Ireland's future e-Economy needs all citizens to prepare- E-Skills conference hears

 

Earlier today the EU's E-skills week was brought to a close with the message that citizens need to prepare for the future jobs market and engagement in society through enhanced web-skills. The Minister for Life Long Learning, Sean Haughey TD, was the main speaker at today's special conference ‘e-Skills for Lifelong Learning’ which was hosted at the European Commission Representation in Ireland.

In his opening remarks Mr Martin Territt, Director of the European Commission Representation in Ireland, emphasised that developing e-learning strategies are a core part of the Commission's newly launched Europe 2020 Agenda, which roadmaps the future economy.

Mr Territt said, "The European Commissions e-Skills Week should help promote awareness of high skilled ICT employment, which is interesting, creative and well paid. But it should also emphasise to everybody that they can live independent and sustainable digital lifestyles and fully participate in today's knowledge society".

EU e-Skills Week 2010 is taking place across Europe to raise the level of awareness around the importance of e-Skills for the future of the entire European economy. The campaign aims to inform students, young professionals and SMEs about the vast range of opportunities that ICT-related jobs present. Ultimately the campaign aims to increase ICT skills among professionals and to encourage more young people to take up ICT studies and careers.

Minister Haughey addressed the conference by saying, “I am very proud that Ireland is one of 20 countries participating in the EU E-Skills week. This European project involves approximately 300,000 people, participating in more than 100 activities, including training sessions, school visits and competitions.

The conference also included sessions with leading experts from industry and academia to discuss ‘Smart Teachers – Smart Learners’, ‘eSkills for SMEs’ and ‘Competing with E-Skills’ in Ireland. 

Peter Davitt, CEO of FIT (Fast Track to IT) who are lead partners of this initiative in Ireland, said, “Ensuring that people have the right skills is just as important to increase employability and help create today’s and tomorrow’s jobs.  This is particularly important in the context of creating an inclusive smart economy where smart skills not just degrees and Phd’s will be essential."

“Earlier in the week FAS and the ESRI announced that up to 250,000 additional jobs will be created in the next five years, this was followed by the IDA’s expectation that it will create 105,000 jobs between now and 2014. The majority of these jobs will be technology driven and the onus is on us to prepare today for recovery tomorrow.  e-Skills week has focused on all sectors of society, earlier in the week we looked at ways of encouraging more young people to take up science and technology related subjects and today we have moved on to look at e-skills in the context of lifelong learning.”

Fiona Mullan, HR Director of Microsoft Ireland and Chair of FIT said, “If Ireland is to become a true Smart Economy and compete globally, then we need to start providing people with the tools they require at school and ensure that over the course of a career those vital e-skills are continually developed.  We need to begin with our teachers.  If they have access to continuous professional development they can ignite that spark and thirst for knowledge that we hope will encourage students to continue the development of their e-skills which will be vital for success in any career."

The main facilitator for this week's event,  is FIT, an industry-led initiative which works in close collaboration with government departments, national education and training agencies, third level institutions and regional & local development organisations. FIT's mission is to build an inclusive Smart Economy by creating a fastrack to marketable technical skills for those at risk of long term unemployment.

                                            
For further information on EU e-Skills Week 2010 log onto www.fit.ie or http://eskills-week.ec.europa.eu.