of contents foreword...

Skills for Industry

Skills for Smart Industrial Specialisation andDigital Transformation

October 2019

LEGAL NOTICE

This document has been prepared for the European Commission. However, it reflects theviews only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any usewhich may be made of the information contained herein.

More information on the European Union is available on the Internet(http://www.europa.eu).

Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2019

EN PDF ISBN 9978-92-9202-579-3 doi: 10.2826/69861 EA-04-19-517-EN-N

© European Union, 2019

EUROPEAN COMMISSIONExecutive Agency for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (EASME)Department A – COSME, H2020 SMEs and EMFFUnit A1 – COSME

Contacts:

André Richier, Principal Policy OfficerDG for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEsUnit for Advanced Technologies, Clusters and Social EconomyTel: +32 2 29 69 110Email: [email protected]

Paola García Isaak, Project AdviserExecutive Agency for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (EASME)COSME Unit A1.5 CompetitivenessTel: +32 2 29 81816Email: [email protected]

This brochure was prepared by PwC EU Services, as part of the Skills for Smart IndustrialSpecialisation and Digital Transformation project for the Executive Agency for Small andMedium Enterprises (EASME) and the Directorate General for Industry, Growth & InternalMarket (DG GROW) of the European Commission.

Editors: Laurent Probst, Bertrand Pedersen, Jill Wenger & Radu Cracan, PwC.

Table of contents

Foreword

State-of-play analysis on smart industrial specialisation and digitaltransformation

State-of-play analysis on high-tech T-shaped skills in Europe

Comparison of the high-tech skills situation between US and EU

Vision for a Skills for Industry Strategy 2030

Best practices in Europe

Skills for Industry Strategy 2030 modules

- Leadership and Governance

- Territorial skills strategies

- Dedicated funding for re- and upskilling

- Incentives for individuals and businesses

- High-quality vocational education and training

- Accelerated world class curriculum

- Industry-led training infrastructures

- Talent detection and nurturing

- Communication at all levels

5

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

22

24

26

28

30

32

Foreword

A skills revolution is needed.

The political guidelines of President-elect Ursula von der Leyen open theway: “The best investment in our future is the investment in our people.Skills and education drive Europe’s competitiveness and innovation. ButEurope is not yet fully ready. I will ensure that we use all the tools andfunds at our disposal to redress this balance”.

In today’s world of rapid technological disruption, automation, climatechange, globalisation, new trade patterns and demographic shifts we needto make sure people have the right skills.

Over 70% of European enterprises report that lack of skills hampers theirinvestment. Half of the workforce may require upskilling in the next fiveyears. And this is a particular challenge for small and medium enterprises(SMEs).

Supporting upskilling and reskilling for all is essential for Europe to make asuccess of our digital and green transitions and ensure no one is leftbehind. Action is needed across all types and levels of skills. Skills gaps,shortages and mismatches act as a brake on innovation and adoption ofadvanced technologies. Digital skills in particular are a pressing challenge.Moreover, a broader set of soft skills, such as problem solving,communication, creativity, readiness to learn and critical thinking, isincreasingly demanded by employers.

A paradigm shift is needed. We need to re-think our educational models sothat learning throughout life becomes the norm. While the maincompetence for skills lies at Member State level - and this is where actionneeds to be taken first and foremost - the EU also has a responsibility. Skillsare at the heart of the European Pillar of Social Rights, the EU SingleMarket, the Industrial Policy and the SME Strategy. This report is acontribution to building a shared vision and strategy on skills for industry.

Slawomir Tokarski Manuela GelengDirector DirectorEuropean Commission European CommissionDG Internal Market, Industry, DG Employment, SocialEntrepreneurship and SMEs Affairs and Inclusion

State-of-play analysis on smart industrial specialisation and digital transformation

Europe needs to increase advanced technologiesuptake across sectors and geographies

Smart industrial specialisation and digitaltransformation in Europe

The European economy is going through majorchanges and stakeholders at all levels are aware ofthese transformations. Industry 4.0, new advancedtechnologies, digital transformation, and artificialintelligence, all influence industry as a whole, aswell as individual enterprises.

In line with these trends, several challenges havebeen identified:

• Emerging technologies spread slowly (“valley ofdeath”), especially across SMEs;

• Increased global competition results in growingpressure on European enterprises;

• Global value chains and digital transformationare impacting the workforce.

Global positioning of EU

The European Union holds remarkable competitivepositions in several industrial sectors. Yet, whenassessing the geographic adoption of new advancedtechnologies, the EU lags behind North America inadditive 3D printing and artificial intelligence, and ispositioned behind Asia-Pacific in robotics. The EU’sglobal market share on key sectors is the following :

Automotive semiconductors

Robotics

Embedded systems

Semiconductor equipment

Photonics components

55%33%30%20%20%

Source: European Commission. 2018. Re-finding industry, Report from the High-Level Strategy Group onIndustrial Technologies.

Skills for Smart Industrial Specialisation and Digital Transformation 6

Elżbieta Bieńkowska, European Commission, delivered an Opening Messageto the participants at the Skills for Industry Strategy 2030 Conference

“We need an ambitious strategy onskills. A strategy that ensures, at thesame time, that individuals have accessto jobs and career opportunities andthat businesses have access to thetalents they need.”

– Elżbieta Bieńkowska, EuropeanCommissioner for Internal Market,Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs

Focus areas of Member States and regions

Overall, performance in production technologies ishigh across the EU, while performance in digital andcyber technologies is relatively low. In general, thekey focus areas based on the highest participationby the regions are the bio-economy and highperformance production through 3D printingfollowed by efficient and sustainable manufacturingaccording to recent findings on the S3-IndustrialModernisation Platform and the Vanguard Initiativeplatform. The recent launch of numerous additionalinitiatives under the Platform is the true indicationof the growing ambition led by EU regions to drivesmart industrial specialisation further.

When analysing the incorporation of advancedtechnologies into research and innovation strategiesfor smart specialisation (RIS3) priorities at nationaland regional levels since 2013 to date, advancedmanufacturing technologies, advanced materialsand industrial biotech were among the leadingapplication areas, while other new technologies,such as micro and nano-electronics, photonics,nanotech, cybersecurity had lower focus comparedto the first group of technologies, followed byartificial intelligence (AI) to a lesser extent.

Moreover, the generation of patents on advancedtechnologies is developed across most regions, yetdistribution across the EU remains heterogeneous.Most patents are introduced on advancedmanufacturing systems, advanced materials, andmicro- and nano-electronics, while nanotech hasthe smallest share.

Diverse performance across EUInitiatives as well as the generation of patents areheterogeneously distributed across the EU,creating an innovation gap in Europe. According tothe ‘readiness for future production’ of the WorldEconomic Forum (WEF), Europe seems to be wellpositioned. Germany, the Netherlands, the UnitedKingdom, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, France,Ireland, Austria, Belgium, Spain, Estonia, Italy,Poland, Slovenia and the Czech Republic are rankedunder the leading countries category. However,Portugal, Lithuania, Slovakia, Romania, Hungary,Latvia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece and Cyprus arerelatively low on readiness for future productionwhere improvements on drivers of production, aswell as structure of production, are needed.

At city level, London, Munich and Paris are listedamong the top five tech hotspots globally. They arealso included in the top 10 cities of the EDCi indexbased on the framework conditions they providefor digital transformation in support of start-upsand scale-ups together with Stockholm, Helsinki,Amsterdam, Dublin, Vienna, Copenhagen.

There is a vast amount of initiatives spread all overthe EU either lead by public, private or in the formof partnerships. The problem is not the lack ofinitiatives, but mainly the lack of coordination andcoherence between all existing strategies andinitiatives – vertically and horizontally. In order totackle this, more orchestrated efforts for the co-development and co-implementation of industrialpolicies at all levels are needed.

7Skills for Smart Industrial Specialisation and Digital Transformation

Regions to heterogeneously benefit from AI

Source: PwC's Global Artificial Intelligence Study: Sizing the prize

© alphaspirit/Shutterstock.com

State-of-play analysis on high-tech T-shaped skills in Europe

The growing focus on advanced technologiesincreases demand for T-shaped high-tech skills

Labour market shifts

In line with current changes in the economy, and tosome extent representing a cause, the labourmarket is experiencing similar transformations,moving towards more dynamic adjustments. TheOECD considers that technological innovation,globalisation and an ageing population drive thepolarisation of the labour market in Europe.

This polarisation, in the context of automation andchanging jobs, is, on one hand, increasing demandfor advanced skills and creating skills shortages,especially in ICT-related jobs.

