07 Feb Digital SkillShift project launches
07 Feb, 2019
The rapid technological improvements in the last decades have unlocked many new job possibilities. More than ever, digital skills are essential for adult workers to take advantage of these opportunities and play a key role in the evolution of the digital economy.
The purpose of the Digital SkillShift project is to reskill and upskill unemployed citizens facing the challenges of the digital transformation in their professional career. This project aims to support participants to develop new digital skills and attitudes required to succeed in today’s labour market, with a pilot supporting 150 adults into good jobs in France, Germany and Italy.
The JPMorgan Chase Foundation is supporting Digital SkillShift as part of their philanthropic commitment to drive inclusive economic growth and advance skills-based training. “The need for digital skills has never been greater. With the proliferation of technology in all aspects of our lives as well as across an increasing number of occupations, workers need to have a higher basic level of digital skills to perform at their highest level or to compete for good jobs. Our objective with this project is to help people make the most of the new emerging opportunities technology can bring while demonstrating to employers the benefits to their businesses in upskilling and investing in existing employees,” says Hang Ho, head of the JPMorgan Chase Foundation in EMEA and LATAM.
The project will also work to mobilise employers to support a new way of thinking about employment and recruitment. It promotes the idea of employers’ ongoing engagement in the process of preparing their (future) employees through tailor-made training programmes, rather than simply going to the market when they need to fill in a position.
ALL DIGITAL will lead this project and work with experienced partners from three EU countries to implement the project. In Germany (Berlin) they will work with Stiftung Digitale Chancen (Digital Opportunities Foundation), a foundation working since 2002 whose aim is for the digital inclusion of all societal groups and counteracting the digital divide. In Italy (Rome) the partner is Fondazione Patrizio Paoletti, which develops scientifically based educational programmes that can help the new generations to deal successfully with change. The third partner is Simplon.co in France (Paris), a network of social digital factories in France and abroad, that have trained more than 3000 people in the digital sector since 2013.
Laurentiu Bunescu, CEO of ALL DIGITAL, said, “We really want the beneficiaries to gain tangible benefits from the training programme; to come out of it feeling that not only their digital skills have shifted up a gear, but their whole career horizon and prospects have shifted. The companies involved should also see this as an innovative model to help them recruit people with the right skills and the right digital mindset for our ever-changing working environment.”
The organisations kicked off the project and joined other practitioners, employers and government representatives at a conference about increasing diversity in the tech sector through inclusive training programmes, based on JPMorgan Chase Foundation supported research and findings from Empirica.
The project will propose an innovative learning programme. Firstly, Basic digital and soft skills for employability. This training will be mapped to the five competence areas of European Digital Competence Framework for Citizens (DigComp): Information and data literacy, Communication and collaboration, Digital content creation, Safety and Problem-solving. Secondly, specific ICT project assistance skills. The digital competences selected for the training will be based on the outcomes of our discussions with employers from the ICT and service sectors, where the re-skilled beneficiaries will find a job after the training. These might include project management software, such as tools for project planning, research, team work and collaboration. Moreover, the project includes and highlights the benefits of a joint digital and soft skills training for employability in the current (European) economic context (the major digital skills gap).
The project aims to support 150 participants into work in digital jobs. This training model will also be shared with other digital competence centres to support more adult workers access to digital up-skilling opportunities. The project is offering training and job placement support mainly for short-term unemployed (below 12 months), low-skilled adults. This project will seek to equip trainees with digital and soft skills that are needed by the ICT and services industry to access quality jobs.
ALL DIGITAL, established in 2007, is a major European Association in the field of digital inclusion and empowerment united by one purpose: empower Europe through digital skills. Our vision is that every European should be able to exploit the opportunities created by digital transformation. Our members are low threshold community centres, NGOs, libraries, other public places where people can access technology and the Internet and learn digital skills. http://www.all-digital.eu
The Patrizio Paoletti Foundation is a non-profit organization based in Rome and it is registered in the National Research Registry Office at the Ministry of Education, University and Research. The Foundation is committed to the discovery of new models of knowledge that support mankind in its own course of development and growth from the perspective of lifelong learning and lifewide education. Find out more at http://www.fondazionepatriziopaoletti.org/
The task of the Stiftung Digital Chancen (Digital Opportunities Foundation) is to research the social consequences of digitisation, to work for equal access to the Internet for all people and to strengthen their media skills. The aim is to promote the digital integration of all social groups and to counteract the threat of a digital divide. The Foundation is under the patronage of the Federal Ministry of Economics and Energy and the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth.
Find out more at: www.digitale-chancen.de
Simplon.co is a network of 53 inclusive digital schools in France and abroad. It provides free and intensive training bootcamps for jobseekers and other vulnerable populations (women, NEETS, refugees) to help them find a job in the tech sector. So far, they have trained 3224 people with a rate of 76% positive outcomes. Simplon.co is also a rich ecosystem of digital service production, events and activities where both regions and businesses experience digital transformation. At the end of 2018, Simplon is present in 15 different countries including Spain, Belgium, Romania, Switzerland, Jordan, Lebanon, India, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Gabon and Madagascar.
Find out more at https://simplon.co/
The JPMorgan Chase Foundation is the charitable arm of JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM), a leading global financial services firm with assets of $2.4 trillion and operations worldwide. The Foundation focuses on driving economic growth and strengthening communities across the globe, by partnering with local efforts to advance skills-based training, help small businesses and improve financial capability for underserved people. The Firm, through its foundation gives approximately $250 million annually to nonprofit organizations around the world and lead volunteer service activities for employees in local communities, utilizing its many resources, including access to capital, strength, global reach and expertise.
Find out more at www.jpmorganchase.com
