European Software Skills Alliance - CASE STUDIES BOOKLET 12 Ideas to Tackle the Shortage of Software Professionals in Europe
←
→
Page content transcription
If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below
European Software Skills Alliance. CASE STUDIES BOOKLET 12 Ideas to Tackle the Shortage of Software Professionals in Europe
EUROPEAN SOFTWARE SKILLS ALLIANCE I CASE STUDIES
12 IDEAS TO TACKLE THE SHORTAGE OF SOFTWARE PROFESSIONALS IN EUROPE 2
Copyright © 2021 by the European Software Skills Alliance. All rights reserved.
Title: Case Studies: 12 ideas to tackle the shortage of software professionals in Europe
www.softwareskills.eu
Editor & Design: Marie Montaldo
The European Commission’s support for the production of this publication
does not constitute an endorsement of the contents, which reflect the
views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible
for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
EUROPEAN SOFTWARE SKILLS ALLIANCE I CASE STUDIES
3 12 IDEAS TO TACKLE THE SHORTAGE OF SOFTWARE PROFESSIONALS IN EUROPE
Table of Contents
Foreword 5
Learning game development at a distance with open-source tools 6
An open education model for underserved students to be career-ready 7
Digital certificates for the recognition of non-formal education 8
Cultivating employees’ skills and attracting young ICT talents 9
Training young NEETs for the most in-demand ICT job profiles 10
A gamified, real-world approach to learning programming 11
Revamping traditional ICT education with an agile SCRUM-based methodology 12
Glocalising high-quality, scalable training activities in tech 13
Efficient corporate training with serious games 14
Training companies’ staff in software skills 15
Profession-relevant soft skills training for ICT professionals 16
Bringing knowledge of market players into education 17
Achieving high quality, hands-on professional training for IT students 19
EUROPEAN SOFTWARE SKILLS ALLIANCE I CASE STUDIES
12 IDEAS TO TACKLE THE SHORTAGE OF SOFTWARE PROFESSIONALS IN EUROPE 4
About the European Software Skills Alliance
ESSA is a four-year transnational project funded under the Erasmus+ programme. It ensures
the skills needs of the rapidly evolving software sector can be met — today and tomorrow.
It provides current and future software professionals, learning providers and
organisations with software needs with the educational and training instruments
they need to meet the demand for software skills in Europe.
ESSA will develop a European Software Skills Strategy and Vocational Education and
Training programmes for Europe. It will address skills mismatches and shortages
by analysing the sector in depth and delivering future-proof curricula and mobility
solutions, tailored to the European software sector’s reality and needs.
EUROPEAN SOFTWARE SKILLS ALLIANCE I CASE STUDIES
5 12 IDEAS TO TACKLE THE SHORTAGE OF SOFTWARE PROFESSIONALS IN EUROPE
Foreword
Designing a strategy is both an exciting The booklet presents curated real-world
and challenging exercise. If it lacks practical good practice examples that help translate
relevance, it will bring no added value. Only if our strategy into concrete actions, and
you bring practical and appropriate examples, in turn, into the design of education and
your strategy can take a meaningful form. training programmes that will contribute to
skill, upskill, or reskill individuals into high
ESSA’s Software Skills Strategy for Europe is demand professional software roles.
based on extensive research, where we looked
at the market demand and supply in software The European Software Skills Alliance (ESSA) is
skills. We asked ourselves a few questions a partnership between twenty-six organisations
like what are the wishes and expectations from universities to large ICT companies, to
from the labour market? What does supply EU-wide business associations. The partners
consist of? But above all: how can the supply have provided one or more cases, based on
better meet the market’s expectations? their own experience, to illustrate our strategy.
We also explored what is happening from We hope that these case studies can serve
the side of education and training — a field as further inspiration, not only for employers,
that develops pretty quickly with the aid educational institutions, and trainers but also for
of ICTs, bringing new learning modes and administrations, governments, and policymakers.
opportunities. Today, learning and working
at a distance are part of our daily practice. Thanks to all contributors.
But, not only technologies have the power
to expand opportunities. They can also be
brought forward by initiatives, visions of
people and organisations. Our strategy has
been inspired and fueled by some of them.