On the other hand, low and especially middle-skilledjobs, which are susceptible to automation, are beingcrowded out, creating skills obsolescence. At thesame time, jobs are being redefined at a faster rategiven the increased pace of innovation.


Changing demand for skills

In line with these changes, industry increasinglyseeks more advanced, or new, skills. For instance,reports show that demand for jobs that includeprogramming is growing 50% faster than the jobmarket overall, and workers with skills that fit hybridjobs are particularly sought after.

As such, industry will demand more comprehensiveskills profiles, which will include science, technology,engineering, and mathematics subjects; literacy,numeracy and digital, data literacy; and a mix ofcognitive and socio-emotional skills. Numerousstudies find that with increasing non-routine jobs,transversal skills will become imperative.

T-shaped skills model

The skills requested by industry are not merelytechnical. The notion of high-tech T-shaped skillsand the future professional can be recognised incurrent skills initiatives, policies and strategies inEurope.

However, they are not labelled, positioned orarticulated as such, and their relation to theconcept often needs to be inferred from theoutside. Policymakers at the European level couldconsider promoting the concept more actively.

Source: PwC Analysis

Key findings of the state-of-play analysis

To address these challenges, there has been aemerging movement towards training high-techskills. The existing initiatives display the followingcommon features:

• The most dominant focus is currently onco-development of educational initiatives andmaterials between private and public sector;

• Initiatives that introduce high-tech topics tochildren starting from an early age, and initiativesthat adapt University programmes to the highly-skilled human capital needs of industry, arecommon as well;

• These initiatives typically focus on technicalaspects of the high-tech T-shaped concept, andcombinations between technical skills andmanagerial and entrepreneurial skills arecommon, as are combinations with quality, riskand safety skills;

• Emotional intelligence and transversal skills arenot apparent in the policies and initiatives thathave been analysed;

• The systems-thinking aspect of the high-tech T-shaped concept is also not apparent in theinitiatives encountered so far.


The identified initiatives have some commonfeatures in design and implementation, namely:

• Involving and mobilising industrial partners andlocal government;

• Targeted delivery methods of specific skills-development initiatives;

• Sectoral coordination of policies, initiatives andeducational programmes.

In addition, the analysis indicates that successfulinitiatives combine private and public funding,where private and academic partners alsocontribute non-financially (e.g. knowledge andmaterials), and in general these are industry-ledapproaches. Some initiatives also include user-friendliness of online platforms, are visible withinand outside their ecosystem, and are evaluated byinternal actors, external actors or users.

The analysis also shows the importance of dual-track education from a lifelong learningperspective, which is seen as the key instrument inbridging the skills gap.

© Shutterstock.com

Intelligent Digital Mesh

Augmented Analytics* Empowered Edge

Autonomous Things Digital Twin

AI-Driven Development Immersive Experience

Blockchain

Smart Spaces

Quantum Computing

Privacy and Ethics

Top Strategic Technology Trends presented by Gregor Petri, Research Vice-President, Gartner,at the Skills for Industry Strategy 2030 Conference

Source: Gartner

The way ahead – upskilling and reskilling

Building on the existing initiatives, the way aheadfor Europe is to ensure that the right policies are inplace to enable the workers to upskill and developrelevant competences to thrive in a digitalisedworkplace.

Estimates indicate that upskilling, especially withinenterprises, is a rational investment and public andprivate stakeholders must concentrate on scaling-up initiatives focused on upskilling the currentworkforce.


“Should upskilling become themainstream solution, when €1invested can bring about €2 in savingsfor corporates and governments?”– Laurent Probst, Partner, PwC

© Shutterstock.com

Laurent Probst, PwC, at the Skills for IndustryStrategy 2030 Conference

Upskilling initiative in a multinationalprofessional services company

PwC is launching a new program, entitled “NewWorld, New Skills,” that will focus on the growingmismatch between people’s existing skills andthe new skills demanded by the digital economy.The firm will invest $3 billion over the next fouryears in upskilling — primarily in training PwCstaff, but also in developing and sharingtechnologies to support clients and communities.

The four focus areas of the program are:

• Upskilling all of PwC’s 276,000 people. Thefirm will roll out different programs that meettheir particular needs, from skills academiesto digital fitness apps and leadershipdevelopment. A proportion of PwC’sworkforce will develop specialist skills inareas including data analytics, roboticsprocess automation and artificial intelligencefor use in their work. For others, it’s aboutunderstanding the potential of newtechnologies so they can advise clients,communities and other stakeholders.

• advising clients on the challenges posed byrapid technological change and automation.This includes identifying skills gaps andmismatches against likely future needs,workforce planning, upskilling programs andcultural change.

• PwC will work with governments andinstitutions to reach a much broader group ofpeople.

• PwC will make upskilling a focus of its non-profit initiatives as well. This includes workingwith students and teachers, which will helpensure opportunities are more evenly spreadand the firm reach people who mayotherwise be left behind.

Investment in upskilling overthe next four years3bn

employees will benefit fromthe program worldwide276k


© Shutterstock.com

“The traditional system is changing, aspeople will need to continuously upskillto move from one job to another oreven to remain in jobs that will beprofoundly transformed.”– Montserrat Gomendio, Head of the Centrefor Skills, OECD

of EU manufacturing firmsreport lacking workers with theright skills79%

Source: EIB, Investment Survey 2018/2019

of jobs now require IT skills90%Source: European Commission, AI The future of work? The work of the future

53%Source: Eurostat

of EU enterprises that tried torecruit IT specialists had hard-to-fill vacancies in 2017

Montserrat Gomendio, OECD, at the Skills forIndustry Strategy 2030 Conference

A new way to re-engineer skills systems presented by the OECD at the Skills for IndustryStrategy 2030 Conference

Source: OECD


Comparison of the high-tech skills situation between US and EU

As developed economies, the US and EU facesimilar skills challenges

The US and EU face similar skills challenges

High-tech T-shaped skills challenges and their policyresponse in the United States largely resemblethose in the European Union. High-tech areas thatreceive significant policy attention are similar acrossthe US and the EU – technology domains that relateto 21st century IT, advanced manufacturing, systemsbiology and life sciences, and innovative materials.

The challenges in the US resemble those targetedby EU policymakers:

• Having high-tech careers seen as attractive andprestigious;

• Generating high-tech awareness a decade beforestudents enter the workforce;

• Introducing technical education early in a youngstudent’s curriculum and introducing high-techtopics to children at an early age;

• Encouraging co-development of educationalinitiatives and materials across stakeholders;

• Adapting University programmes to the humancapital needs of industry; preparing a futuregeneration of researchers, engineers, designersand business leaders to the latest technologies;

• Promoting training activities aimed at improvingtransversal high-tech skills.

Second, both the US and EU discourses on skillsgaps emphasise the importance of multidisciplinaryresearch and education. Also, there appears to beoverlap in the demand for non-technical skills, andthe ambition to instil non-technical skills in high-tech workers and students in the US and in the EU.


Another similarity can be seen in policy thinking onthis matter, both in the problem analysis and in theoperational response. The high-tech labour marketsin the US and the EU are highly credentialed. At thesame time, credentials for transversal and non-technical skills typically do not exist. In response,relatively small-scale and scattered initiatives havesprung up to develop and implement skill andcompetence certificates for non-technical skills andfor technical skills generated outside of formaleducation. The reach, coverage and recognition ofthese certificates can differ widely.

In the US and in the EU, public sector organisationsstruggle to hire and retain high-tech talent. At thesame time, across the globe, governments andpublic sector organisations will have increasingdemand for experts and other high skilled high-techworkers. To complement initiatives fromgovernment and from educators, private sectorinitiatives have been implemented. In the US, theseprivate sector initiatives appear to be moreprevalent than in the EU

.

Growth in STEM occupationsby 2030 in the US37%

Source: McKinsey Global Institute. 2019. The future of work in America

Solveigh Hieronimus, McKinsey, at the Skillsfor Industry Strategy 2030 Conference

The role of the US defence industry

A major point of difference in the high-tech T-shaped skills domain between the US and the EUcan be found in the US defence ecosystem.

The US military for decades has invested heavily inthe design, development and manufacture ofweapons capabilities, and has had a stake in asteady supply of a highly skilled US workforce. Atthe same time, investments in defence-relatedresearch in the EU have not been as significant,and have been decided on at the Member Statelevel.

Nevertheless, EU defence-related enterprises areincreasingly becoming more digitalised and requirenew skills sets to realise this digital transformation.As the figure below illustrates, Airbus expects asignificant increase in recruiting talent with IT-related competences.


Tackling grand societal challenges

Both at federal and state levels, US public policyrelevant to skills challenges mostly targets workersbelow tertiary education.

