In response to the European Commission’s call on tackling the digital skills gap in Europe, the European Software Skills Alliance (ESSA) project has been kicked off. The 4-year project will form a new Sustainable Skills Strategy, and Vocational Educational and Training (VET) curriculum for Europe. With funding from the European Commission under the Erasmus+ programme, ESSA aims to ensure that the strategy meets with the needs of the industry now and in the future, allowing for further advancement in the process.
With digital developments taking place, there is a need for employees to have digital skills to cope with emerging technologies, so the need for digitally equipped professionals has thus grown across the world. The goal of this project is to create a strategy that is informed by the needs of employers, ascertained through extensive needs analysis early in the project, so as to ensure that VET courses and work-based initiatives are effective in upskilling and reskilling citizens.
Currently, the needs of employers cannot be met with the systems in place, therefore, ESSA will develop new mechanisms to ensure the strategy is rolled out across Europe, to advance digital and ICT professional skills in software services. Additionally, a European Software Skills Community will be created to facilitate a hub for expert reviews, and the exchange of ideas and best practices across the software sector and VET community, helping further the reach and implementation of the project’s output.
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