Wanda Saabeel, Irish Computer Society
Nina Kocbek, Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia
ESSA WP2 Leaders
EUROPEAN SOFTWARE SKILLS ALLIANCE I CASE STUDIES
12 IDEAS TO TACKLE THE SHORTAGE OF SOFTWARE PROFESSIONALS IN EUROPE 6
Learning game development at a
distance with open-source tools
By: Hellenic Open University
Industry: Higher Education Results:
Location: Patras, Greece
Size: +250 employees In most cases, this short programme attracts
adult learners who would like to upskill or
reskill themselves into high-demand game
Challenges: software development role profiles.
>> “Ghost” teachers in distance learning courses The open, distance learning model proves to be
>> Limited flexibility of the higher effective to support large groups of learners.
education provision In this course, the Hellenic Open University
>> Game software design high- supports up to 400 learners each year, divided
level requirements into twenty groups with a 1:16 teacher-student
ratio to ensure a qualitative experience for all.
Solution:
Upon successful completion of the
The “Game Development Short Course” programme, learners receive 20 ECTS
is a Greek high-level training course for credits (EQF level 5) and an undergraduate
programmers in the field of game design. The certificate issued by the University.
programme uses open-source tools of the
Python language family (Python, PyGame, Key benefits:
Blender, Panda3D, Unity, etc.) and is delivered
fully online by the Hellenic Open University. • Teaches both hard (programming)
skills and soft (management) skills
Over 32 weeks (550 hours), students are • Covers the entire game software
expected to deliver four mandatory individual development lifecycle, from inception to
assignments and one group project- coding, to marketing the final product
based assignment. Learning is supported • Can be taught fully online to large groups
by open-source educational material and of learners with limited resources
regular team-tutors online sessions. • A working, open, distance learning model is
easily transferable to other types of course
All students are autonomous in their learning • Python can also be used for teaching
but are expected to follow a schedule detailed key competences for Data Analysts,
in a study guide. There are weekly workload FinTech experts, and a plethora of other
thresholds to ensure learners are not overloaded high-demand software role profiles
and the drop-out rate is minimised. The
programme offers flexibility to learners but
also mentoring and support when needed. Key resources:
Online group consultation meetings take
place regularly to solve issues faced by the • Intensive project-based, distance learning
learners, answer questions, and offer them a courses require careful design and structured
chance to present their progress and results. support from (experienced) trainers
• Educational content must effectively
The programme is designed so that students integrate a didactical approach and
may learn to work both individually and in anticipate learners’ expectations
teams (in an asynchronous manner), to develop • A 1:30 teacher-student ratio to allow
both their hard (programming) skills and soft for a qualitative experience for all
skills. In total, there are 358 hours of individual • Curation of specialised educational
distance learning, 176 hours of collaborative content, ideally in local languages
work, and 16 hours of group meetings.EUROPEAN SOFTWARE SKILLS ALLIANCE I CASE STUDIES
7 12 IDEAS TO TACKLE THE SHORTAGE OF SOFTWARE PROFESSIONALS IN EUROPE
An open education model for underserved
students to be career-ready
By: IBM the National College of Ireland, IBM, Cisco,
Virgin Media, Irish Water, and Irish Life.
Industry: ICT
Location: Armonk, USA The independent NEIC Programme
Size: +250 employees Implementation Board (PIB), composed of
government departments and agencies, is
tasked with the delivery of key services and
Challenges: accountability for the expenditure of funds
related to NEIC project priority areas. Four
>> Lack of opportunities for underserved working subgroups, each including community
communities to access tech education and business sector representatives, have
>> Misalignments between traditional been established in line with these priority
education offerings and market needs areas and assigned relevant actions.
>> Employers need to rely in the
main on traditional four-year degree Results:
qualifications when hiring graduates
As of January 2021, there are 200 P-TECH
Solution: schools across 11 US states and 28 countries.
IBM has provided 500 paid traineeships
P-TECH is a public education model, developed to students (as of January 2020).
by IBM and educators. It provides high
school and secondary school students from Graduates obtain both second and third-
underserved communities with the academic, level qualifications (EQF level 5). To date, 339
technical, and professional skills and students graduated from the programme
credentials they need for competitive STEM jobs. (started in 2011). Among them, thirty-six were
hired by schools’ company partners into full-
P–TECH schools are open and free for students. time positions directly after graduating.
