News from the e-Jobs blog
Celtic-Plus Proposers' Day and Event 2012
Tue, 01/24/2012 - 10:47
The Event will take place at Näringslivets Hus Konferens & Restaurang Storgatan 19/ Stockholm. The EUREKA cluster Celtic-Plus organizes its 7th official Celtic Event and Celtic-Plus Proposer's Day on 22nd and 23rd February 2012 in Stockholm/ Sweden. The Event will be attended by around 200 experts and decision makers are expected to attend the sessions.
The focus will be on the new challenges for the telecommunications world and the competitiveness of Europe's telecommunications industry towards a Smart Connected World. The Celtic-Plus Proposers' Day provides a platform to present potential project ideas and to discuss them with other experts in order to build a strong project consortium. Participation only of the proposers' day (morning session) is free of charge (no lunch). You are welcome to attend also the Celtic Event, however, then you need to register and pay the event fee.
Discuss new research projects and build new project teams on:
• New service challenges:
• Get connected (telecommunications infrastructure challenges)
• Digital City
• Digital Home
• E-Health
• multi-disciplinary topicsHigh-level views on future challenges from industry perspective
• Future Internet, how the program impact should be extended
• Green-ICT, CleanTech, Smart Grids
• Inter-disciplinary challenges for a better, cleaner, energy-efficient world
Exhibition: In parallel to the Event a Celtic project exhibition will be organised by Celtic project teams demonstrating their achievements, demos or prototypes and discuss their results with interested experts. More information you can find here.
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Distance Selling & e-Commerce Conference, January 23 Athens
Fri, 01/20/2012 - 13:01
The aim of the Distance Selling & e-Commerce Conference 2012, is to reveal the ways and tools that make e-business, more competitive, versatile and customer-centric, as well as to identify barriers that exist and close the way to further development of e-commerce. Also, suggest modern (and proven) practices and practical technology solutions that will overcome these obstacles. The Conference aims to help business interested in forming a comprehensive and effective strategy that will create benefits for the entire industry.
The Conference will try to answer – among others - the following questions:
• Are Greek e-businesses competitive?
• Do they offer the customer experience that the customers expect?
• Which are the steps to be done to lead to development?
• Do they have recognizable brands trusted by customers?
• Do they have innovative and secure payment systems?
• Are the infrastructure and legislative framework sufficient for further development?
• Which are the innovations in the field of logistics and distribution?
• Is mobile commerce the next bet?
The Conference refers at all business in Greece that either activate, plan to operate or supply companies at Distance Selling. Invites all senior executives who specialize in marketing, business development, IT, customer service, procurement, e-commerce, multichannel marketing, direct marketing, logistics, market research from the following sectors: Retail, Travel Services, Hospitality, Transport / postal Services, Banking Services, Telecommunications, Electronics / Computers, Entertainment, Internet.
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ProInterNet (PIN) project: Greek experts discuss about the future of Internet related Jobs
Thu, 01/19/2012 - 09:13The current interview is a discussion between two experts I. Marinou and I. Kostopoulos as a continuation of the first Round table of the ProInterNet (PIN) project, which took place in Patras, Greece on March 2011. The main aim of this meeting was to allow the interaction among the main key stakeholders or key players in the area of e-Jobs and internet related jobs, to share knowledge, practical experience and market needs in order to obtain direct feedback from them as well as to gather a compendium of recommendations to the stakeholders based on the brain-storming and information exchange during the meeting.
In the video the two experts, I. Marinou director of the Greek Man Power Employment Organization (OAED) in Patras and I. Kostopoulos ICT consultant in the Municipality of Patras, have given the definition of the internet industry and perceiving it as industry and they talk about its current dimension. Moreover, they outline their views on future needs, based on their experience, make suggestions about what can be done to improve the situation in the internet related job market, an issue of general discussion also on a public organization level.
ProInterNet (PIN) (http://www.prointernet-project.eu/) is a network project that will contribute to key objectives of Leonardo as defined in policy documents, such as the Treaty of Copenhagen. In particular, the project is to improve transparency, information systems and guidance on skills and qualifications for professions Internet at European level. The main aim of the project is the creation of the European Thematic Network for the internet professions and their related needs.The activities planned by the project PIN will improve employability, reduce skill shortages in the EU labor market, improve the quality of Vocational Education – Training and will make Vocational Education – Training in ICT transparent and comparable at European level. Therefore it will benefit all target groups that involves in the web project. With the involvement of all related entities, outside the pool, in all phases of the project will reach critical mass that will allow continued cooperation at the network level. One of the project activities is to organize roundtables for exchange knowledge and to create a level-playing ground for future activities of the network. The project is receiving 75% for its funding from the European Lifelong Learning program. Ten partners from 8 European countries are participating in the project. Greece is representing by the Hellenic Open University through the participation of Educational Content, Technology and Methodology Laboratory directed by Assistant Professor Achilles Kameas.
