As the digital transformation of the economy and society accelerates, the question of an equitable and inclusive transformation must be at the forefront of decision-makers in the public and private sector.
“The Digital Decade is about streamlining digital technology for people and businesses. It is about giving everyone the skills to participate in the digital society. To be strong It’s about empowering businesses. It’s about the infrastructure that keeps us connected. It is about bringing government services closer to the citizens. Europe’s digital transformation will provide opportunities for all.” Margaret VestagerExecutive Vice President of A Europe Fit for the Digital Age, July 2022.
The Digital Decade is about streamlining digital technology for people and businesses.
The European Union (EU) has recognized the urgency and importance of imparting digital skills to citizens by declaring 2023 as the European Year of Skills. Reaching the EU’s target of 80 percent of Europeans with basic digital skills and 20 million ICT experts by 2030 will not happen in a jiffy. There’s immense potential here: The World Economic Forum predicts 97 million new technology-related jobs. Many promise to be better than the jobs they will be changing. Because skills in cyber security or the Internet of Things, for example, can lead to positions offering advancement and life-changing opportunities for people everywhere, including disadvantaged or marginalized communities around the world.
The scale of the digital skills challenge and opportunity demands closer collaboration with the tech industry, governments and academia – to close the technology skills gap that stood at 2 million unfilled tech jobs globally in 2022.[1],
What’s more, people who have been displaced will in many cases be good candidates to upskill for new roles. For example, a high percentage of these jobs do not require an advanced degree. Many roles demand that candidates have the right technical skills rather than a degree.
Accessibility and flexibility are key
If there is one clear truth that emerges from all my encounters across Europe, it is that for a training and upskilling program to work, learners must be empowered in more flexible ways than ever before, so that they can learn where and when they want.
For a training and upskilling program to work, learners must be empowered in ever more flexible ways, so that they can learn where and when they want.
A learner-centred approach is one that will make a training program relevant to the learners. I firmly believe that our focus on regularly introducing new pathways and learning formats is one of the main reasons Cisco networking academy Has managed to empower over 17 million learners in 25 years,
our new skills for all The offering, which proposes self-paced introductory and intermediate courses in cyber security, networking and data management, will continue to contribute to this success. It lowers the barriers to entry by allowing learners to dip their toes in the water on their own terms before making a decision.
Jobs in IT can provide accessible opportunities for those who want to change their life and launch themselves in a new career. This is even more true for the disenfranchised, the underrepresented and the underserved.
An obvious starting point is addressing the gender gap in tech. Historically, 26 percent of Networking Academy alumni have been women over the past 25 years. We’ve made strides forward, but we want to benefit more from the broader perspective and fresh ideas that stronger inclusion of women in the IT sector brings. This flexibility, however, must be accompanied by a clear effort to remain accessible to as many stakeholders as possible. One of the secrets of our program’s success is the long-term collaboration with public sector academia, administration and even the armed forces. A collaboration that focuses on keeping our programs free and vendor agnostic and focused on training learners in the skills needed in the industry.
Reaching Every Sector With the Right Digital Skills
The challenge we face is that digital transformation in Europe is not just a tech and IT business. This affects everything from the average agricultural cooperative in Romania, Greece, France or Spain needing to understand the impact digital transformation is having on farming, to local administrations needing to better protect their citizens’ information As an increasing number of services go digital. ,
Each scenario requires skill-centered learning methods so that learners can quickly and easily acquire essential knowledge in a simplified format.
a responsibility to the future
Today, we are at a turning point. I look forward to being able to reach any European city in 10 years and see the impact of the talent that we have nurtured and empowered. Talent that includes more women, minorities, people with disabilities, adult retraining, school dropouts…the list goes on.
Cisco is ready to support Europe in its objectives to bring digital skills to more citizens to maximize the opportunity provided by technology by developing the next generation of talent.
On cisco, we feel it is our responsibility to make digital transformation inclusive. And I’m incredibly excited to see how our incredible ecosystem of over 11,800 educational institutions and over 29,000 instructors will strive to deliver on our goal. Skill upgradation of 25 million people in the next 10 years.
Cisco continues its mission to bring digital skills to more citizens to maximize the opportunity technology provides by developing the next generation of talent that will further advance the capabilities of technology and give people the skills to engage with technology. Ready to support Europe in its objectives. more safely. Because when people are empowered to create a more inclusive digital transformation journey, it equates to a more prosperous society.
[1] https://technation.io/people-and-skills-report-2022/#key-statistics