They are partnerships between a second-level
school, a third-level college or university, Key benefits:
and industry partners working together. The
model combines coursework with workplace • Strong commitment from students
experiences like industry mentoring, worksite who are engaged by the curriculum,
visits, traineeships and first–in–line for job mentoring, and workplace experiences
considerations with a school’s company partner. • Graduates are immediately able to
assume roles with the industry partners
Free, digital learning is also available through or continue their education
“SkillsBuild”, which introduces students
and educators to tech skills, from emerging
technologies such as artificial intelligence, Key resources:
cloud computing, and cybersecurity, to new
ways of working like agile and design thinking. • A P-TECH coordinator (part-time) for
both industry and school partners
In Ireland, the P-TECH initiative has been • P-TECH “Blueprint” (curated guide
adapted to the Irish Education system. The of resources) to establish, implement,
government launched the programme in 2018 and advance the P-TECH model
which is implemented as part of the Dublin • Upskilling training for second-level
North East Inner City (NEIC) Initiative to oversee teachers to deliver the curriculum
the long-term social and economic regeneration • Collaboration between national
of the area. Piloting P-TECH Irish schools include education systems, IBM, schools, third-
Larkin Community College, Marino College, level institutions, and industry partners
and St Joseph’s CBS, Dublin partnering withEUROPEAN SOFTWARE SKILLS ALLIANCE I CASE STUDIES
12 IDEAS TO TACKLE THE SHORTAGE OF SOFTWARE PROFESSIONALS IN EUROPE 8
Digital certificates for the recognition
of non-formal education
By: HU University of Applied Sciences Utrecht Results:
Industry: Higher Education 380 learners have achieved 713 learning
Location: Utrecht, Netherlands outcomes and 110 Edubadges have been
Size: +250 employees awarded by 12 teachers through the platform.
The results from this Edubadges proof of
Challenges: concept are used to develop a pilot programme
to issue Microcredentials. While Edubadges
>> Digitisation and portability of the are used to award non-formal education,
qualification and certification processes Microcredentials will be used for formal
>> Lifelong learning and certification education with the issuing of ECTS credits.
Solution: Key benefits:
The University of Applied Science Utrecht • An easy-to-use platform to award Edubadges
joined the national Dutch pilot programme on • Simple digital recognition of
Edubadges (digital certificates) to experiment knowledge that is portable
and award students and professionals who • Eases the identification of acquired
completed extra-curricular achievements, skills and knowledge for students and
as part of their UAS Honours programme. The potential employers — if recognised
initiative answers a broader need to achieve
lifelong learning with modular programmes
and increased flexibility for learning pathways. Key resources:
The pilot programme is implemented by a group • Involvement of legal, security, and
of universities that also meets to share their IT departments of the university
experience and addresses important technical, • Teachers need to be trained on how
legal, privacy, and communication issues to use the platform (0,5 hours)
related to the awarding of digital certificates. • API connecting the Student Information
System of the university and the platform
The technical infrastructure used is supported to facilitate the issuing of badges
by Surf — an IT cooperation organisation • Quality assurance processes and recognition
of educational and research institutions in of the Edubadges by third parties
the Netherlands. In practice, teachers can
now issue Edubadges in a few clicks for
any student affiliated with the platform
so they can add it to their digital wallet.EUROPEAN SOFTWARE SKILLS ALLIANCE I CASE STUDIES
9 12 IDEAS TO TACKLE THE SHORTAGE OF SOFTWARE PROFESSIONALS IN EUROPE
Cultivating employees’ skills and
attracting young ICT talents
By: Zemanta (an Outbrain company) skills at the social and networking activities.
Industry: Computer and information science At the end of the week, the company
Location: Ljubljana, Slovenia evaluates the overall satisfaction of
Size: > Students and young professionals lack data
science and machine learning related skills Since its launch in 2018, the Data
>> Young talents are hard to attract Science Summer School has attracted
>> Keep employees’ skillsets up to date more than 90 applicants.
Solution: Zemanta has trained 35 young professionals
and students, among which two have
Zemanta regularly updates the knowledge, joined their team as full-time employees.