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What skills do you need for a Green ICT Job?
Wed, 01/18/2012 - 10:21The new Grenn IT node project investigates the needed skills and competences for green ICT jobs. The project started in November 2011 and address the shortage of skilled professionals in the Green IT field. During the 24 months of the project, Green IT node will analyse the market needs, the existing trainings available for the different components and competences, and define a professional standard in the participating European countries.
Green IT node will develop European specialist profiles that are in compliance with the principles of the European metaframeworks EQF/e-CF and ECVET as well as guidelines for developing/setting-up further vocational training measures for Green ICT jobs. The expected impact will allow for comparable skills sets for these professions of the future which supports the European labour market and tus, the employability of professionals while at the same time contributing to one of the major challenges of Europe 2020.
Green IT node is funded by Lifelong Learning programme of the European Commission.
More information on the project
More information on eJobs in Europe
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Action plan for doubling the volume of e-commerce in Europe by 2015
Tue, 01/17/2012 - 12:13
The Commission has adopted a Communication presenting 16 targeted initiatives aiming to boost e-commerce from its current levels of 3.4% of total retail sales to 7% by 2015.
The plan places emphasis on strengthening a single harmonized framework for e-commerce and other commercial online services and proposes an action plan to remove five main obstacles to the Digital Single Market:
- the supply of legal, cross-border online services is still inadequate;
- there is not enough information for online service operators or protection for internet users;
- payment and delivery systems are still inadequate;
- there are too many cases of abuse and disputes that are difficult to settle;
- insufficient use is made of high-speed communication networks and hi-tech solutions.
To face up this reality new competences and skills will be needed for e-Commerce related jobs.
What are the main future jobs in the e-commerce field? Comment below!
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Research on E-Commerce in Greece
Tue, 01/17/2012 - 11:34The annual survey of the Laboratory of Electronic Commerce (ELTRUN) Athens University of Economics on "Recording of the total e-commerce market in B-C, and behavior of Greek on-line consumers" has been completed recently. Despite the stabilizing trends in the second–half, the total purchases for goods and services of Greek consumers fluctuated in 2011 to 1.7 billion euros, an increase of 30% compared to 2010. Right now, 1.5 million on-line Greek consumers buy on average 14–15 times a year by using the Internet, spending 1,150 euros/year, of which 2/3 bound for Greek sites. The annual incidence and value of the purchases of Greek online consumers are now corresponding to the European averages.
Presentation of Research:
http://www.startupgreece.gov.gr/sites/default/files/Ecommerce_final_v1.pdf
Research Facts and Figures (Executive Summary):
http://www.startupgreece.gov.gr/sites/default/files/Ecommerce_symperiforaonlinekatanaloton11_v3.pdf
Website: http://www.startupgreece.gov.gr/el/data-trends
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Teaching of computer science in UK lacks relevance
Tue, 01/17/2012 - 11:22The teaching of computer science must become more relevant to modern needs, said the government.
The UK government said the current teaching of IT was "insufficiently rigorous and in need of reform". This impression results from an industry report investigating technology teaching in the UK. The report was published in October and criticised current ICT classes as those tended to aim at conveying how to use software instead of writing it. As a consequence, a major task would be to investigate ways to tempt good teachers of computer science into schools.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-15923113
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Teens overtake ICT teachers at school
Tue, 01/17/2012 - 11:05According to a Microsoft study, many teenagers are immersed in technology at home - but are not able to translate this into learning technology skills at school.
Such a skills gap is a "major concern" for employers, says Mr Beswick, Microsoft's director of education. He points out that pupils will have to be able to leave school with adequate skills in information technology which will be required by the jobs market.
The survey claims that 71% of teenagers think that they learn more about information technology outside of school than in formal ICT lessons. This is especially, because most of the teenagers are used to social networking platforms. Those platforms require skills that would be useful to employers, he says, as the users are skilled in collaborating and interacting in a creative way.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-12192047
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Teaching situation of ICT in secondary schools in England
Tue, 01/17/2012 - 10:51The teaching of information and communications technology (ICT) is inadequate in a fifth of secondary schools in England, Ofsted says.