Policy instruments such as Career Pathways andCluster Skills Development are coordinated at thevocational, post-secondary level by communitycolleges that work together with social serviceproviders, economic development agencies,employers and labour unions, but not necessarilywith Universities, high-tech enterprises or start-upcommunities. It is also predominantly the focus ofthe initiatives of large IT companies.

A clear difference appears to exist between the USand the EU regarding the political support forpolicymaking for grand societal challenges.

Where the EU develops and implements multi-annual research and innovation as well as regionaldevelopment programmes around specific societalchallenges, the US Government seems tosignificantly adapt the direction of policymakingdepending on short-term changes in thecomposition of its political bodies.

70%

30%

Non-STEMoccupations inUS defenceindustry

STEMoccupations

Source: Brandon Hall Group

“It is in the best interest of everyindividual to gain new skills.Europe needs to give themthe right framework to do so.”– Dr. Christoph Peylo, Global Head of BoschCentre for Artificial Intelligence

Christoph Peylo, Bosch, at the Skills forIndustry Strategy 2030 Conference


Vision for a Skills for Industry Strategy 2030

Building a comprehensive Vision for a Skills forIndustry Strategy 2030

A forward-looking vision for EU industry

Based on the previous analysis and stakeholderconsultations, a vision has been elaborated todefine the objectives and priorities of an ambitiousSkills for Industry Strategy 2030 for Europe.

The core objective of this vision is to reinforce theglobal competitiveness of industry and strengthensocial cohesion.

The key to capitalise on the new technologicalopportunities is a workforce that is capable andmotivated to realise its full potential.


Key dimensions of the visionThe vision covers all three sets of skills:

• Sector-specific,

• High-tech and digital skills,

• Transversal skills, conceptualised as high-techT-shaped skills.

The vision aims to foster the development of skillsfor excellence and personal development.

It also seeks to mobilise and combine resources atcity, regional, national and EU levels to make skillsan opportunity for everyone and bridge the largeinvestment need in upskilling the workforce.

Source: PwC analysis

Key characteristics of the vision for Skills for Industry Strategy 2030

It further aspires to raise widespread momentum byinspiring all key players to take part in collectivelydesigning and implementing powerful territorialskills strategies and thus turn the potentialchallenges brought by digital transformation andindustrial modernisation into opportunities.

The vision wants to introduce a paradigm shift tothe entire ecosystem of workforce planning,education and training provision for high-tech skillsdevelopment, as well as to revolutionise the wayeducation and trainings are provided.

One of its main goals is therefore to make theLifelong Learning’ concept a reality for all byempowering individuals and giving them a greaterresponsibility for their own skills development.


Operationalising the Vision

To facilitate the operationalisation of the vision, aproposal for a Skills for Industry Strategy 2030 hasbeen developed. It includes nine modules, eachincluding a set of key policy recommendations.

These nine modules have been developed to guidedifferent stakeholder groups on developing andimplementing their own skill strategies aligned withtheir industrial, research and innovation strategiesfor smart specialisation initiatives.

They offer food for thought and aim to encourage awider debate on Europe’s growing skills gap andhow to meet the industry’s need for workers withthe necessary high-tech skills to drive innovation.

Skills forIndustryStrategy

2030

Communicationat all levels

Mobiliseresources

Introduce aparadigm shift

Raisewidespreadmomentum

Encouragea shift toLifelongLearning

At allpublic levels

Privatefinance

Foster thedevelopment of

skills for excellence

Leadership&

governance

High-qualityvocational education

and training

Incentives forindividuals

andbusinesses

Acceleratedworld-classcurriculum

Industry-ledtraining

infrastructureTalent

detectionand

nurturing

Territorialskills

strategies

The Skills for Industry Strategy 2030

Source: PwC analysis


Best practices in Europe

Current efforts can serve as a solid basis forthe skills upgrade of the EU workforce

Scope of the analysis

Following the state-of-play analysis that identifiedthe existing initiatives in the EU, a selection of bestpractices shortlisted 20 cases. These aim to:

Inspire the operationalisation of the Skills forIndustry Strategy 2030;

Identify lessons learned for developingpolicy recommendations;

Highlight best practices that otherstakeholders could implement or scale up.


Methodology employed

Based on desk research, expert consultation, andthe identification of success signals, the identifiedcases were then further assessed based on thefollowing criteria:

• Replicability – defined as the ease with which theinitiative can be emulated;

• Scalability – refers to the potential of upscalingthe initiative or implementing it to a higher policylevel;

• Transferability – the potential of implementingthe policy in another context (region/industry);

• Vision alignment – the extent to which the casestudy aligns with the defined objectives andcharacteristics of the Skills for Industry Strategy;

• Policy recommendations alignment – the extentto which the case study can inform action atdifferent policy-making levels and stakeholdergroups.

“We need to develop a joint masterplan that defines clear responsibilitiesand supports the launch of innovativeupskilling pilots.”

– Christian Hoffman, Senior DirectorGovernment Affairs, Siemens AG

1

2

3

100+initiatives led by industry, governments, and hybridorganisations in smart industrial specialisation anddigital transformation have been screened

Christian Hoffman, Siemens, at the Skills forIndustry Strategy 2030 Conference

Overview of the best practices

20 best practices that serve as food for thought andinspiration for other actors interested in developingdedicated skills strategies were analysed. In linewith the vision, special attention has been paid toselecting best practices that break with traditionalsiloed organisational structures and encouragetransversal activities. The figure below maps thebest practices and presents key information.

Two complementary categories of initiatives can bedistinguished:

1. Best practices that address the supply of skills,i.e. trainings and upskilling of the workforce (e.g.Technofutur, IMEC Academy, PROMPT),

2. Initiatives that focus on skills needs to furtherinnovation and enhance the competitiveness ofkey sectors, with particular focus on SMEs (e.g.Silicon Europe, Brainport Development, CNSP).


The selected best practices demonstrate that allstakeholders – public, private, academia, clustersand international organisations – need to be awareof the expanding skills challenges.

All parties need to undertake a concerted approachto addressing the problems at city, regional,national and EU levels. Stakeholders need toincreasingly work together to define problems anddevelop common solutions, mostly in the form ofpublic-private partnerships.

The coordination is necessary to make sure that allinitiatives and policies are effective, complementeach other and are not duplicates. On the otherhand, comprehensive policies need to beimplemented to support SME development.

City Cluster Regional National European

Private-led

Public-ledInitiative

Initiative

LevelLevel

Building a NationalSkills Strategy

Skillnet Ireland

The six city strategy

Professional Master inSoftware Engineering

ReDI

Skills for LondonersStrategy

Technofutur TIC

Learning Factories4.0

The Business andShared Services

Centre

Engineer of theFuture & AGUPP

Luxembourg DigitalSkills Bridge

Bosch Center forArtificial

Intelligence

IBM Skills AcademyPoland

Cisco NetworkingAcademy

imec.academy

Associazione FabbricaIntelligenteLombardia

BrainportDevelopment

Building the RightInvestments for

Delivering aGrowing Economy

Silicon Europe

SEMI


Skills for Industry Strategy 2030 Modules – Leadership and Governance

Leaders at all levels must ensure effectivegovernance of skill strategies

Skills LeadershipThe multi-dimensionality of skills systems requiresboth dedicated leadership and strong governanceacross stakeholder groups and public policy levels.

The successful implementation of the vision for aSkills for Industry Strategy 2030 requires leadershipand a clear governance structure. All actors involvedat the city, regional, national and EU levels need tobe assigned a set of roles and responsibilities toassure the efficient execution of comprehensive andcoherent skills strategies.

The definition of the following key roles at distinctlevel is recommended:

• Vice-President or Commissioner responsible forSkills in the European Commission;

• National Minister responsible for Skills;• Regional or Cluster Skills Leader;• And where appropriate, City Skills Leader.

The Vice-President or Commissioner responsible forSkills in the European Commission would be taskedwith the development, coordination and executionof the EU overarching skills strategy.

At the national level, a dedicated Skills Ministershould be defined, embodying a shift in paradigmfrom lifelong employment to lifelong learning.

Lastly, regional or cluster skills leaders should benamed to ensure the adaptation of theactivities/initiatives to local needs and priorities.Large cities may also need to have a Skills leader.


“We do not have an alternative. We have to be able, as business leaders, as politicians, astrade unions, to organise and manage this change for the good of everybody.”