competences, and skills of its employees. The
company supports the employees’ career Key benefits:
objectives by offering challenging projects,
working in a close-knit team, and fostering • The short, focused programme
continuous professional development. offers participants real-world,
concrete problems to solve
Actively sharing knowledge and experience • Companies can detect young
is one of the key objectives of the company talents and hire them
who also sponsors a data science • The programme can be replicated in an
Masters programme at the University of online format to get international participants
Ljubljana and organises the “Data Science or transfer knowledge to other companies
Summer School” where its employees • A multi-disciplinary or cross-sectoral approach
take part as lecturers and mentors. can be applied to define broader challenges
Zemanta invites a selected group of young
professionals and students to take part in the Key resources:
summer school. The practice-oriented training
lasts for one week, during which participants get • Companies need to rearrange the
to experiment, learn, and brainstorm about how work so their employees can take an
to apply data science and machine learning. active part in the programme
• A one-week programme implies limits to
The programme is delivered by the what real-world problems the company
company’s expert data scientists and can propose and how accurately they
external lecturers which requires office can assess the participants’ skillsets
work schedule adjustments to accommodate • To run such a programme, companies
everyone. The participants are given real- must ensure that there is a large pool of
world problems related to the company’s interested potential applicants to balance
challenges in the advertising technology out the relative organisational, logistical,
industry and can socialise and build their soft and human resources costs inducedEUROPEAN SOFTWARE SKILLS ALLIANCE I CASE STUDIES
12 IDEAS TO TACKLE THE SHORTAGE OF SOFTWARE PROFESSIONALS IN EUROPE 10
Training young NEETs for the most
in-demand ICT job profiles
By: Adecco Formazione roles and skills and host the beneficiaries of
the programme at their organisations so young
Industry: Training and development people can fulfil the programme’s work-based
Location: Milan, Italy learning component. This win-win approach
Size: > High rates of youth unemployment
in southern Italy The programme aims at delivering 2,320
>> Low number of ICT specialists hours of specialised training by twelve
>> Need for companies to fill specific experienced trainers with the objective to
ICT professional vacancies train 110 young NEETs and qualify them for
high demand ICT specialist role profiles.
Solution:
Key benefits:
The project “Digital Evolution in the South”
is a specialised training programme funded • Teaches the required professional
by ANPAL under the National Operational and technical skills to access
Program “Youth Employment Initiative”. It high demand ICT job roles
specifically targets young NEETs (Not Engaged • Beneficiaries perform a traineeship within
in Education, Employment or Training) in partner organisations that need ICT specialists
southern Italy to skill, upskill, or reskill them • Directly addresses the social and
into high-demand professional ICT job profiles. work challenges of southern Italy. This
can be replicated in other regions
The blended programme is based on a • The project is part of the National
theoretical part (over 6 months) followed Operational Program — which leverages the
by a practice-oriented part (3-month opportunity offered to the Member States
traineeship). It is divided into three tracks — under the European Social Fund’s “Youth
technical specialist, design & development, Guarantee Initiative” and is thus highly
and development. Each of them targets one transferable to other eligible countries
or more ICT professional role profiles that
have been identified as critical and in high
demand by project partner companies. Key resources:
The technical specialist track relates to • Coordinators of the project must
professional role profiles such as system identify and recruit relevant partner
architect, digital media specialist, ICT consultant; companies at the local level
the design & development track targets web • Companies need to be committed to sharing
business analyst, technical specialists; the insights on the skills and professional roles
last track on development is channelled on they need and host trainees for 3 months
the developer role profile — the most needed • A pool of coordinators (one per track)
professional software roles of all1. Given the and specialised trainers is necessary
training focuses on developing advanced to deliver quality training
skills for the corresponding role profiles, there System of the university and the platform
are some requirements, students must meet to to facilitate the issuing of badges
enrol (i.e., basic knowledge of relevant topics). • Quality assurance processes and recognition
of the Edubadges by third parties
The partner companies have a leading role in
the successful delivery of the project. They take
part in the identification of the high demand
1 ESSA consortium (2021), Results of “Europe’s Most Needed
Software Roles and Skills” needs analysis report https://
www.softwareskills.eu/library/needs-analysis-report-2021/EUROPEAN SOFTWARE SKILLS ALLIANCE I CASE STUDIES
11 12 IDEAS TO TACKLE THE SHORTAGE OF SOFTWARE PROFESSIONALS IN EUROPE
A gamified, real-world approach
to learning programming
By: Junior Olympiad in Informatics, High School XIV
Industry: Education
Location: Warsaw, Poland
Size: > Engage young people in
programming from an early age Results:
>> Identify and train the future
ICT talents and IT leaders The programming competition “Olympiad
in Informatics” is an excellent platform for
Solution: students to apply their knowledge to real-
world challenges offered by organisations
The Olympic Computer Club (Olimpijskie and prove to be a good practice example for
Koło Informatyczne - OKI) invites engaging young people in programming.
young polish people, aged 9-19, to National winners get the chance to compete
learn programming, algorithmics and in the International “Olympiad in Informatics”
artificial intelligence — regardless of their and, so far, have returned with medals.
background, initial knowledge, or location.