It is also stated that teachers lack the know how to teach demanding topics satisfactory such as databases and programming. As a consequence, the number of pupils taking ICT courses has decreased dramatically since 2007.
Chief inspector Miriam Rosen said "[…] Schools should provide a range of ICT courses that are suitably matched to students' needs, support them with their learning and prepare them for higher education and for skilled work in a technological age."
According to Schools Minister Nick Gibb, too many young people were not being equipped with the skills and knowledge they needed for further study and the workplace. He said "We are looking very carefully at ICT as part of the national curriculum review and have listened closely to the computing industry's calls for more rigorous computer science courses to help tackle the skills shortages facing high-tech industries."
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-16157519
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Successful partner meeting in Stuttgart, Germany
Tue, 01/17/2012 - 10:50The partner meeting at DEKRA in Stuttgart, Germany (09/01/12 - 10/01/12) was a successful event from the consortium`s point of view. The focus of this meeting was set on the Certification and Labelisation process for trainings on internet-related jobs. In the course of the meeting, the partners elaborated measures for a successful realisation of those steps.
The next partner meeting will take place in Wroclaw, Poland in June 2012.
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Government backs call for classroom coding
Tue, 01/17/2012 - 09:53The teaching of computer science must become more relevant to modern needs, said the government.
The government said the current teaching of IT was "insufficiently rigorous and in need of reform". The call for change came in a response to an industry report which looked at technology teaching in the UK. Without reform future UK workers would lack key skills and the nation would lose its standing as a video games and visual arts hub, said the report.
Game overThe Next Gen report was published in October and criticised current ICT (information and communication technology) classes which tended to focus on how to use software rather than on how to write it. Written by gaming guru Ian Livingstone and visual effects veteran Alex Hope, Next Gen called for programming skills to replace learning about business software in ICT lessons. In its response, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) said the report had set out some "compelling" ideas about how to make the UK a hub for video games and visual effects. Creative industries minister Ed Vaizey said computer games and the visual effects sectors had a clear economic and cultural value.
"We need to invest in talent that will ensure the UK remains at the forefront of games creativity," he said. The high quality jobs that could be created in the gaming and effects sectors might help the UK's recovery from recession, added Mr Vaizey.
The DCMS response considered the 20 points for action given in Next Gen and said that, as well as looking into ICT reform, it would take action on other fronts including investigating ways to tempt good teachers of computer science into schools and stepping up plans to get game makers and effects artists to talk to pupils about their work.
OptionalThe government shied away from agreeing to include ICT in the national curriculum which was one of the main goals of the Next Gen report. Despite this, Mr Livingstone said he was "absolutely delighted" with the response because of a separate commitment to ensure that school children would be more digitally literate. "It's an open door for us to have a dialogue and talk to the Department for Education in particular which we couldn't do until quite recently," he told the BBC. The Next Gen report led to the creation of a nationwide campaign which has urged a more hands-on approach to tech in classrooms. Google, Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo, Sega, Electronic Arts, Activision, Talk Talk and the Guardian Media Group have all backed the call for change to ICT teaching.
Mr Livingston said the skills campaign would now work hard to influence the re-writing of the curriculum to ensure core digital skills were included.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-15923113
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Tech-friendly teens overtaking schools, says Microsoft
Tue, 01/17/2012 - 09:48Many teenagers are immersed in technology at home - but are failing to translate this into learning technology skills at school, claims Microsoft.
A survey from Microsoft found 82% of 16 to 18 year olds in education use the Facebook website every day. But Microsoft's director of education, Steve Beswick, says within school there remains much "untapped potential" in how teenagers use technology. Such a skills gap is a "major concern" for employers, says Mr Beswick. He warns that pupils need to be able to leave school with "appropriate skills" in information technology that will be needed for the jobs market.
Pervasive technologySpeaking at the BETT Show for educational technology in London, Mr Beswick says teenagers' level of engagement with information technology at home is not being matched within school. Although the survey suggests that one in five pupils use social networking to collaborate on school work, Microsoft says interest in technology at home is not being harnessed by schools. The survey claims that 71% of teenagers believe they learn more about information technology outside of school than in formal ICT lessons. "Rather than pushing back something like Facebook, it's a matter of finding out how it can work for learning," said Mr Beswick.