– Nicolas Schmit, MEP, at the Skills for Industry Strategy 2030 Conference

Nicolas Schmit, MEP (Luxembourg), at theSkills for Industry Strategy 2030 Conference

Territorial Skills Councils

To facilitate collaboration between the differentlevel of intervention (city, regional, national and EU),Territorial Skills Councils could be introduced. Theirmain objective would be to align the efforts of allkey players involved to ensure the development andthe efficient implementation of relevant territorialskills strategies. They would actively facilitate andmonitor the implementation of short-, medium- andlong-term reskilling and upskilling initiatives.

Members should include industry (including SMEs),trade union, research, education and trainingrepresentatives. The structures should remain agile,independent and well resourced.

The successful execution of the skills strategies willrequire significant investments and the necessaryfunds need to be made available to enable largescale reskilling and upskilling efforts.

By bringing together all stakeholders concernedunder a clear motivated leadership, territorial skillscouncils will greatly facilitate the implementation ofthe Skills for Industry Strategy 2030 for Europe.

Skills for Smart Industrial Specialisation and Digital Transformation

The important role of clustersSkills gaps vary depending on the industries,specialisations and demographics present in eachregion. Local actors have a deep understanding ofthe challenges and needs faced by their populationand will be able to ensure the introduction ofterritorial skills strategies that best meet allrequirements.

In this sense, local clusters can take this role andensure that these structures remain agile,independent and well financed.

Bianca Dragomir, AVAESEN Cluster, at theSkills for Industry Strategy 2030 Conference

“We need exponential solutions, the linearones are simply not enough anymore.Clusters can catalyse this change at speedand scale and be the leaders we must have.”

– Bianca Dragomir, CEO, AVAESEN Cluster

19

“Clusters play an important role as key enablers of regional and national skills strategies.”

– Julien Guerrier, Director, Executive Agency for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (EASME)

Skills governance

Given the multi-faceted nature of skills systems,strong leadership must be complemented by aneffective governance system, both vertically andhorizontally.

As emphasised by the OECD, strengthening thegovernance of skills systems must start with awhole-of-government approach by promotingcoordination, cooperation and collaboration acrossthe government institutions. This should beimplemented by first mapping the entire skillssystem, building the right institutions andimproving the evaluation and monitoring systems.

Best Practice: Ireland’s Department ofEducation and Skills and National SkillsStrategy 2025The National Skills Strategy 2025 was developed toensure a more dynamic, responsive and high qualitysystem that provides all learners with the knowledgeand skills they need to participate fully in society andthe economy.

The skills strategy is complemented by a national andregional skills architecture that enables collaborationand effective implementation. Prioritisation of skillsneeds will be overseen by the new National SkillsCouncil. The new Regional Skills Fora will facilitateongoing employer-educator dialogue to matchidentified needs with sustainable provision in eachregion, thereby optimising the return on Irishinvestment in education and training.

The National Skills Council and the Regional Skills Forawill be supported by The Department of Education andSkills, which will oversee the implementation andcollaboration between different governance levels.

Initiatives will be monitored by existing mechanismsand regular impact evaluations.

Source: Department of Education and Skills. 2018. Ireland’s National Skills Strategy 2025.


“Given the multi-layered, multi-dimensionalnature of skills systems, the solution is isstrong and innovative skills governance.”

– Antonio Ranieri, Head of Department forLearning and Employability, CEDEFOP

Source: PwC Analysis

Antonio Ranieri, CEDEFOP, at the Skills forIndustry Strategy 2030 Conference


Thierry Baril, Airbus, at the Skills for Industry 2030 Conference

“We think it is time to create an international forecasting group, together with institutions,education and companies, in order to work with a prospective view in the next five,ten years on the future of skills.

We are looking for working with other, join us if you are interested”. ”

– Thierry Baril, Chief Human Resources Officer, Airbus

Best practice: Airbus’ Engineer of the futureand Global University Partner ProgrammeAirbus’ Engineer of the Future is a yearly evolvingwhitepaper started in 2014 by the Airbus GlobalUniversity Partner Programme (AGUPP). Its purposeis to capture key points from the ongoing dialogueamong AGUPP stakeholders about the skills andcompetencies needed by future Airbus engineers,and how Airbus can work together with Universitiesto develop them.

In its essence, the whitepaper defines the skillsneeds of the company in the short to medium-term.It is a mechanism by which Airbus articulates a clearvision of the graduate engineering skills it needs,partner Universities remain informed of this vision,and Airbus and partner Universities work togetherto develop and realise this vision.

Airbus’ vision of the future engineer is based onfour pillars:

(1) Technical skills;

(2) Transversal disciplines;

(3) Generic disciplines; and

(4) Soft skills.

As such, the T-shaped engineer is becoming a Pi-shaped engineer, with the extension to the ‘π’shape representing an engineer’s transferable skillsand commercial awareness.

Soft transferrable skills are of great significance,given the need to work together in flatter, morecomplex environments, with an emphasis on inter-personal, team work, as well as cross-cultural skills.

Source: Airbus, The Engineer of the Future White Paper 2018. Airbus, 2017 Annual Report AGUPP


Skills for Industry Strategy 2030 Modules – Territorial skills strategies

Skills strategies are needed at all policy levelsin line with economic specificities

Context

According to the 2019 OECD Skills Outlook, only afew countries are prepared to fully reap the benefitsof digitalisation, as most of them lack the skills andlifelong learning systems necessary to allow theircitizens to thrive in the digital world.

Most EU Member States thus lack sufficientlydeveloped skills strategies to drive their workforces’future development and strengthen theircompetitiveness.

In addition, besides national skills strategies, asexemplified by Portugal’s experience with workingwith the OECD, Member States, especially regionallydiverse ones, also need more localised strategies.These should be in line with the smart specialisationstrategies defined at regional level.


Definition and implementation of TerritorialSkills Strategies

Member States should therefore be encouraged todevelop comprehensive Territorial Skills Strategiesto ensure, on aggregate, the continuedcompetitiveness of the European industry. Theseare characterised by:

Leadership by the Territorial Skills Councils

Clear, measurable and achievable objectiveswith clear deadlines

Forward-looking regarding technologytrends and based on data and facts

Best practice: Portugal – Building a National Skills StrategyThe Portuguese National Skills Strategy, developed by thecross-ministerial Portuguese National Project Team withthe support of the OECD, is built on the in-depth analysisof the existing education system and the skills gapsnoted.

The OECD Skills Strategy initiative provides a strategicapproach to skills policies to strengthen countries’ skillsstrategies through the coherent development, activationand effective use of skills. Its objective is to promoteeconomic prosperity and social cohesion, reflecting astrong focus on ‘lifetime employability’.

The Portuguese project started in 2014 with a diagnosticphase that included numerous workshops andstakeholder consultations, and resulted in the 2015Diagnostic Report that identified key challenges to beaddressed by Portuguese policymakers.

The key challenges identified for Portugal and which arecritical to an effective skills system were: developingrelevant skills, activating the supply of skills, using skillseffectively and enabling conditions.

In line with this initiative, the Portuguese governmentlaunched a number of concrete actionable programmesbetween 2014 and 2018, which resulted in the reductionof school dropouts in basic and early education anddecreased the number of students leaving educationearly.

Furthermore, the country saw a significant decrease ofyouth unemployment, an increasing number of adults inqualification programmes (20,000 to 110,000), and anincrease in students entering higher education.

Source: OECD. 2018. Skills Strategy Implementation Guidance for Portugal.

Territorial Skills Strategies features

Territorial Skills Strategies should be aligned to thekey characteristics defined in the vision for the Skillsfor Industry Strategy 2030 and address the followingthemes in particular:

• The development of new world-class curriculaallowing students to gain the skills required byindustry;

• The review and modernisation of VET available toencourage innovative thinking;

• The development of territorial methodologies,systems and infrastructures to facilitate thedetection and nurturing of talent;

• The increased introduction of industry-ledtraining infrastructures and their opening toSMEs and the wider public to facilitate thesharing of knowledge;

• The introduction of programmes targeting theneeds of specific demographics (e.g. women,NEETs - Not in Education, Employment, orTraining - elderly people, and migrants);

• The continuous assessment of the effect majorexternal factors, global warming, economicdownturns and technological revolutions willhave on the skills required by the workforce.


Best practice: 6Aika – The six city strategy

6Aika - open and intelligent services - is a flagshipjoint development strategy focused on thesustainable urban development of the six largestcities of Finland which are home to almost 30 % ofFinland's overall population (Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa,Tampere, Turku and Oulu). The strategy covers theperiod 2014-2020 and aims to create newcompetences, businesses and jobs in Finland.

The strategy is based on co-operation betweenmunicipalities, enterprises, citizens, and Universitiesin a quadruple helix model.