The online, live classes hosted on
Teachers from high schools and universities YouTube gather about 500 students,
offer training activities free of charge to enable mostly from primary schools.
equal access to education. OKI students follow
live, online classes and receive daily guidance Key benefits:
and support. They can also take part in weekly
physical training for beginner, experienced, • The gamified learning programme
or advanced level at the High School XIV. is attractive for young people
• Young pupils can develop both hard
During those online classes, students and soft skills that are essentials
are taught and asked to solve concrete for pursuing a career in tech
cases using a tailored-made system for • Encourages the mobility of young people
programming competitions, run by Warsaw at the local, national, and European levels
University. Working on these cases, students
can not only reinforce their knowledge but
also boost their soft skills such as creativity Key resources:
and critical thinking skills while self-
exploring, testing, and seeking solutions. • A system that runs and tests
students’ programmes and computer
OKI also adds a gamified and competitive applications for competitions
element to the learning path — the • Availability of the teaching staff at
preparations for participation in the National high schools and universities
“Olympiad in Informatics” where studentsEUROPEAN SOFTWARE SKILLS ALLIANCE I CASE STUDIES
12 IDEAS TO TACKLE THE SHORTAGE OF SOFTWARE PROFESSIONALS IN EUROPE 12
Revamping traditional ICT education with
an agile SCRUM-based methodology
By: HU University of Applied Sciences Utrecht At the end of an education cycle, students
assess themselves and set their own
Industry: Higher Education development goals for the following period.
Location: Utrecht, Netherlands The developments are discussed and polished
Size: +250 employees during an interview with their coach.
Results:
Challenges:
The agile programme is effective to lower the
>> Education and training programmes drop-out rate during the first year (25%) at the
are distant from the market needs university. Coaches have noted a very high level
>> Education and training programmes of commitment from students (>35 working
can be too rigid for learners hours/week) and overall high satisfaction (9/10).
>> High drop-out rates during
the first year at university Often, external clients have taken the products
developed by the students into production.
Solution:
The programme has won the university’s
The University of Applied Sciences Utrecht educational innovation award and a national
(HU) is revamping ICT education with its innovation award. The related gains have
“Open-ICT” bachelor programme. No been re-injected into the programme to cover
standard courses and no exams on the for increased staff and innovation capacity.
menu but self-discovery and cultivation of
a passion for ICT-related professions. Key benefits:
To propose such a shift from traditional • Flexible, personalised learning pathways
learning paths, HU built on successful previous widen the access to education and
experiences of its programme’s specialised improve learners’ satisfaction
branch on Open Innovation and introduced • Real-world assignments ensure
agile learning and working processes education is linked to market needs
based on the SCRUM methodology. • Task-based learning makes it simple for
students to identify their next learning step
Students are given real-life assignments and continue learning independently
and, after six months, work on real-world • Teachers can focus on coaching students
challenges offered by external clients. To rather than grading student work
complete their assignments, students meet
every two weeks — as a team — to define the
solutions they will build for their clients (sprint). Key resources:
Based on their functional wishes, students
assign themselves tasks and identify what they • Support teachers to move from
need to learn next to complete the tasks. the “expert” to “coach” role
• Remodel classrooms into an open learning
Each student has a coach and receives space fit for the student’s needs, including
continuous feedback on their professional 1-1 or team meetings, pitching areas, etc
and content-related development from peers • Agile programmes are well suited
and experts. Their progress is tracked via a to markets where tech plays a major
dashboard based on ten essential ICT-related role and changes are rapid. It can be
skills and helps them visualise where they stand challenging to apply to other fields
as well as acts as a basis for the assessment.EUROPEAN SOFTWARE SKILLS ALLIANCE I CASE STUDIES
13 12 IDEAS TO TACKLE THE SHORTAGE OF SOFTWARE PROFESSIONALS IN EUROPE
Glocalising high-quality, scalable
training activities in tech
By: NVIDIA Deep Learning Institute Results:
Industry: Artificial intelligence This private-public partnership proves to be
Location: Santa Clara, USA successful to update the knowledge of large
Size: +250 employees numbers of people in highly specialised
and technological fields of science.