Social networking requires skills that would be useful to employers, he says, such as collaborating and interacting in a creative way. It could also be used to develop communities of interest groups - and he suggests that it could be useful for teachers in subject areas to share ideas. "Technology isn't the answer to everything. But it can be a useful tool, it can light up a subject," he says.
Earlier this week, head teachers complained that parents were using social networking websites to attack and bully their children's teachers. There have been long standing concerns about pupils and teachers being "cyberbullied" through websites. A survey for last year's National Family Week illustrated the significance of social networking for young people - particularly teenage girls. It found that social networking was rated as one of the most influential things in the lives of teenage girls - an importance that was often underestimated by parents.
Microsoft points to research from last year showing how pervasive computers have become in young people's lives. There are about 2.5 million computers in schools, 97% of 15 and 16 year olds have a computer and internet access at home and one in three has a computer in their bedroom. Schools, facing tightening budgets, will also face tough choices about funding technology, with research last autumn suggesting that there are 365,000 "ineffective" computers in schools.
In terms of the next phase in educational technology, Mr Beswick suggests an expansion in "cloud computing" - in which schools would buy online services and support from a central provider, rather than holding their own servers and software.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-12192047
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ICT 'poor in secondary schools', Ofsted says
Tue, 01/17/2012 - 09:43The teaching of information and communications technology (ICT) is inadequate in a fifth of secondary schools in England, Ofsted says
Inspectors said teachers lacked the expertise and confidence to teach more demanding topics properly. The report said areas such as databases and programming were poorly taught, with some pupils making more progress outside lessons than in them. Schools Minister Nick Gibb said ICT teaching was "far too patchy". Of the 74 secondary schools visited between 2008 and 2011, achievement was good or outstanding in just 27 of the schools, satisfactory in 33 and inadequate in 14. In 30 of the schools, nearly half of students reached the age of 16 without adequate foundation for further study or training in ICT and related subjects.
Ofsted said in some secondary schools, pupils were being spoon-fed small pieces of learning and there were no opportunities to develop an understanding of programming. The report also noted that the numbers of pupils taking ICT at GCSE ICT had plummeted since 2007. In 2011, 31,800 students sat the examination, compared with 81,100 in 2007 - a reduction of 64%.
However, in England's primary schools the picture was more positive, with teaching judged to be good or outstanding in nearly two-thirds of schools.
Of the 88 primary schools visited, achievement was judged to be outstanding in 11, good in 39, satisfactory in 33 and inadequate in just five. In the summer, Google chairman Eric Schmidt said education in Britain was holding back the country's chances of success in the digital media economy. Dr Schmidt said the UK needed to reignite children's passion for science, engineering and maths.
E-safety
Ofsted inspectors also highlighted concerns about children's safety while using the internet.
The report said: "While e-safety had been promoted effectively in all the schools visited as part of the survey, several of them had reported incidents of attempts to contact pupils inappropriately. "In discussions with inspectors, the issue of underage use of social networking sites arose frequently, underlining the importance of schools continuing to maintain e-safety as a priority for staff training and awareness-raising with parents." Chief inspector Miriam Rosen said: "In a world that is becoming increasingly reliant on technology, young people need to be given the opportunity to learn ICT skills in an interesting, challenging and relevant way.
"Schools should provide a range of ICT courses that are suitably matched to students' needs, support them with their learning and prepare them for higher education and for skilled work in a technological age."
'Patchy'
Mr Gibb said too many young people were not being equipped with the skills and knowledge they needed for further study and the workplace. He said: "It's clear that ICT teaching is far too patchy - with outstanding work in some areas but real weaknesses in the quality of courses, curriculum and teacher training in others. "We want to move away from the over-focus on buying computer hardware, which dates rapidly, and towards teaching pupils to be technologically literate and quick to adapt.
"We are looking very carefully at ICT as part of the national curriculum review and have listened closely to the computing industry's calls for more rigorous computer science courses to help tackle the skills shortages facing high-tech industries."
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-16157519
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Successful partner meeting in Stuttgart, Germany
Tue, 01/17/2012 - 09:19The partner meeting at DEKRA in Stuttgart, Germany (09/01/12 - 10/01/12) was a successful event from the consortium`s point of view. The focus of this meeting was set on the Certification and Labelisation process for trainings on internet-related jobs. In the course of the meeting, the partners elaborated measures for a successful realisation of those steps.
The next partner meeting will take place in Wroclaw, Poland in June 2012.
