EC Says CEPIS e-Competence Benchmark Sets Example for Beating the ICT Skills Gap

Following the World Economic Forum, the CEPIS e-Competence Benchmark was highlighted by the European Commission (EC) as a concrete contribution to the Grand Coalition for Digital Jobs The EC President, José Manuel Barroso, and Vice President, Neelie Kroes, brought together CEOs from across the global economy to endorse the Davos Declaration. With this declaration, corporate leaders pledge to undertake actions to support the Grand Coalition for Digital Jobs such as providing traineeships and raising awareness on ICT. The objective is to create 100,000 additional traineeships in ICT by the end of 2015. Read the European Commission Press Release

52(14) CEPIS Spring Council - Registration Open

The 52nd CEPIS Council meeting will take place at the Warwick hotel in Geneva, Switzerland on Saturday 5 April, from 08:30 to 16:00 approximately. The Swiss Informatics Society (SI) has kindly offered to host a welcome dinner cruise on Lake Geneva on Friday, 4 April, the evening prior to the Council Meeting. There will also be a closing reception following the Council meeting in the hotel on Saturday, 5 April. To register, please click here. For any queries related to Council please contact Michel Krmek. Register for the 52nd CEPIS Council Meeting

CEPIS Micro-Conference on Professional Ethics - 13 March, Brussels

CEPIS will hold a micro-conference on professional ethics in Brussels, on Thursday, 13 March 2014. The aim of the meeting is to provide a forum for members to discuss the position of national informatics associations on ethics, as well as how ICT practitioners should address ethical considerations related to their profession. Prominent experts from around the world, such as Donald Gotterbarn, renowned for the creation of the Software Engineering Code of Ethics and Professional Practice, will be attending this event. If you are interested in this event, please click here. CEPIS will cover travel and accommodation costs. Space is limited so to ensure attendance please confirm your interest.

CEPIS to Help Steer New Research on the Promotion of ICT Professionalism and Bodies of Knowledge

CEPIS Secretary General, Fiona Fanning, will be part of the Steering Committee of a new project on the development of a pan-European foundational body of knowledge (BOK) for ICT professionals, as well as a sustainable operating model for the promotion of ICT professionalism in Europe. This research is funded by the European Commission and will be carried out by Capgemini Nederland and Ernst and Young. Members who are interested in the topic of BOK should express their interest in attending a workshop on 27 March by contacting Michel Krmek.

CEPIS e-Competence Benchmark Now Available in +70 Languages

The CEPIS e-Competence Benchmark is now available in more than 70 languages following the addition of an automatic translation tool. This new functionality will allow a larger number of individuals to use the CEPIS e-Competence Benchmark and compare their competences with the requirements of the European e-Competence Framework (e-CF), the common language for ICT competences across Europe. Try the CEPIS e-Competence Benchmark in Your Language

E-Skills International Conference - 26 March, Brussels

The European Commission’s DG Enterprise & Industry will host a conference on the international dimension of e-skills in cooperation with IVI, CEPIS, IDC, and empirica. The conference will focus on the results of the research project on the international dimension of ICT professionalism and the impact of globalisation on e-skills. The event will bring together leading experts from industry, academia, national e-skills institutes, industry associations as well as related governmental entities. The conference will take place on 26 March 2014 in Brussels and is by invitation only. Pre-register to get an invitation for the International Dimension of e-Skills event

Be a Part of the e-Skills for Jobs Campaign 2014!

The e-Skills for Jobs campaign is taking place throughout 2014 across 30 countries in Europe. It is a major communication and awareness-raising campaign on e-skills for jobs to help fill digital skills shortages, gaps and mismatches. The campaign focuses on promoting the career opportunities in ICT as well as the value of re- and upskilling for practitioners and businesses. We encourage Member Societies to get in involved in local activities surrounding this campaign by getting in touch with their national point of contact.

Get Your Free Tickets to CeBIT2014!

