CEPIS e-Competence
Benchmark to be Launched in Support of
Grand Coalition
CEPIS recently announced its pledge to
launch the CEPIS e-Competence Benchmark
with the support of Member Societies to
help reduce the skills mismatches and
gaps in support of the European
Commission’s Grand Coalition for
Digital Jobs. The Coalition was
formally launched by President Barroso,
and Vice President Kroes in Brussels
earlier this month. The CEPIS
e-Competence Benchmark has already
attracted media attention
and will be an online interactive tool
for current and future ICT professionals
to identify the competences they need
for various ICT roles. The Grand
Coalition is a multi-stakeholder
partnership to address the skills
shortages, mismatches and vacancies of
ICT practitioners in Europe today. Read CEPIS’ Pledge in
Support of the Grand Coalition
50(13)
CEPIS Spring Council - Registration Open
 The
CEPIS Spring Council will take place on
Saturday 20 April in Dubrovnik, Croatia
at the Excelsior Hotel.
The Council Meeting will start at 08:30
and end around 16:00. There will be a
welcome reception in the hotel at 19:00
on Friday, 19 April, the evening prior
to Council. This welcome reception will
include a buffet dinner. Please register for
the event here. Registration is
open until Friday 29 March. For any
queries please contact Michel Krmek.
CEPIS
Supports the European e-Competence
Framework Pledge
 CEPIS supports the European
e-Competence Framework (e-CF) Pledge to
promote the e-CF as a common language
for ICT competences and to foster its
adoption as a European Standard. The
e-CF is a reference framework of 36
ICT competences that can be used and
understood by ICT user and supply
companies, the public sector,
educational and social partners across
Europe. This framework has been
developed in the context of the CEN Workshop on ICT
Skills which is chaired by
CEPIS. Read the European
e-Competence Framework Pledge
Discover
the CEPIS Women in ICT Role Models
Platform
 The
CEPIS Platform of Women in ICT role
models showcases successful women in a
variety of dynamic ICT roles, with a
view to inspire European youth, and in
particular young girls, to consider a
career in ICT. With this initiative
CEPIS aims to demonstrate the
creativity, versatility and flexibility
of the careers in ICT in order to change
the perception of ICT among youth.
Indeed one the shared concerns of the
CEPIS Women in ICT Task Force is that
young women who are considering a career
in ICT often lack strong female role
models. See the CEPIS Women in
ICT Role Models Platform
Save
the Date: CEPIS Computing in Schools SIN
Meeting, March 20, Brussels
Following the 49th Council
decision to create a new Special
Interest Network (SIN), the CEPIS
Computing in Schools SIN, would
like to convene its first meeting
in Brussels on Wednesday, March 20
in Brussels. This new SIN will work on
creating advocacy material for members of the
group with a view to influencing
curricula and teachers at the
national level. The SIN will also
analyse current initiatives in
place in Europe to take examples
of good practice so as to
influence governments. If you
would like to attend, please register here.
CEPIS
Micro-Conference on Ethics
CEPIS recently brought together experts
from Member Societies for an engaging
micro-conference on the topic of ethics
in ICT. The objective of this event is
to provide a platform for dialogue
between experts from Member Societies in
order to develop a more consistent
approach to ethics in ICT and plan a
future event that will bring together
industry, experts, and policy makers to
raise awareness of this issue.
German
Informatics Partners with Academy Cube
Initiative to Help Skill the ICT
Professional Europe Needs
 The Academy Cube is a new
pan-European e-learning platform
which aims to develop the
professionals skills of young
graduates in sciences, technology,
engineering and
mathematics. By fostering the
development of young graduates the
Academy Cube intends to provide high-tech
companies with the skilled workers
they need and help fight
unemployment in Europe. The
Academy Cube will first focus on
university graduates in
southern European countries to
provide them an opportunity to
better position themselves on the
European job market. CEPIS Member
German Informatics (GI) is a
partner of this initiative along
with key ICT companies, institutions
and associations. This initiative
supports the aims of the Digital
Agenda for Europe and the Grand
Coalition for Digital Jobs. More on Academy
Cube
FIPA,
the Finnish CEPIS Member Society,
Publishes IT Barometer on the Importance
of IT in Finland
 The
Finnish Information Processing
Association (FIPA) has
published a report analysing the
importance and impact of IT for
Finnish organisations during 2012. The
IT Barometer 2012 is based on over 150
respondents representing some of the
largest companies in Finland. In order
to ensure that the Finish economy
fully utilises ICT’s potential for
growth, the report recommends that
students should be taught to how to
use IT solutions and data in secondary
level and higher education, and that
business managers should be able to
govern the use of data in IT in their
organisation. Thanks to FIPA for
sharing this interesting report. Download the IT
Barometer 2012
New
Poll: Do professional ethics in ICT
matter?