Given the broad scope of developed projects inurban development, four training and education-related projects have been approved, with a specificfocus on smart learning solutions and trainingcitizens in innovative sectors. With schools acting asplatforms for innovation and experimentation, astrong collaboration can lead to better products and,in turn, better learning outcomes.

Moreover, teachers actively participate in the pilotprojects, and can offer valuable input, while pupilscan familiarise themselves with new technologies.

Source: 6Aika. 2019.

Joost Korte, European Commission DG EMPL,at the Skills for Industry Strategy 2030Conference

Increased cross-border collaboration

To avoid creating silos across EU Member States,collaboration between regions and states isnecessary to share resources and expertise. Asexemplified by Silicon Europe (cross-border), butalso by the 6Aika initiative, which is an example ofcollaboration between cities, similar cooperationmodels could be employed in implementing skillsstrategies. This will allow to:

Expand existing synergies between regions;

Facilitate the active implementation ofterritorial skills strategies;

Include common initiatives between regionsto split costs and share resources;


Skills for Industry Strategy 2030 Modules – Dedicated funding for re- and upskilling

Funding at EU level should be organised tomaximise investment uptake


Context

The continued reskilling and upskilling of theEuropean workforce will require significant financialsupport at all levels (EU, national, regional and city)and rely on public funding and private investment.

At present, general limited awareness of existing EUfunds and how to leverage them hinders the uptakeof reskilling and upskilling solutions. Many differentschemes with varying purposes and eligibility criteriaexist. Yet, they often lack a clear entry door thatwould ensure their widespread utilisation.

In other instances, the accompanying guidelines andcriteria to respect might be too restrictive to allowfor their use by innovative approaches. Regionalleaders and business owners often struggle to findthe information they need to apply for the fundingschemes available or do not possess sufficientresources to complete the entire application process.

Pre-financing mechanisms are often missing andprivate funding needs to be leveraged. Finally, thegeneral public still considers skills as intangible assetsthat cannot be invested in or do not offer a clearreturn on investment (ROI). A shift in the way societysees skills and their centrality to the continuedcompetitiveness of European industry thus needs tobe encouraged and facilitated.

Review and expansion of EU funding schemes

Funding and investment tools need to allow for thesuccessful set-up and execution of comprehensiveterritorial skills strategies. Dedicated reskilling andupskilling funding should be earmarked and usedwith the sole intention to support of reskilling,upskilling and promote the lifelong employability ofEurope’s workforce.

The development and rollout of new skills strategiesand initiatives will require the provision of dedicatedfunding and investment tools that will allowindustry large and small, as well as individuals (e.g.individual learning accounts) to invest in their skillsand ensure the adoption of a lifelong learning mind-set. Finally, new pre-financing mechanisms that willallow smaller businesses and SMEs in particular toupskill their workforce should be established.

To align efforts, simplify access and thus improvethe efficient use of funds available, a dedicatedworking group should be set up, representing eachfund and Directorate Generals (DGs) involved in theimplementation of the future multi-annual financialframework (2021-2027).

Set-up of a one-stop-shop

The introduction of a one-stop-shop, providingstakeholders with a clear view on all the fundsavailable for their skilling needs is recommended. Toensure the rightful use of funds offered andencourage a wider upskilling movement, thoseinterested in advancing the upskilling of theEuropean workforce require a clear view on thefunds available, their target groups as well as on theapplication criteria to respect.

Clusters might play an enabling role in this regard.Acting as an interface between industry, academiaand governments, cluster organisations are wellpositioned to assume an enabling role in thedefinition and execution of territorial skillsstrategies. They can serve as an initial point ofcontact between all actors (e.g. public authorities,industry, SMEs representatives, training providers,individuals) and provide them with an overview ofall the funding schemes available. A further keyactor to promote the set-up of one-stop-shopsmight be regional bodies such as for example theESF Agency Flanders.


Expand the Blueprint for sectoralcooperation on skills

Launched in 2018, the activities of the Blueprint forsectoral cooperation on skills are broadly in linewith the proposed vision. The concept of theBlueprint aims to progressively rollout the initialpilot activities at EU level to the national andregional levels, working directly with national andregional authorities as well as key stakeholders.This expansion would increase the potential impactof the Blueprint and encourage a comprehensivesectoral skills strategy at all levels of governance.

Moreover, the concept could eventually expand tosupport important strategic sectors of commonEuropean interest and value chains, as well asworld-class best practices and innovative upskillingsolutions developed by stakeholders.

Development of a new skills funding branding

Simultaneously, a common branding of the fundsavailable should be considered. Funding schemesshould be clearly branded as such and their targetaudiences easily identifiable. ‘Skills Funds’ would beintroduced at the regional, national and EU levelsand would regroup all the funding mechanismsavailable under a common umbrella.

The regrouping of the funds contributing to skillsdevelopment would facilitate the visibility of skillsfunding available and allow industry leaders,education and training providers as well asindividuals to identify easily the funding tools theymight be eligible for.

Source: ESF Vlaanderen. 2019.

Best Practice: ESF Agency Flanders

The ESF Agency Flanders is responsible for themanagement and implementation of the newFlemish European Social Fund programmes(ESF), the Asylum, Migration and IntegrationFund (AMIF) as well as the EuropeanGlobalization Fund (EGF).

The ESF has three defining roles:

• Reinforce existing programmes,

• Upgrade and innovate policies and

• Encourage the dissemination of bestpractices and learned lessons cross-regionand among Member States.

In this sense, the agency only finances actionsthat are additional to the Flemish policy, andworks closely with the unemployment agencyto support the development of skills amongthe unemployed. Similar support is offered tothe employed, but is focused on skills for thefuture and usually for those working in SMEs.

“The EIB, as the bank of the EU, wantsto increase its financing supporttowards projects that address skillsgaps or upskilling.”– Laura Piovesan, Director, Innovation andCompetitiveness Department, EIB

EUR 1.5bnof EFSI funding has been allocated to thearea of human capital, culture and health,only 4% of total invested EFSI.

Source: European Parliament. 2018. Skills development: The potential of the European Fundfor Strategic Investments.


Skills for Industry Strategy 2030 Modules – Incentives for individuals and businesses

Incentive mechanisms should be adopted toencourage lifelong learning

Context

Making lifelong learning a reality for all will require asignificant change in the way we see and delivereducation and training. To encourage its widespreadadoption in society, human-centric incentives needto be proposed. Enterprises, SMEs, workers, trainingproviders and academic institutions will also need tobe encouraged to change the way they work.

At present, the incentives offered do not align withthe needs of employees and employers, leading to aslow uptake of reskilling and upskilling solutions.Individuals are not being sufficiently helped toinvest in the development of their skills to ensurelifelong employability. Many are still reticent to pro-actively learn new skills continuously and to expandtheir knowledge to fields of interest beyond theirchosen specialization / trade. This lack of willingnessto invest time and effort into one’s personaldevelopment is often linked to the still limitedawareness of the wider population on the skillstrends marking Europe’s workforce and the trainingsoffered. Others, however, might lack sufficientincentives to do so outside of work.


Lifelong Learning and Skills Insurance Plan

The concept of the proposed lifelong learning andskills insurance plan would be based on a similarframework to traditional capital insurance planswith a specific focus on the acquisition of skills byindividuals, in case they lose their job or want totransition to a new position / field or to begeographically mobile.

Each working adult would be given the opportunityto progressively build up a lump sum of money thatcould be used to finance training and continuededucation. In addition, individuals could also benefitfrom advantageous tax arrangements. Lifelonglearning and skills insurance plans would beintroduced at EU level and implemented at national,individual or corporate levels, depending on localconditions.

“Proper incentives are needed toencourage individuals andcompanies.”

– Maxime Cerutti, Director SocialAffairs, BusinessEurope

Best Practice: UK Apprenticeship levy

The Apprenticeship Levy is a levy on UK employers tofund new apprenticeships. The levy is charged at arate of 0.5% of an employer’s paybill. Each employerreceives an allowance of GBP15,000 to offset againsttheir levy payment. Only companies with annualpaybills in excess of GBP3 million are required to payit, which means that less than 2% of UK employers arecharged.The levy helps deliver new apprenticeships andsupports quality training by putting employers at thecentre of the system. Employers who are committedto training are able to get back more than they put inby training sufficient numbers of apprentices.The levy is co-financed by the government and amonthly sum is made available for companies to usefor offering trainings. For non-levy paying firms, theco-investment rate is set at 5% of available funds,stimulating trainings in SMEs. Companies can alsoshare funds between each other, allowing transfers ofup to 25% of the annual value of the paid funds.

Source: Education & Skills Funding Agency. 2019. Guidance Apprenticeship funding: how it works.

