To design and deliver a reskilling programme in the form of short-term training modules enhancing the digital skills needed by today’s digital economy.
Context
The twin green and digital transitions are reshaping the way we work and the deployment of advanced technologies, such as artificial intelligence and robotics are expected to create new jobs. Already, the acceleration of the digital transition due to the COVID-19 pandemic has accentuated the digital skills shortage. To achieve the digital transformation of the labour market, education and training providers will need to develop upskilling and reskilling programmes that are both flexible and certified and also incorporate the latest developments in key ICT areas.
CONVERT aims to design and deliver a reskilling programme in the form of short-term training modules enhancing the digital skills needed by today’s digital economy, to reskill recent non-ICT graduates and upskill junior employees (up to 2 years of working experience) towards emerging jobs or new tasks in their jobs. The reskilling programme will be both flexible and certified through the use of micro-credentials and it will be focusing on the digital competences needed by employers to achieve the digital transition of the labour market, including data analytics and visualisation, programming languages, AI, IoT, web development and design, cybersecurity and data privacy.
Objectives
- To identify a set of core skills needed by the labour market that will drive the digital transformation of SMEs and other businesses;
- To support young people’s professional development by designing a flexible, inclusive and industry-oriented reskilling and upskilling training programme on the skills needed by key capacity areas;
- To facilitate the adoption and validation of a short-term training course leading to micro-credentials;
- To foster transnational and multi-disciplinary cooperation between VET providers, SMEs and business associations to improve effectiveness, inclusiveness and excellence of VET curricula.
Activities
- Mapping emerging ICT skills needed by the labour market at national and EU level;
- Development of a set of specialised ICT skills;
- Design of training outline and curriculum;
- Development of CONVERT’s training;
- Pilot testing via remote learning with graduates and young professionals from different sectors.
Resources
- Comparative report on labour market needs of specialised ICT skills and the use of microcredentials;
- Skills catalogue;
- CONVERT e-learning platform;
- Report on the pilot testing of the training content;
- Policy Recommendations Paper
Impact
- Increased attractiveness of lifelong learning via reskilling and upskilling opportunities, leading to continued career growth and advancement for learners, thus achieving the EU target of at least 60% of adults participating in training every year.
- Increased representation of women in tech-related professions
- Improved employment rate in general and, in particular, achieving the EU target of having 20 million employed ICT specialists in the EU.
- Acceleration of the digital transformation of SMEs and the digital transition across EU contributing to the achievement of the EU target of having at least 75% of EU companies use advanced technologies, including Cloud, AI and Big Data.
- Increased economic growth and competitiveness at EU level by building a more resilient workforce that is equipped to improve productivity and adapt to technological changes over time.
- Technological advancements and innovations across sectors that can benefit society as a whole, such as healthcare, transportation and education.
Partners
- GrantXpert (Cyprus, coordinator)
- European University – Cyprus (Cyprus)
- Nicosia Chamber Of Commerce And Industry (Cyprus)
- Institute Of Entrepreneurship Development (Greece)
- Workearly EU (Greece)
- Association Of Thessalian Enterprises and Industries (Greece)
- CESIE ETS (Italy)
- Privanova SAS (France)
- INFINITIVITY DESIGN LABS (France)
- ALL DIGITAL AISBL (Belgium)
