Closing the ICT skills gap: 'Europe must become the most attractive place to live and work,' says Liikanen
Erkki Liikanen, European Commissioner for Enterprise and Information Society, has warned that Europe risks slipping further behind in the knowledge-based economy if it does not improve its educational systems and business environments. Speaking at the European e-skills summit in Copenhagen on 18 October, Mr. Liikanen reminded delegates that the ICT (information and communication technologies) skills gap was still a threat to EU competitiveness, and outlined those areas he believes require urgent attention. 'Despite the current economic downturn in the ICT sector, the demand for specialised ICT skills is still growing faster than the supply. Therefore, continuous efforts are needed to attract more talented people to study mathematics and computer sciences and to better train people to acquire digital literacy,' the Commissioner said. Following on from this point, Mr Liikanen warned that simply investing in education and training was not enough, as 'skills are particularly subject to international competition and mobility.' He believes that retaining these skilled workers will happen through 'following a consistent approach, ranging from the educational system to the business environment' and by providing them with 'the right opportunities to express their talents in Europe.' In order to drive his message home, Mr Liikanen gave the conference audience some statistics that he felt highlighted his key points. In Europe's four largest economies, he said, whilst around half of the workforce uses a computer in their job, less than one fifth have received ICT training at work. On the realities of the international competition for ICT skills, Mr. Liikanen quoted a survey revealing that 80 per cent of foreign doctoral students in high-tech professions in the USA plan to stay in the country after graduation. In summing up, the Commissioner called for a fresh approach to deal with a problem that many have long been predicting. He said that what is needed are 'new forms of cooperation between the stakeholders' to ensure that basic skills are universally attainable, and are upgraded on a continuous basis. A greater challenge will be to achieve and maintain Mr. Liikanen's vision of Europe as the world's most attractive place to work and live, but the reality, at least as far as he is concerned, is that if Europe has a chance of becoming the most competitive economy on the planet, such challenges must be met.