Europe’s biggest tech trade show is taking place next month on 10-14 March in Hannover, Germany, and we have 10 one-day tickets worth €60 each to give away. Send us an email quickly if you would like to receive a one-day ticket to attend CeBIT 2014. Tickets will be given on a first-come, first-served basis. More than 230,000 IT professionals are expected to attend this year’s edition, and hundreds technology companies will be present to display their latest products. More on CeBIT 2014

New CEPIS Women in ICT Role Models Interview

The CEPIS Platform of Women in ICT role models was recently updated with a new interview of Skevi Skordallou who works as an ICT officer for an airline company in Cyprus. In her interview, Skevi explains why she decided to study ICT and how it helped her turn her life around. The platform showcases successful women in a variety of dynamic ICT roles, with a view to inspiring European youth, and in particular young girls, to consider a career in ICT. Suggest a Female ICT Role Model

HEPIS to Train 200 Greek Women in Basic ICT Skills

CEPIS’ Greek Member, the Hellenic Professionals Informatics Society (HePIS), has launched a new programme aiming to train more than 200 women in basic ICT skills with a view to boost their employability on the labour market. The beneficiaries of this programme, co-funded by the Greek Ministry of Interior, are women over 50 living in the greater area of Athens who have never used a computer. With this initiative, HEPIS intends to tackle digital illiteracy and social exclusion and promote gender equality. More about HEPIS’ Training Programme for Women

FIPA, the Finnish CEPIS Member Society, Publishes IT Barometer on the Importance of IT in Finland

90 percent of Finnish companies rated the business impact of IT as positive, according to the IT Barometer 2013 published by the Finnish Information Processing Association (FIPA). Respondents consider that IT-enabled innovations helped companies to increase their sales by 5 percent and increase their profitability by over 4 percent, whilst reducing their costs by 5 percent. However, the study also finds that those beliefs are in contradiction with companies’ actual behaviours. Indeed many of them postponed their IT investments in 2013 to cut costs due to the difficult economic climate. Download the IT Barometer 2013 (Only Available in Finnish)

New Report Says Skills Shortage Is Causing Major Business Problems

Despite more people looking for work, more than a quarter of European employers are struggling to fill vacancies due to a lack of skills, according to a new McKinsey research. The report calls for a better alignment between the worlds of education and employment, warning that education providers are being over-optimistic about the employability of their graduates. The journey from education to employment can be improved, for instance, by subsidising vocational courses which are viewed as more helpful to finding a job. Read More

Measuring ICT Employment in Europe

The Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission recently published a new paper providing insights on how to describe the ICT employment landscape in the EU countries. So far, policy discussions on ICT employment issues have not been well-supported by good quality statistical information due to the absence of an appropriate framework and an agreed terminology. This paper argues that the ICT employment landscape can be captured from three different angles: employment in ICT-intensive sectors, employment in ICT-intensive occupations and people employed with ICT-specific skills. More on ICT Employment Statistics in Europe

A Not-So-Short History of the Information Systems Field

The history of the information systems (IS) discipline spans over 50 years yet it has been largely ignored so far. A research article by Rudy Hirschleim and Heinz K. Klein intends to provide a better understanding of the discipline by looking at the foundational ideas of the early thinkers of IS. The authors argue that developing a shared view of history within the IS community is important in order to better define the identity of the discipline. Thanks to Dirk Deschoolmeester for this contribution. More about the History of Information Systems

Internet Access and Use in 2013: Digital Divides Persist

A new Eurostat report reveals that strong disparities remain among EU Member States regarding Internet access and use. Around one third or more of individuals in Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Cyprus and Poland have never used the Internet. Overall in the EU 62% of individuals use the Internet on a daily basis, however, this figure varies significantly according to the level of education. The proportion of regular Internet users with a high level of education (93 %) was nearly twice that for those with a low level of education (48 %). More about Internet Access and Use in 2013

Important Upcoming Events

27-28 February 8th International Conference on Integrated Power Electronics Systems (CIPS) Nuremberg, Germany. Organised by: VDE

28 February EU Cyber Security Strategy Conference Brussels, Belgium. Organised by: European Commission

13 March Micro-Conference on Professional Ethics Brussels, Belgium. Organised by: CEPIS

18 March OCG Horizons Vienna, Austria. Organised by: OCG

5 April 52nd CEPIS Council Meeting Geneva, Switzerland. Organised by: CEPIS