The
new poll question on the homepage of the
CEPIS website asks whether professional
ethics in ICT matter. The CEPIS
Professionalism Task Force has long
recognised the importance of
professional Ethics in the establishment
of an ICT Profession. This poll question
will help to gauge if the broad
community of ICT Professionals share the
same interest in adhering to a
professional ethical conduct. Visit the CEPIS
Homepage to Share Your Opinion
Iceland:
UTmessan Event Reaches Over 5000 People
 CEPIS Member
in Iceland, the Icelandic Computer
Society (Ský), recently
organised the UTmessa event to raise
awareness on the importance of
information technology for
individuals, businesses and society.
The objective of this event was to
generate interest of the younger
generations in ICT so as to boost the
number of computer science graduates
in Iceland. The event comprised
conferences and a large exhibition for
the industry and the public which
attracted 5000 people, more than 1,5%
of the Icelandic population. The next
UTmessan will be organised on 7-8
February 2014. More on UTmessan
Visit
the Computer History Museum in Szeged,
Hungary
CEPIS Member in Hungary, the John von
Neumann Computer Society (NJSzT), founded
the Szeged’s Museum of Computer History
in partnership with the University of
Szeged and the National Technical
Museum. The museum has an extensive
collection of over 12,000 objects
tracing the history of computing,
including the first Hungarian satellite.
More on Szeged’s
Computer History Museum
Help Improve European
Commission’s DG Connect Metrics
 The European Commission’s DG
Connect, in charge of the
implementation of the Digital Agenda
for Europe (DAE),
launched a survey to gather
opinion of stakeholders and interested
parties on a set of metrics for their
priority actions in 2013 and beyond.
More particularly, DG Connect would
like to get feedback on metrics for
better ICT regulation, policy and
research and metrics for better
coordination, cooperation and support
(support units). The survey is open
until 15 March 2013. Provide your
feedback
LIKS Computer Days 2013
 The
Lithuanian Computer Society (LIKS) is hosting
their bi-annual event Computer Days at
the Šiauliai University on 19-21
September. Many events will take place
throughout this two-day conference
such as the 16th Conference on
Computer Science, Computing and ICT
(MKK) and the 11th Conference on
Informatics in School Education (MIK).
The full programme is available on the
event’s website.
Thanks to Saulius Maskeliunas for this
contribution. More on the Computer
Days 2013
Compulsory Computing in
Schools? 83% Say Yes
 A
poll was introduced on the homepage of
the CEPIS website asking if computing
science should be a compulsory subject
in secondary school. The poll is now
closed and the results reveal that a
large majority of voters (83%) believe
that computing should be compulsory in
secondary school. If you would like to
suggest a topic or question for our
next poll, please contact Michel Krmek.
CCS
Launches Bebras Contest in Cyprus
 The
Cyprus Computer Society (CCS) recently
announced the organisation of the
Bebras contest in Cyprus. Bebras is
an international informatics
competition which aims to promote
computer science to school students.
The contest focuses on developing
the problem-solving skills of
students who are asked to complete
various kinds of tasks involving
algorithms and programming methods.
The Bebras contest already took
place in almost 20 countries over
the past years. More on the Bebras
Contest
ITU Report
Shows Strong Demand for ICT Services in
Europe
 With 75% Europeans online,
Europe is the region with the highest
Internet penetration rate in the world,
says a new report from the International
Telecommunication Union (ITU), the United
Nations specialized agency for ICT.
Europe also has the highest level of
mobile broadband penetration with 68% of
people using their portable devices to
connect to the Internet. Mobile
broadband subscriptions grew by 33%
annually between 2010 and 2013 to reach
a total of 422 million subscriptions.
Moreover, mobile broadband services are
most affordable in Europe compared to
other regions of the world. More on ITU’s ICT
Facts and Figures
EC Invests €50 Million
in 5G Research
The European Commission
(EC) will invest €50 million in research
projects to deliver 5G mobile technology
by the end of the decade. It is
estimated that mobile traffic will
increase by 33 times compared to 2010
figures as a result of the growing
connectivity of everyday life objects
and the boom of mobile broadband. The EC
will fund a series of projects
addressing the architecture and
functionality needs for 5G networks. More on EC Investments
in 5G
Digital Champions Video
Digital
Champions recently met in Brussels to
assess progress and discuss future
plans. A short video
presenting the Digital Champions was
recently published by the European
Commission. There are currently 21
national Digital Champions appointed
in the EU following the call made last
year by Mr. Barroso, President of the
European Commission. Digital Champions
are individuals appointed by their
national governments as responsible
for the Digital Agenda for Europe (DAE) and
improving digital skills. More on Digital
Champions
Important
Upcoming Events
15
March 2013 CEPIS LSI SIN Meeting
Brussels, Belgium. Organised by:
CEPIS LSI SIN
20
March 2013 CEPIS Computing in
Schools SIN Meeting Brussels,
Belgium. Organised by: CEPIS.
20
April 2013 50(13) CEPIS Council
Meeting Dubrovnik, Croatia.
Organised by: CEPIS. There will be an
evening reception on Friday, 19 April, the
evening prior to Council.
13-15
May 2013 eHealth Week 2013
Dublin, Ireland Co-organised by: ICS, the
European Commission, and the Irish
Presidency of the Council of the European
Union.
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