Source: Eurostat

of EU adults participate inlifelong learning11%

35%Source: European Commission, Digital Skills and Job Coalition.

of Europeans don’t have basicdigital skills

Corporate Skills Insurance Plan

Industrial leaders have been investing significantly inthe skills development of their employees over thepast years and have been continuously assessing theskills they will require in the future. Airbus, forexample, reviews the company’s skills needs on ayearly basis with its Global Workforce Forecast andworks closely with its global University partners toensure a talent pipeline.

Other enterprises invest in the set-up of R&Dcentres that drive innovation and support talentdevelopment. Both cases demonstrate themotivation of industry leaders to invest in the skillsdevelopment of their employees. They also suggestthat large enterprises might find it easier todedicate the required amounts of funding to investin dedicated upskilling initiatives, while smallerenterprises often struggle to dedicate the requiredmeans. Corporate skills insurance plans mightfacilitate these investments and provide businessowners with interesting incentives.

To further encourage the uptake of these upskillingactivities at the individual level, corporates couldenvision introducing a bonus system that wouldbenefit those employees that regularly completetrainings/certifications offered at company level.The more skills an individual acquires, the higherthe bonus or additional benefits received would be.

Incentivise VET Upskilling

Hand-in-hand with corporate skills insurance plans,incentives encouraging the wider uptake of trainingand upskilling efforts should be highlighted. Franceintroduced Personal Training Accounts that put theindividual at the centre of his/her upskilling journeyand dedicated a fixed budget to their future skillsdevelopment. The UK Apprenticeship Levy incitesbusinesses to offer new apprenticeships and boostthe development of vocational training. Bothprogrammes underline the need to incentiviseupskilling and encourage the active participation ofemployees and training providers.


Employers should be encouraged to invest acertain percentage of their profit into dedicatedVET savings accounts that would serve the regulartraining of their employees. Governments couldtop up the amounts committed to the lifelongemployability of employees, facilitating employers’investment into the continued training of theirworkforce. SMEs, on the other hand, could benefitfrom additional funding and support.

Besides financial contributions, support should beoffered in the form of guidance and advice ontrainings needed or on the optimised organisationof the workforce to allow for the inclusion oflifelong learning in the company’s work culture.

Piotr Pluta, Cisco, at the Skills for IndustryStrategy 2030 Conference

per worker will be spent by Amazon in thenext six years to reskill a third of its USworkforce

USD7,000

Source: Wall Street Journal

Best Practice: Cisco Networking AcademyThe Cisco Networking Academy is an IT skills andcareer-building programme for learning institutionsand individuals worldwide, providing education,technical training and career mentorship services.Main themes covered by the courses are networking,programming, IoT, cybersecurity, operating systemsand IT, and packet tracer.Since its inception in 1997, over 8 million students in180 countries have been through the programme -1.3 million in Europe alone. The total in-kindcontribution in Europe amounts to EUR 492 million.

Source: Cisco Networking Academy. 2019.


Skills for Industry Strategy 2030 Modules – High-quality vocational education and training

The VET system needs a stronger alignmentwith industry trends

Context

Europe is still missing a commonly recognised VETsystem focused on the provision of high-tech skills.While enterprises design their own VET trainings,they are often not widely shared and focus on theirparticular needs. They can thus not be easilyadapted to the wider needs of the public workforce.

Check the relevance of VET curriculacompared to market needs

In a first instance, the relevance of the VET curriculaoffered needs to be compared to market needs. VETeducation faces similar struggles as the traditionaleducational system. Many of the trainings currentlyoffered do not respond to actual market needs.Curricula need to be reviewed to provide studentswith the skills necessary to remain competitive.

Innovative VET curricula should incorporate thetechnologies of the future and keep an eye onemerging trends. They should be market driven(meet industry needs), have high impact (facilitatejob transition) and allow individuals to improve theirself-learning autonomy.

Closer collaboration between industry leaders andVET training providers needs to be ensured to allowfor the development of trainings that directly meetmarket demands. The Skills for Industry Strategyshould align with the vision for the Future of VET1.


At the same time, the way in which the trainings areprovided should be reviewed to allow for the bestbalance of practical and technical education.

Develop a new set of quality criteria for VETin line with market needs

In line with the review of the relevance of the VETcurricula offered, a new set of quality criteria shouldbe established to allow for the objective assessmentof VET trainings offered. VET education needs to beof high standard to allow for the acquisition ofinnovative high-tech T-shaped skills. Employers andindividuals often struggle with selecting the besttrainings to meet their needs and would benefitfrom an EU-wide set of standards that wouldfacilitate the selection of high quality trainings. TheEuropean Quality Assurance in Vocational Educationand Training (EQAVET) has been very active in thiscontext and can offer some interesting insights onhow to develop a new set of quality criteria for VET.

The quality criteria to be implemented need to beclearly defined and very easily understandable tofacilitate their integration into the VET curriculaoffered. The end user should face little difficultywhen assessing the quality of trainings offered andshould be able to easily integrate the quality criteriadefined into their personal skills development plan.Lastly, the quality of VET curricula should be directlylinked to the impact they have on the individualtrained and his/her skills portfolio.

“There will never be education providing ready-made human capital unlessindustry and training work together and become shareholders of what educationand training is all about.”- Joachim James Calleja, President, European Forum of Technical and Vocational Education and

Training, EfVET

1 Advisory Committee on Vocational Training. 2018. Opinion on the future of vocationaleducation and training post 2020.

Build a stronger ECVET as an establishedcertification entity for all players in VET

VET education across the EU would further benefitfrom the expansion and reinforcement of theEuropean Credit System for Vocational Educationand Training (ECVET). Dedicated communicationefforts to reinforcing awareness of ECVET and itsfunctioning could be envisioned as well as a reviewof its processes.

This would streamline the certification criteria tobe respected across all Member States but alsofacilitate the mobility of skilled workers acrossEurope as well as the exchange of knowledge andtrainings across borders.


Box 2: European Credit System forVocational Education and TrainingThe European Credit System for Vocational Educationand Training (ECVET) is a technical framework for thetransfer, recognition and (where appropriate)accumulation of individuals' learning outcomes witha view to achieving a qualification. ECVET relies onthe description of qualifications in units of learningoutcomes, on transfer, recognition and accumulationprocesses and documents such as a Memorandum ofUnderstanding and Learning Agreement.ECVET is intended to facilitate the recognition oflearning outcomes in accordance with nationallegislation, in the framework of mobility, for thepurpose of achieving a qualification.• ECVET aims to support the mobility of European

citizens, facilitating lifelong learning - achieved informal, non-formal and informal settings - andproviding greater transparency in relation toindividual learning experiences, making it moreattractive to move between different countriesand different learning environments;

• At a systems level, ECVET aims towards greatercompatibility between the different vocationaleducation and training (VET) systems in placeacross Europe, and their qualifications.

• From a geographical mobility perspective, ECVETaims at facilitating the validation, recognition andaccumulation of knowledge and skills acquiredduring a stay in another country, with a view toensuring that such achievements can contributeto the achievement of vocational qualifications.

Source: European Commission. 2019. The European Credit system for Vocational Education andTraining (ECVET).

Box 1: European Quality Assurance inVocational Education and TrainingEuropean Quality Assurance in Vocational Educationand Training (EQAVET) brings together EU MemberStates, Social Partners and the European Commissionto develop and improve quality assurance in EuropeanVET systems within the context of the implementationof the European Quality Assurance ReferenceFramework by:· Assisting Member States in developing effective

approaches to support the implementation of theReference Framework;

· Developing a culture of quality, to be embedded atEuropean level and other levels with the help ofthe Quality Assurance National Reference Pointsand other Network members;

· Supporting Member States and the EuropeanCommission in the monitoring and implementationof the Reference Framework within the context ofthe Education and Training 2020 Strategy;

· Supporting the quality assurance dimension ofwork in EQF and ECVET.

Stakeholders emphasise the need for a stronger linkbetween industry, education and training. Constantcommunication and cooperation must ensure thatVET remains relevant, especially in this acceleratedenvironment. To facilitate a more relevant VETsystem, emerging technologies as well as onlinelearning resources could be taken up, given theirefficiency and proven effectiveness.

Markku Markkula, European Committee ofthe Regions, at the Skills for IndustryStrategy 2030 Conference

Skills for Industry Strategy 2030 Modules – Accelerated world-class curriculum

An accelerated world-class education systemwill ensure a pipeline of talent

Adapt curricula to market needs to ensureemployment

Firstly, a comprehensive review of curricula offeredand their alignment to current industry needsshould be envisioned. Each course and degreeoffered should be set up to target specific skillsneeds of industry and the general labour market.Artificial intelligence (AI) tools assessing market andlabour trends could be used to this advantage.