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Small companies create 85% of new jobs
Mon, 01/16/2012 - 16:38According to study from the European Union , SME are responsible of the net creation of 85% of employment inside the EU between 2002 and 2010. Anual growth in SME is 1% and 0.5 % in large companies. This also confirm that 2 on 3 jobs are done in SME (67 %) Small companies under 10 empoyees develop more the employment than any other group. Salaries and security is lower in SME than in large companies.
This is why it is absolutly needed to think about SME in vocational training! at the moment as the studies show that mainly jobs profiles and training courses are developped on large companies models.
All work done by e-jobs observatory take in account the SME training needs as well than for large companies.
To have a look on professional functions profiles for e-jobs, have a look on this page !
Comments are welcome!
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FOM publishes working paper "Needs of the Internet Industry - Making Offer meet Demand in Training and Education"
Mon, 01/16/2012 - 15:03FOM published a working paper with the title "Needs of the Internet Industry - Making Offer meet Demand in Training and Education". It represents the major findings from the national roundtables in the participating countries of the e-Jobs Observatory.
The report is part of the (PIN) ProInterNet network project which is conducted in the framework of the Leonardo Da Vinci Lifelong Learning programme and funded by the European Commission. It aims at identifying the current and prospective needs of European small and medium-sized enterprises in regard to internet-related jobs. In the course of the project, the partner countries organized roundtable meetings in order to promote the idea of transparent and transnational job profiles in regard to internet-related jobs and create a network of national key players. The following report presents the results that were obtained from the first round of meetings carried out in seven EU countries. The main conclusions at European level elaborated during the roundtable meetings are the following ones:
- Employees in Europe do not have sufficient high level competences which are needed in future. Therefore, it is urgent to act immediately.
- SMEs ask for a high level of professional qualifications for their vacancies. It is difficult to find adequate candidates with proper soft skills.
- There is a large gap between the approaches of the stakeholders: Training organisations, companies (especially SMEs), intermediary organisations, students and jobseekers.
- Unify education, training and employment by intensifying collaboration between training institutions and prospective employers.
- Anticipate necessities, be open to talent and promote initiatives that facilitate “learning-from-each-other” processes.
- This type of measures should be facilitated by governments at local, national and European level.
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Sustainability Systems Developer - one of the ten green jobs for the next decade
Fri, 01/13/2012 - 12:32Massive investments in clean energy promise to keep farmers, urban planners, and green-tech entrepreneurs in business for the next decade. The profile of Sustainability Systems Developer has been listed together with other 9 non IT profiles as one of the ten best green jobs for the next decade!
The green economy needs a cadre of specialized software developers and engineers who design, build, and maintain the networks, as well as developers familiar with open source and web 2.0 applications.
More information
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e-reputation decisive key for employment !
Tue, 01/03/2012 - 15:32Before deciding to engage someone, recruiters mainly check what is available on the candidate on social networks and search engines ! 8% of companies have already fired someone due to something which was written on the internet !
Metiers du Web has published an interressant study about employment and e-reputation (in french language)
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Multilingualism for jobs mobility, but not only
Tue, 12/20/2011 - 10:56On November 17, the Council of the European Union issued conclusions on language competences to enhance mobility. In the document the Council not only addresses multilingualism for jobs mobility but also mentions the importance to foster better use of language competences as a mean of increasing the competitiveness of EU business, and especially that of small and medium-sized enterprises. In this context, the Council welcomes the work of the Business Platform for Multilingualism of which EMF is a member of the Steering Committee, and invites the European Commission to further pursue its support and stakeholder initiatives of this kind.
Download the document
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Implementing eCompetence Framework into ICT SMEs
Thu, 12/15/2011 - 09:33As a result of the "eCF into SMEs" project, the document “Implementing eCompetence Framework into ICT SMEs” focuses on the issues raised by the implementation of the eCompetence Framework in ICT SMEs. It also addresses the issue of moving SMEs towards a greater awareness of their e-competence needs and e-certification opportunities. The document has been carried out in the framework of the CEN WS ICT Skills with funding from the European Commission.
The document contains the following outcomes:
-The current set of ICT SME e-CF competences and levels with possible language simplifications
-A tool for e-competence need analysis within ICT SMEs that will replace the semi-structures questionnaire as new release shared and adjusted with SMEs
-An e-Certification chart example based on e-CERT method connecting ICT SMEs e-DF competences to e-certifications available on the market (both proprietary and open source)
-A synthetic document with conclusions of interviews within SMEs
-Overall considerations on costs of e-competence formal recognition (i.e. e-certification) for SMEs.
Download the document
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