The Ambassador Program and financial
Challenges: support allow for rapid, local uptake of the
knowledge and Training Kits and support the
>> Organising high-quality, scalable universities’ reskilling and upskilling efforts.
training activities at the local level on
artificial intelligence and related topics Instructor-led workshops can be scaled up
>> Scarcity of and challenge to get by involving “teaching assistants” (with a 1:20
up-to-date teaching material in the assistant-learner ratio) allowing up to 120
field of artificial intelligence people or more to be trained at once. Upon
successful completion, workshop participants
Solution: receive an NVIDIA DLI certificate of competency.
The NVIDIA Deep Learning Institute (DLI) Key benefits:
collaborates with universities and research
laboratories to train professionals, educators, • The more ambassadors, the more
and students in artificial intelligence, people trained (snowball effect)
accelerated computing, accelerated data • Online courses and Training Kits
science, and other hot topics. To this end, maintenance costs are low
NVIDIA supports two complementary • Excellence programme that
educator programmes — the “Teaching Kits” attracts instructor candidates
and “University Ambassador Program”. • Financial support to the universities’
certified instructors
Teaching Kits, developed in collaboration with
academic partners, are available to qualified
university educators who can integrate at Key resources:
their convenience the lecture materials, hands-
on exercises, GPU cloud resources, etc., into • University educators must go through
curricula. These educators are also eligible to a rigorous evaluation to be certified
get the “instructor certification” via the DLI and able to deliver workshops
Ambassador Program. This certification enables • Experienced researchers and educators
them to deliver free “instructor-led workshops” are busy with their academic duties
to their university staff, students, and peers. can propose and how accurately they
can assess the participants’ skillsets
To be certified, instructor candidates
must complete rigorous, course-specific
evaluations, run by a DLI Master Instructor,
covering technical qualifications, subject
matter expertise, knowledge of the teaching
kits, classroom delivery skills, and the use of
the DLI platform. Once certified, instructors
update their knowledge through continuing
education and the annual renewal of the
University Ambassador membership.
Certified instructors oversee the organisation
of the workshops, including logistics,
marketing, and delivery, but do receive
financial support from NVIDIA to cover some
of the expenses of the training activity.EUROPEAN SOFTWARE SKILLS ALLIANCE I CASE STUDIES
12 IDEAS TO TACKLE THE SHORTAGE OF SOFTWARE PROFESSIONALS IN EUROPE 14
Efficient corporate training
with serious games
By: Pegneon
A summary of the player performance
Industry: IT/Human Resources is provided to learners, indicating
Location: Athens, Greece the areas of improvement.
Size: +250 employees
Results:
Challenges: Pegneon’s clients, like Netlink or the Eleftherios
Venizelos Airport, have reported that all
>> Training a wide and diverse group of learners learners have completed their learning
>> Employees’ and companies’ objectives successfully. These results seem
lack of time for training to indicate serious gaming increases the
learners’ completion and engagement rates.
Solution:
Key benefits:
Pegneon develops and delivers serious games
for corporate training like the “safety game” • A flexible, tailored approach
where learners explore an office area and to training employees
act on hazards they may encounter at work • Action-based approach engages the
or “factory”, designed to educate industrial learners and offers better completion
zone workers about safety measures. rate than other types of e-training
• Cost and time effective training
Serious games have the potential to engage for companies and employees
the learners/players with an immersive, • Replicable and adaptable to
personalised, and active journey which different learning materials
facilitates the learning process. The same
game can be given to a diverse group
of learners and does not require the Key resources:
involvement of a trainer, making it cost-
efficient for companies. Pegneon also • Knowledge of game design and good UI/UX
adapts its offer to the needs of companies, • Clear definition of the learning
developing custom made serious games. objectives and in-game parallelism
• Basic knowledge of gaming
It takes about 20-30 minutes to complete mechanics for learners
a learning objective. This parameter is
important for learner professionals and
companies who often lack time for training1.
1 ESSA consortium (2021), Results of “Europe’s Most Needed
Software Roles and Skills” needs analysis report https://
www.softwareskills.eu/library/needs-analysis-report-2021/EUROPEAN SOFTWARE SKILLS ALLIANCE I CASE STUDIES
15 12 IDEAS TO TACKLE THE SHORTAGE OF SOFTWARE PROFESSIONALS IN EUROPE
Training companies’ staff
in software skills
By: University of Ljubljana The training courses are delivered on-site on
the faculty’s premises and are limited to ten to
Industry: Higher Education fifteen participants depending on the type of
Location: Ljubljana, Slovenia activity to allow for higher levels of engagement
Size: > Upskilling personnel in software skills Six tailored courses have been organised for
>> Skilling students in software skills companies but there is no one-fit-all solution.