Furthermore, traditional education and trainingproviders should work increasingly with industry todirectly exchange on the adaptation of curricula inline with market needs. The Territorial Skills Councilsmentioned earlier might serve as a first point ofreference to facilitate public private collaboration inthe educational system.

In line with the development of new curricula, theirimpact on the employability of students should bereviewed and assessed. Data on the time beforeemployment, their retention rate as well as theircontinued learning could be envisioned. Universitiescould also request employers to provide informationon the profiles recruited from the respectivecurricula and the alignment of skills.


“We must embrace lifelonglearning and use AI-based insights,moving beyond the four-yeardegree towards recognised andaccredited alternate educationalpathways, and certify skills learnedon the job.”- Gian Luigi Cattaneo, Vice-President HumanResources, IBM Europe

Best Practice: IBM Skills AcademyThe IBM Skills Academy is a private initiative launchedby IBM that offers trainings to students enrolled inUniversities.Through partnerships with Universities, students andeducators in IT or IT-related fields can participate in 11career tracks that range from data scientist topredictive analytics modeller. Each career track has anumber of distinct skill-focused learning objectivesthat are based on market research and in line withhigh-demand jobs in the IT market.The teaching is done through a blended learningmodule that is partly web-based (80%) and partlyclassroom based (20%).The IBM Skills Academy started as a pilot in a numberof African countries, but has now expanded todifferent regions, including Asia, the Pacific, and theUS. In Europe, the initiative is active in Poland, and willlikely expand to other Member States.Source: IBM. 2019. IBM Skills Academy.

Gian Luigi Cattaneo, IBM, at the Skills forIndustry Strategy 2030 Conference

Prioritise public funding to private-publiccooperationPrivate-public cooperation is becoming increasinglyimportant to ensure the courses and trainingsoffered align with industry high-tech skills needs. Bydirectly cooperating with industry experts in thefield, academic institutions and training providerscan adapt the courses and trainings offered torespond to concrete industry and market needs.

Universities signing cooperation agreements withindustry (while keeping their independence) anddirectly include industry knowledge and input intotheir high-tech curricula could benefit fromprioritised public funding to recognise their efforts.Curricula with little impact on the employability ofstudents should be revised and improved ordiscouraged and phased out.

Upskill academic teachers and include moreprofessionals in the provision of education

The modernisation of education requires the re-engineering of the profession. Teachers andprofessors will have to be educated on the newvision of skills development. They will also have tobe continuously upskilled to better understand thedemands of the labour market and adopt newinnovative teaching and training methodologies.

The expertise developed by decades of academicexcellence should not be rejected but needs to betranslated into concrete applications to ensure thereview of students’ skills development plans.Educators should cooperate with industry expertsand professionals to give their students theopportunity to learn directly from those that areactively working in the field and can teach themboth technical and transversal skills.

Innovative education leaders should be recognisedto encourage the widespread review of curriculaoffered. An “innovative educator” award could beintroduced at EU level to recognise the effortsbeing made by educators to adapt the educationsector to the fourth industrial revolution.


Best Practice: CodecoolCodecool is a private company, which acts as anorganisation between schools and the workplace,where industry experts act as mentors who are able toalso offer business insights. The 1-year course thusfocuses on skills that are needed on the job, whilebeing based on projects and peer learning.The company offers a post paid model, in whichtrainees pay for the course after 18 months and only ifthey have been hired full-time, ensuring that theorganisation is truly inclusive. Codecool currently hasfive campuses across Hungary, Poland and Romaniaand is looking to expand from 450 students per yearto 5,000 graduates by 2023.

Source: Codecool. 2019.

Empower Universities to review and changetheir curricula more easily and rapidlyIn line with the continuous adaptation of curricula,Universities and training providers need to be giventhe opportunity to easily and rapidly change thestructure and content of their courses. The processto ensure the official recognition of the degrees andcertifications provided needs to be streamlined andrecognised EU-wide.

The quality criteria to be respected need to beeasily understood and their application supervisedby a dedicated body/institution. At the same time,the criteria defined should be mindful of thechanging educational and training systems and thusneed to remain flexible and open to innovation.

Sophia Eriksson Waterschoot, EuropeanCommission DG EAC, at the Skills for IndustryStrategy 2030 Conference


Skills for Industry Strategy 2030 Modules – Industry-led training infrastructures

Industry needs to invest more in education andensure up-to-date training infrastructure

Context

Education and training infrastructures have beendesigned in a pre-digital world. Yet, students needto have the opportunity to acquire the latest high-tech skills and knowledge on the latest innovativetechnologies in an environment that enables themto do so. They also need to be able to experimentwith these new technologies in a safe environment.

Both industry leaders and local authorities need towork closely together to drive the review of existingtraining infrastructures and encourage greatercollaboration between all actors to share the costs.

While existing industry-led training infrastructuresoften boast state-of-the-art equipment and thusfacilitate the acquisition of new skills, the scope ofthese activities often remains limited to theimmediate workforce of enterprises. Innovativetraining infrastructures should be made available tostudents and the wider industrial workforce.


Develop new partnership models

New partnership models between industry leaders,SMEs, education and training providers need to beencouraged to develop and build new learninginfrastructures. New joint training methodologiescan be established and the provision of curriculaexpanded. Industry leaders need to invest in theoverall skills development of Europe’s workforce toguarantee the sufficient availability of talentnecessary to drive in-house innovation.

Best practice: Learning Factories 4.0Allianz Industrie 4.0, launched by the State of Baden-Württemberg, is an organisation that aims to shareresources and know-how of production, informationand communication technologies to help businesses intheir digital transformation process.Within Allianz Industrie 4.0, Learning Factories 4.0 isone of the most prominent and effective initiatives. Inthe context of digital transformation and thesubsequent skills gap, the Learning Factories aregovernment-backed labs implemented in vocationalschools.They have two objectives:(1) To teach students and train employees by

providing real-life practice opportunities;(2) To act as a research factory for demonstrating and

testing new technologies and approaches.These learning labs have been established in 16training centre projects in vocational schools acrossBaden-Wurttemberg, involving 30 vocational schoolsand 250 companies and industrial organisations.The regional government supports the investmentcosts, the expenses related to teacher trainings, andother associated costs. The estimated budget of theinitiative is EUR 6.8 million.

Source: Lernfabriken 4.0 Karlsruhe. 2019.

“Enterprises and industrial associations mustbe fully involved in the educational process:stronger networks between VET institutions,Universities and businesses are an essentialresponse for the EU demand of digital andSTEM skills.”

– Giovanni Brugnoli, Vice President forHuman Capital, Confindustria

Industry-led training infrastructures offer studentsthe opportunity to gain new skills through practicalexercises and the active testing of new technologies.They mobilise industry leaders to become enginesof the transformation of the training ecosystem.

At the same time, students need to be given thefreedom to train with the right equipment in ahighly innovative high-tech environment. By workingwith other businesses, employers can facilitateexchange of knowledge, skills and expertise whilereducing overall costs for continued education.


Strengthen the efforts of the EuropeanCooperation for Accreditation (EA)

In line with the need for EU-wide quality criteria forVET, the accreditation of industry-led traininginfrastructures and the trainings offered should bewidely disseminated to facilitate the wider uptakeof reskilling and upskilling efforts.

The European Cooperation for Accreditation (EA) isenshrined in EU regulation 765/2008 and countsnational accreditation bodies as its members. Itoversees accredited bodies that give certificationsto persons and is thus directly involved in thecontrol the quality of industry trainings provided.

To further facilitate the accreditation process andthus drive the introduction of industry trainings,the processes and procedures to respect tobecome an accredited training provider should bereviewed and where possible streamlined.

“Universities have a lot to gain to work withindustry. The age of ivory towers is passed.Innovation, creativity, agility are keycharacteristics of modern universities”.

– Stephane Pallage, Rector, University ofLuxembourg

John Higgins,Global Digital Foundation, Stephane Pallage, University of Luxembourg,Peter Nielsen, Aalborg University, at the Skills for Industry Strategy 2030 Conference


Skills for Industry Strategy 2030 Modules – Talent detection and nurturing

Talent detection and nurturing practice need toemphasise both excellence and inclusiveness

Develop a new approach to talent detectionand career progression

A new approach to both early talent detection ineducation as well as in corporate settings needs tobe developed. A dedicated working group should becreated at EU level to investigate new ways of betterdetecting talent at both an early and later stage, aswell as on how best to support individuals that arehighly gifted, especially if they are not benefitingfrom the social capital inherent to privileged groups.

