29 Jan Digital Skillshift
29 Jan, 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 was to reskill and upskill unemployed citizens facing the challenges of the digital transformation in their professional career. This project aimed 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 project worked to mobilise employers to support a new way of thinking about employment and recruitment. It promoted 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.
The JPMorgan Chase Foundation supported Digital SkillShift as part of their philanthropic commitment to drive inclusive economic growth and advance skills-based training.
The project proposed an innovative learning programme.
Firstly, Basic digital and soft skills for employability. This training was 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 were based on the outcomes of our discussions with employers from the ICT and service sectors, where the re-skilled beneficiaries were meant to find a job after the training. These included project management software, such as tools for project planning, research, team work and collaboration. Moreover, the project included and highlighted 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 aimed at supporting 150 participants into work in digital jobs. This training model was shared with other digital competence centres to support more adult workers access to digital up-skilling opportunities. The project offered training and job placement support mainly for short-term unemployed (below 12 months), low-skilled adults. This project sought to equip trainees with digital and soft skills that are needed by the ICT and services industry to access quality jobs.
RESULT: Digital SkillShift course for learners, that is available in English, French, Greman, and Italian.
Partners
- ALL DIGITAL led this project
- Stiftung Digitale Chancen (Digital Opportunities Foundation), Germany – ALL DIGITAL member, a foundation working since 2002 whose aim is for the digital inclusion of all societal groups and counteracting the digital divide.
- Fondazione Patrizio Paoletti, Italy – develops scientifically based educational programmes that can help the new generations to deal successfully with change.
- Simplon.co in France (Paris), a former ALL DIGITAL member, a network of social digital factories in France and abroad, that have trained more than 3000 people in the digital sector since 2013.
