 Clara Centeno (IPTS) speaking at Spark 2013 on ICT skills and employability Telecentre Europe was one of the co-organisers of Spark: the 4th Global Forum on Telecentres, held on May 28-29 in Granada, Spain. The event was a great success: more than 1200 participants from the information and communication technology for development (ICT4D) sector as well as private, public, and non-profit organizations from around the globe came to Granada for two days of learning, networking and sharing.
Telecentre Europe led four important panel sessions at Spark, panels that presented motivated speakers from a variety of organisations in Europe and beyond.
At the first morning session titled Telecentres: Youth, Skills and Employment Chris Coward from the University of Washington provided a background on ICT skills development and stated that the role of telecentre operators will increasingly be to facilitate ICT skills for the new jobs that are available in ICT sector. Dr Rachel Awad, from Silatech, a social initiative for youth job creation in the Arab world, talked about the high unemployment rate amongst Arab youth (25%) and how Silatech helps by career guidance programmes and partnerships with the private sector.
Clara Centeno from the Institute for Prospective Technological Studies (IPTS- European Commission) revealed three proposals for action against the risk of ICT exclusion, a problem that may affect up to 25% of youth in Europe today and prevent them from accessing ICT skills and jobs. In first place, Ms. Centeno highlighted the need to fight the digital divide which is still present in Europe, then to adopt a broad view of digital competencies (a framework has been developed by the European Commission and the next step is to start filling the enormous number of job vacancies projected in ICT sector) and lastly, there is a need to have a holistic approach to individual needs when it comes to ICT.
Manus Hanratty, from “Fast Track to IT” (FIT), the Irish member of Telecentre Europe, talked about bridging the gap between ICT job vacancies and the shortage of ICT skills through an initiative led by FIT in Ireland that began 13 years ago. They went to disadvantaged areas to train young people to enter into digital jobs. Their model was based on bringing employers and government together, using government resources to build the curriculum based on employers needs. They then set up a learning path and a support system for at least three years after the course. The result: 9000 people were put in ICT jobs! Moreover, the initiative changed perspectives on the potential of disadvantaged groups, reduction in poverty and social exclusion.
For presentation slides from the speakers, please contact our communication manager Masha Tarle.
  On wednesday February 27th the upcoming #Spark13 conference – also known as the 4th Global Forum on Telecentres - was presented at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain.
The event, which was hosted by the Spanish journalist Paco Lobatón, was streamed live by the Spanish telecentre network Guadalinfo.
A first broadcast happened at 11h CET from the stand of Telefonica and a second broadcast took place at 13h30 CET from the stand of Vodafone.
A first intervention was done (in Spanish) by Vicente Fernández Guerrero, Secretary General of Innovation, Industry and Energy of the Ministry of Economy, Innovation, Science and Employment of the Government of Andalusia.
After, the heads of the Spark Organizing Committee each held a speech:
» Miguel Raimilla, Executive Director of Telecentre.org Foundation (TCF): The first part of his speech (in English) referred to the Spark conference and its characteristics. The second part of his speech (in Spanish) explained why Telecentre.org has chosen Andalusia to celebrate the global conference.
» Gabriel Rissola, Managing Director of Telecentre-Europe (TE). His speech (in English) explained what the European network is about and why the Spark conference is important for the strategic goals of the Digital Agenda for Europe.
» Juan Francisco Delgado, President of the Association of Community Telecentre Networks in Spain and Chief Executive Officer of the Guadalinfo Network.His speech (in Spanish) concluded the act and invited the audience to start living the Spark conference from now on, through the online channels and the twitter hashtag #Spark13.
» view pictures of the event (made by TEB Youth Association)
 Brussels, BELGIUM | 26 FEBRUARY 2013
Today, youth unemployment in the EU27 is higher than 20%. While demand for employees with ICT skills is growing by around 3% a year, pessimistic projections warn that if nothing is done to resolve the mismatch between current skills and needs of the labour market, up to 800.000 (1) ICT practitioners’ vacancies will remain unfilled by 2015.
Accenture, Liberty Global and Microsoft decided to take action. Together with Telecentre-Europe, an umbrella organisation that represents ICT learning centres & library networks from all over Europe, they created the Get Online Week Alliance that will support this year’s Get Online Week campaign – happening between 18-24 March 2013.around 3% a year, pessimistic projections warn that if nothing is done to resolve the mismatch between current skills and needs of the labour market, up to 800.000 (1) ICT practitioners’ vacancies will remain unfilled by 2015.
Continue reading »
 On January 24th, more than 100 experts & officials from the industrial, academic & public sector gathered with Pan-European NGO leaders for the conference Towards a European Quality label for ICT industry training & certication.
Telecentre-Europe AISBL was represented by Mara Jakobsone (Chair), Gabriel Rissola (Managing Director) and Juan Francisco Delgado (Board Member).
At the conference, a broad consensus emerged that the e-competence framework and a widely-accepted quality label could help bring a new degree of focus to fill the impending e-skills gap, as the current mismatch between the skills available and the needs of the ICT labour market, could lead to 860.000 vacancies by 2015.
» Read more at our community site
 In a joint effort to fight European youth unemployment, Telecentre-Europe’s Chair Mara Jakobsone and Microsoft’s Executive Vice-President Brad Smith have signed a ‘Memorandum of Understanding’ as part of Microsoft’s YouthSpark, a global initiative launched last september.
The ceremony took place on January 22nd in Brussels, during the high level event Youth, the key to Europe’s future happening at Microsoft’s Executive Briefing Center. Representatives from the public, private and nonprofit sectors discussed the challenges facing young people in Europe, with European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth, Androulla Vassiliou, as one of the keynote speakers.
Two other pan-European organizations, The European Youth Forum and Junior Achievement – Young Enterprise also signed the partnership with the YouthSpark program, seeking to empower youth to imagine and realize their full potential by connecting them with greater opportunities for education, employment and entrepreneurship.
» Read more on our community site
 On December 18th, Telecentre-Europe, together with Startup Weekend Europe and Digitalmuse.org, was invited to give a “Speed Date” presentation at the 3rd high level meeting of the European Digital Champions, organized by the European Commission.
As Chair of Telecentre-Europe (TE), Mara Jakobsone represented our organization together with Laure Lemaire, Director of TE member organization Interface3. They invited all Digital Champions to become the Ambassadors in their countries of the TE’s Digital Inclusion Campaign Get Online Week 2013 and to promotethe related activities to their national stakeholders and mass media.
They also presented the online survey that aims to provide a ‘map’ of the EU27 eInclusion actors that TE has been commissioned to carry out as part of the JRC-IPTS research project MIREIA. The Digital Champions were invited to help TE in identifying the Digital Inclusion actors in their countries and to disseminate the research results once the data will be collected (the survey will run between January 2 and February 15, 2013).
» Read more at our community site
 On December 18th, the European Digital Champions will gather in Brussels for their third high level meeting. Telecentre-Europe, together with Startup Weekend Europe and Digitalmuse.org, is invited as a stakeholder to give a “Speed Dating Presentation”.
 On February 14th, EC president José Manuel Barroso asked the EU Member States to appoint their national “Digital Champion”: a high-profile, dynamic and energetic individual to promote the Digital Agenda for Europe in their country.
So far, 20 member states have appointed their Digital Champion. They first met in Brussels on June 25th and again in Sofia on September 19th. The meeting next week will be used to build the national and pan-european of the Digital Champions.
|