Another important point to underline concerns theretention of older workers. While their jobs mightbe changing and they might be forced to acquire acompletely new set of skills, the experience theyhave acquired over the years should valorised,especially their transversal skills. They tend topossess in-depth knowledge on the functioning ofthe sector, the company, the decisions made in thepast and their main motivators. Their departurethus represents a significant loss to the workingenvironment in given businesses.


Encourage the dissemination of bestpractices

In line with the development of a new talentdetection approach, best practices should be widelydisseminated to encourage the broader up-take oftalent detection and retention practices. Theyshould be clearly highlighted in upskilling promotioncampaigns. By spreading information on innovativesolutions and facilitating the exchange of new ideasand methods, talent detection and retention couldbe continuously improved.

Context

To ensure the development of a larger and morediversified talent pool in Europe, talent needs to benurtured and encouraged once detected. Bothyoung as well as experienced talent needs to beidentified and its future development supported.

Untapped high-tech talent pools such as women,migrants and youth not in employment, educationor training (NEETs) need to be increasinglyintegrated into the workforce of the future. As such,inclusiveness is a key element in implementing theSkills for Industry Strategy 2030.

Best practice: ReDI School of DigitalIntegration

ReDI School of Digital Integration is a non-profit digitalschool for tech-interested locals and newcomers inGermany, offering trainings in English and German. Theschool has the aim to offer students valuable digital skillsand a strong network of tech leaders, students andalumni to help create new opportunities for all.The organisation offers IT and programming courses,workshops, company visits as well as hackathons,primarily to migrants, refugees and asylum seekers.Special courses are dedicated to women that have littlebackground in IT.Teachers are usually volunteers from the tech industry.While teaching technical skills, they also share importantinsights on the industry and the practical applications oftheory. With around 500 students, the school can take apersonal approach and help each individual find a jobaccording to his/her skills and interests.

Source: ReDI School of Digital Integration. 2019.

Encourage talent development and detectionamong women

EU, national and regional efforts should pay specialattention to targeting demographics that until todayhave received less support. In particular, femaletalent should be increasingly encouraged andsupported in its development of high-tech skills.Currently, women outnumber men by ten to sevenin occupations with high risk of automation.Simultaneously, men outnumber women in high-tech jobs and the female employment share in IToccupations continues to fall.

Moreover, based on the latest data available fromLinkedIn, the WEF assessed that only 22 % of AIprofessionals globally are female. While slightvariations can be noted across countries, femalerepresentation in AI does not surpass 28 % in thebest cases (e.g. Italy, Singapore, and South Africa).

Sadly, the gender gaps noted in the AI field reflectbroader gender gaps within specialisations in STEM.Programmes dedicated to the detection of femalehigh-tech talent thus need to be introduced to tapinto this under-developed talent pool.

Introduce the concept of Lifelong LearningCentres

A further solution to the encouragement anddevelopment of talent might be the introduction ofLifelong Learning Centres, which would be similarlyaccredited to Business Schools and wouldconcentrate on the provision of high-tech skills.Any organisation could apply and seek fundingfrom both private and public actors. Contrary totraditional educational bodies, Lifelong LearningCentres would be flexible in the provision of theircourses and could allow students to go back toschool throughout their working life without havingto deal with the requirements and eligibility criteriademanded by the traditional academic system.Instead of basing the assessment of candidates onprevious degrees or certifications, these schoolswould be open to everyone sufficiently motivatedto gain new high-tech skills.

Remain attractive to outside talentWhile supporting the development of the skills ofthe European workforce as much as possible, theEU also needs to be prepared to attract talent fromabroad as it is difficult to foresee the future skillsdemand to such a precise extend. There is a globalcompetition for talent and areas with limited localtalent available will need to attract highly skilledindividuals from abroad.

Europe’s cities and regions thus need to remainattractive to the global workforce. Foreign workersare not only interested in the job opportunitiesoffered, but also in the local quality of life.

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“Europe still needs to be prepared toattract talent from abroad, as it isdifficult to foresee the future skillsdemand. In areas where we will fallshort, we will need to find solutions toattract global talent against globalcompetitors.”– Claus Lønborg, CEO, Copenhagen Capacity


Claus Lønborg, Copenhagen Capacity, at theSkills for Industry Strategy 2030 Conference


Skills for Industry Strategy 2030 Modules – Communication at all levels

Effective communication will be needed toraise awareness and catalyse change

Context

While awareness for the need to upskill theirworkforce is rising among CEOs, many SME ownersoffer few training opportunities to their employees.Only 21% of businesses training budgets arededicated to the development of digital skills.

At individual level, people have limited awareness ofthe growing skills gap marking the European labourmarket and its impact on the competitiveness ofEurope’s industry.

A comprehensive communication strategy will benecessary to ensure the wider uptake of upskillinginitiatives across Europe. The public needs to have aclear understanding of the changes affecting thelocal labour market and the new skills that will berequired to ensure their continued employability.


Launch of a dedicated promotion campaignto highlight the tools, trainings and jobs

At EU level, a dedicated promotion campaign undera common umbrella and clear branding should beenvisioned. It should highlight wider EU trends andunderlining the EU funding mechanisms available tosupport enterprises and individuals in theirupskilling journey. The Erasmus branding can serveas inspiration when developing a well-known high-tech skills promotion campaign. Strong synergiesshould be established with the European VocationalSkills Week, which promotes the development ofvocational skills across Europe. A similar approachshould thus be used to promoting lifelong learningand the skills for industry strategy.

Moreover, an interactive platform allowing for thewidespread access to the tools, trainings and jobsavailable across Europe could be developed. Bycollecting relevant information on the platform,valuable knowledge relating to the growing skillsgap affecting Europe and potential solutions wouldbe facilitated and easily shared among the public.

Best practice: ErasmusErasmus has long been considered a success storyin terms of branding and of promoting an EUprogramme or initiative. Erasmus+ acts as a strongand well-established brand for all education,training, youth and sport initiatives in the EU.

Even within the website, the distinct visual identityreflects the objectives of the programme. Thewebsite also includes multiple explanatory videos,tools and supporting information.

Source: European Commission. 2019. Erasmus+.

The effective dissemination of the programme’sopportunities has resulted in a wide use of thevery popular student mobility initiative, which hasprovided over three million European studentswith the opportunity to go abroad and study at ahigher education institution or train in a company.

Erasmus has been very effective in promoting itsgoals and also in improving citizens’ perceptionsand attitudes towards the EU in general.

Source: European Commission. Digital Economy and Society Index 2018

of EU workers are worriedabout not having the digitalskills needed in the future

40%@

National and/or regional communicationcampaign to promote public and privateinitiatives

At the national, regional and city levels, the vision,strategy and the available tools should be widelycommunicated among the public and stakeholdersto boost industrial modernisation and new skillsacquisition. By raising awareness of infrastructures,education and training offerings, as well as benefitsto individuals, SMEs and industry, the execution ofthe skills for industry strategy will be accelerated.

In line with the EU-wide campaign addressed above,national and regional communication campaignsshould highlight national and regional particularitiesand industries. National and regional skills trendsshould be underlined, and relevant incentives andfunding mechanisms widely promoted. Moreover,information on public and privates initiatives shouldbe easily accessible. Simultaneously, the trainingsavailable as well as any open positions could beshared via local communication platforms, as closeas possible to the concerns of the public.

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“Skills development is not a cost, it isan investment in human capital thatpublic and private sector must supportto make competitiveness and socialinclusion sustainable.”– Yves Magnan, General Manager Productsand Services, Le Forem, Public employmentservice for Wallonia


Best Practice:European Vocational Skills WeekEuropean Vocational Skills Week is an initiative thataims to promote vocational education in the EU. Theweeklong series of events organised across Europerange from open doors and information campaigns toconferences and exhibitions.Besides the regional events, high-level discussionstake place in a European city, as well as the VETExcellence Award. The contest awards best practicesin various categories and thus helps disseminate goodpractices as well as foster innovation in the VETsector.

Source: European Commission. 2019. European Vocational Skills Week 2019

During the Skills for Industry Strategy 2030Conference, effective communication at differentlevels and between stakeholders has also beenemphasised in the discussions.

In general, stakeholders, such as industry, socialpartners, education, training institutions, andpolicy makers must constantly exchange andcooperate to ensure alignment of actions.

Europe needs a more personalised dialogue withits citizens to promote lifelong learning, as well ashigh-tech skills and career paths for young peopleand the workforce.

Yves Magnan, Le Forem, at the Skills forIndustry Strategy 2030 Conference

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