>> Shortages of software Results have shown that even if the courses
professionals in Slovenia are tailored to the needs of a specific company,
it can only be done up to a certain degree
Solution: and specific individual skills gaps remain.
Companies should segment their needs
The Faculty of Computer and Information further for more efficient training results.
Science at the University of Ljubljana runs
the FRI Academy (Akademija FRI), offering Key benefits:
extra-curricular courses to train individuals,
companies, or high schools in software skills. • Flexible training courses, tailored
to the audience needs
The university appointed a coordinator, • Direct transfer of knowledge from
who oversees the organisation of the the latest research results
yearly programme of the courses, looks for • Leverages the knowledge and
interested academic lecturers and external expertise of academic staff to upskill
collaborators and assumes the logistical and and reskill companies’ personnel
marketing responsibilities. The programme • Companies can get public co-financing from
is led and delivered by the professors and the Slovenian Enterprise Fund to cover the
researchers of the faculty, allowing the training costs. In Slovenia, this is managed
transfer of the latest research results and by the Digital Innovation Hub of Slovenia
knowledge, and ensuring quality content.
The FRI Academy offers a wide range of Key resources:
training courses from data mining to big data
management, to artificial intelligence and • Availability of the academic staff, level of
deep learning. Training activities are flexible expertise and depth of knowledge in specific
and adapted to the audience, upon request topics, depending on the company’s needs
from companies or high schools. They can take • Visibility towards potential clients,
the form of lectures, technical training with a i.e., companies and high schools
demo project, or first-hand intensive training
— from basic to highly specialised levels.EUROPEAN SOFTWARE SKILLS ALLIANCE I CASE STUDIES
12 IDEAS TO TACKLE THE SHORTAGE OF SOFTWARE PROFESSIONALS IN EUROPE 16
Profession-relevant soft skills
training for ICT professionals
By: ITS Antonio Cuccovillo This modular experience and research-based
way of working and learning enable students to
Industry: Non-academic professional training benefit from tailored training and allow teachers
Location: Bari, Italy flexibility in the delivery of the course — making
Size: > Equip ICT professionals with soft skills understanding of the relevance of soft
skills in ICT-related professions and can
Solution: build their skillsets accordingly. Their
employability potential is therefore boosted.
ITS A. Cuccovillo is a training institute (EQF
level 5) specialised in mechatronics. The Key benefits:
foundation’s training offering includes specific
modules related to soft skills including team • Soft skills capacity building
working, communication, problem-solving, for ICT professionals
project management, and entrepreneurship • Formal learning of soft skills, integration
— essential non-technical skills sought after into professional subjects
by companies for software professional roles.
These modules are 10-20 hours long and built Key resources:
based on the results of labour market research
defining the required soft skills. The courses • A well-oiled evaluation mechanism
are, for the most part, practical activities that to assess soft skills and competences
are based on the experiences of students (some rather than knowledge
of whom have work experience) and on real- • A clear link to the profession-
life cases. Small classes of 20-25 students give related goals of students
every learner a chance to actively participate.EUROPEAN SOFTWARE SKILLS ALLIANCE I CASE STUDIES
17 12 IDEAS TO TACKLE THE SHORTAGE OF SOFTWARE PROFESSIONALS IN EUROPE
Bringing knowledge of market
players into education
By: ICT Association of Hungary To be eligible, universities must send their
plans before the start of the semester,
Industry: ICT allowing enough time to find, negotiate,
Location: Budapest, Hungary and plan the course with the trainer.
Size: > Graduates lack practical technological and lectures to the labour market expectations.
business-related knowledge and competencies
>> Shortages of university lecturers Upon acceptance and after the delivery
and/or appropriate institutional of the training, the intermediary
knowledge on recent technologies company remunerates trainers.
Solution: Results:
Hungary’s “Code your future!” project Over four years of the project, 2906 guest
(GINOP-3.1.1-VEKOP-15-2016-00001) is a large- lectures were given and 101 courses
scale initiative, supported by the European delivered by market professionals.
