Oracle welcomes EU initiative to combat digital illiteracy
ICT related skills and competencies (e-skills) are now essential for living, working and participating in the 21st century knowledge society. E-skills are also vital to Europe's ability to innovate and compete in a global economy. In this article, Pieter Bensch, Vice President for Oracle University in EMEA, welcomes a new EU initiative to increase and develop e-skills throughout the European community, and explains why Oracle has joined other industry leaders to found a new industry alliance dedicated to fostering and promoting e-skills in the region.
As Europe transforms to an increasingly knowledge based economy, ICT skills are becoming a fundamental requirement for jobs in almost all sectors. The ability to use basic computer applications and to navigate the internet are now essential workplace skills in Europe's increasingly post-industrial economy, and digital literacy is also essential for participating in and benefiting from the 21st century knowledge society.
Eurostat, the EU's statistical office, has identified that 37% of Europeans currently lack basic ICT skills. These citizens not only risk being excluded from the workforce or from their chosen career paths, but are also unable to take advantage of the many benefits and services provided online by governments, financial institutions and other organisations.
The European Commission recognises that more needs to be done to ensure that Europeans learn and develop technology-based skills on a continuous basis, from an early age. Its goals are to safeguard the employability and productivity of European citizens throughout their working lives, and to enable all citizens to play an active and participatory role in the knowledge society. At the same time, the Commission aims to ensure that the region's employers and educational institutes keep pace with - indeed drive - the accelerating rate of technological change, and thus maintain their competitive edge in a global economy.
The European Commission set out its proposals for increasing Europe's levels of digital literacy and e-inclusion in a September 2007 communication entitled 'E-Skills for the 21st Century: Fostering Competitiveness, Growth and Jobs'. The communication outlines the issues that need to be tackled and proposes five key actions that will be implemented by the Commission between 2007 and 2010. These actions are as follows:
Promote long-term co-operation between government and industry to alleviate the skills shortage, and monitor progress with regard to the supply and demand of e-skills within the region.
Develop supporting actions and tools, including an EU-wide e-Competence Framework based on the ICT skills required by employers in the region; initiatives to encourage more women to enter the ICT workforce; and the promotion of e-training among rural and agricultural workers.
Raise awareness of the job opportunities and career paths available to workers with ICT skills.
Foster employability and social inclusion, with a new initiative dedicated to e-Inclusion that will be launched in 2008.
Promote better and greater use of e-learning : the Commission will make specific recommendations on this subject in a report in 2008.
Oracle welcomes and supports the efforts of the European Commission to foster and promote e-skills in Europe. As a major regional employer and a driving force in the global technology industry, Oracle has a long-standing commitment to working with government, academia and commercial enterprise in Europe to prepare students, job seekers and workers for careers in the ICT professions.
As part of this commitment, Oracle recently became a founder member of the e-Skills Industry Leadership Board (e-Skills ILB). The e-Skills ILB is an industry alliance formed in June 2007 to lead the ICT's sector's contribution to the development and implementation of a long term e-skills and digital literacy agenda in Europe, thus enhancing the region's ability to compete and innovate..
The European Commission has welcomed the establishment of the e-Skills ILB as an example of a strong working partnership between industry, government and academia to combat the e-skills shortage.
Oracle's membership of the e-Skills Industry Leadership Board complements and enhances its existing educational initiatives, which include Oracle Academy, through which 400,000 students in 83 countries have learned key Oracle technology and business skills, and Think.com and ThinkQuest, two programmes managed by the Oracle Education Foundation. The Oracle Education Foundation is an independent, charitable 501(c)(3) organisation funded by Oracle Corporation, which connects over 286,000 students from around the world and engages them in collaborative, project-based learning using technology.
Oracle also operates many local educational initiatives in the European countries in which it is present. You can read more about Oracle's global, regional and local educational initiatives by clicking on the links below.
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