Entretien avec Hugo Lueders : Des emplois grâce aux TIC[en] 

Why is there a need for a business-led alliance on ICT skills for employability? Are governments not doing enough in this area? 
 
This issue is indeed a high priority for governments at EU and member state level.  It is part of policies to improve access to information and communication technologies (ICT) and to bridge the digital divide in access and skills. This divide is one of the contributing factors to job insecurity and unemployment for the low skilled.  

Governments increasingly recognise the need to deliver not just 'access for all' but also 'skills for all'. In the Dutch Presidency's ICT report, which was published in 2004, it says for example: "A crucial step for a broad deployment and use of ICT by consumers is that Europe's e-Inclusion policy does not only focus on broadband access, but also on the skills Europeans need to participate in the information society. Therefore, the EU needs to … adopt strategies for improving ICT skills”.

So while governments are already doing a lot in this area, they are also specifically calling for business to engage in partnership to help deliver results, and the alliance was formed in response to this call to action.  

Why do companies need to group up then? What is it that they can do better together than each of them by itself? 

Europe’s leading companies are investing in skills for their current and future workforces and in the wider community. That is part of their business and CSR strategies to sustain and grow the knowledge economy. Certainly the companies which founded the European Alliance on Skills for Employability share a commitment to put their core competencies together in partnership to help address the skills divide and equip people to participate in the knowledge economy.  

Talking about CSR - there are already business alliances on Corporate Social Responsibility; CSR Europe for example. What is your relationship to those existing alliances? 

The Business Roadmap of CSR Europe was launched last year in cooperation with the Commission. It provides a strong reference point for this kind of collaboration on skills and competence building, which is one of five goals of the Roadmap for Sustainable and Competitive Enterprises. The Roadmap emphasises that experienced companies are best placed to support and transfer competence to new entrepreneurs in business strategy, in human and financial resources management and in corporate responsibility. 

They can also help increase the skills and employability of future employees out in the wider community. So there is a clear dynamic happening in which responsible companies are responding to the call by governments to work in partnership with each other. Governments on the other hand accelerate progress and results in this key area.  
 

Looking at the composition of this alliance, cynics might say that some of the involved companies are just pushing their own sales agenda instead of working for the common good.

Any cynicism is misplaced because the Alliance is based on optimism and commitment to support people who need ICT and business skills to get back into the workforce - especially the young unemployed and older workers at risk of unemployment. Skills training is focused on developing human confidence and capacity rather than markets or sales. 

The Alliance partners bring the best of their own training systems to our partnership, donating their time and resources, which means the trainees are getting access to skills training in key business technologies and systems.  That’s why the demand is so strong from individuals, community partners, local and national governments.  

Are there any benefits on the ground, beyond the obvious benefit of pushing the e-Skills agenda? 

The Alliance members believe that sharing expertise and resources with others is part of the essence of Corporate Social Responsibility. It makes good business sense to do so because of the opportunity it provides for us to learn and adapt to local needs and challenges, and because of the longer-term sustainability that derives from investing more widely and deeper than in the short-term marketplace only.  

At the same time, it is  important to publicise initiatives like these to raise awareness among the population, and to extend partnerships with local governments and industry. That's the way to reach people who need and want to gain these skills to improve their employability. 

We also believe that one of the benefits the Alliance brings to the dialogue, engagement and partnership with public authorities and NGOs on ICT literacy and professional training for the young, the disabled, older workers and other unemployed or under-employed people throughout Europe, is a  good understanding about the skills and qualifications in demand inside business and the ability to learn from real and tested practice. 

What does your alliance expect from the EU? 

The Alliance welcomes the interest and engagement we have with the European Commission. This initiative is located at the heart of the EU Jobs and Growth Strategy and the call to business to engage in it through partnership. The alliance will also look for cooperation with other key stakeholders, and try to maximise the impact of the programme at political and organisational level, as well as within civil society throughout the EU. Our engagement with the Commission builds on the fact that ICT skills training needs to be maintained and enhanced as a vehicle for employability and job creation in a “competitive and inclusive Europe” which is at the heart of the “EU Jobs and Growth Partnership”.