Social Funds, that tackles the shortages of ICT
specialists. The project is about significantly Each year, there are about 50 market
growing the number of ICT career-ready professionals involved in the lecturing activities.
graduates and bringing knowledge
from market players into education. Key benefits:
Partner of the national project, the ICT • Strong relationship between
Association of Hungary was tasked to academic and company partners
develop and manage the concept and • Future-ready workforce, with the IT
service of a “trainers’ pool” that extends or competences sought after by companies
establishes cooperation between academic • Replicable and adaptable to different Member
partners and ICT companies and most States, using the European Social Funds
importantly, involves market professionals
in practical training activities at the
participating universities. For operations, an Key resources:
intermediary company takes charge of the
implementation of the “trainers’ pool” and • Experts and IT specialists to
service provision via public procurement. conduct the quality assurance
• Coordinating organisation (intermediary
The “trainers’ pool” is a virtual database company) and administrative support
of market professionals who previously to ensure seamless matchmaking
collaborated with participating universities • Competitive financial compensation
of this initiative. The matchmaking between for company partners/trainers
universities and trainers also happens via the • Availability of funding
intermediary company which coordinates with
both parties and ensures service provision.
In practice, this means universities define
their semestrial plan, needs, and include
their wishes for specific trainers. They
submit them to the intermediary company,
tasked to hire the trainers identified by the
university or by the intermediary company in
the “trainers’ pool” or in its own network.EUROPEAN SOFTWARE SKILLS ALLIANCE I CASE STUDIES 12 IDEAS TO TACKLE THE SHORTAGE OF SOFTWARE PROFESSIONALS IN EUROPE 18
EUROPEAN SOFTWARE SKILLS ALLIANCE I CASE STUDIES
19 12 IDEAS TO TACKLE THE SHORTAGE OF SOFTWARE PROFESSIONALS IN EUROPE
Achieving high quality, hands-on
professional training for IT students
By: ICT Association of Hungary
The programme is run operationally by a SCCC,
Industry: ICT operating via public procurement. Internship
Location: Budapest, Hungary positions are curated, students’ skills pre-
Size: > Universities’ high drop-out like task delegation, internship programme
rates among IT students building, monitoring and evaluation.
>> Attractivity of market entry job offers
leading to discontinuity of studies Results:
>> Universities’ lack of institutional knowledge
on the latest/most sought after technologies The internship programme strengthens
>> Companies’ senior employees cooperation between universities and ICT
have limited mentoring skills companies. It results in lower drop-out rates
and immediately services the labour market
Solution: with a capable workforce. Over two years, 230
ICT companies benefitted from it and 760 IT
The ICT Association of Hungary is part of the students found a paid internship opportunity.
national project “Code your future!” (GINOP-
3.1.1-VEKOP-15-2016-00001), supported by Results from the second year of the programme
the European Social Funds. The association show that out of the 260 students serviced
was tasked to conceptualise and design an this year, 150 of them have received longer-
internship programme (and service) for IT term, part-time offers from companies
students, based on desk research findings under favourable conditions which allow
and in-depth analysis of ICT companies’ them to continue and finalise their studies.
needs and internship practices.
Key benefits:
Internship programmes are not new, but the ICT
Association of Hungary brought on the table • Real-world, hands-on experience for
innovative elements that facilitate the talent IT students that doesn’t jeopardise
selection and hiring of interns for companies their university learning experience
and ensure that students can receive high • Companies can easily hire
quality, hands-on professional training. interns at (almost) no cost
• Better retention rates at universities
Instead of working with employment agencies, • Replicable and adaptable to different
they turned to student career counselling Member States, using the European
centres (SCCC) who have direct means of Social Funds or national funds
communication with the potential interns and
apply advantageous tax solutions for companies
to hire them. The internships are paid by the Key resources:
project and covers about three months of
internship at the selected companies which • Mentors’ time and availability
removes companies’ roadblocks and offers • Availability of funding
financial stability to the working students.
With this programme, a student can benefit
from a maximum of 500 hours of internship
at one or up to three companies. Companies
can hire interns for 20h/week when classes are
held, but this can go up to 40h/week during
any other period — a model that protects the
quality of the students’ learning experiences
and increases its practical relevance.EUROPEAN SOFTWARE SKILLS ALLIANCE I CASE STUDIES
12 IDEAS TO TACKLE THE SHORTAGE OF SOFTWARE PROFESSIONALS IN EUROPE 20
softwareskills.euYou can also read
