The skills of the future are our responsibility!

Surely everyone knows that there’s a tremendous shortage of qualified IT people in our country – despite the recession. I’ve spoken on several occasions about how important it is for us to get young people interested in IT and the potential for professional growth that this industry offers. I also feel that those of us who operate in the industry have a duty to take action on this issue. Naturally we all want to see a thriving and growing industry – which will benefit society as a whole. Growth and IT go together!

This is why the Swedish IT&Telecom Industries have for some time been pursuing the issue of ensuring a long-term supply of qualified personnel through the VäljIT (Choose IT) project. It’s also been a matter of course for us to promote and participate in these issues at European level. So now our VäljIT project is part of e-Skills Week 2010 – an EU campaign involving companies and organizations from 20 EU countries, which will culminate in the first week of March 2010. The campaign aims to increase awareness of the importance of digital skills for employees and citizens, and the growing demand for people with ITC qualifications throughout Europe.

We are the hosts for the EU campaign in Sweden, and our focus is on getting more Swedish young people interested in IT as a subject and a career path, since general knowledge of IT in Sweden is already so high. During February and March we will be working with other stakeholders through both joint and individual initiatives to hold various events that focus on getting young people interested in IT. One of our events is a seminar in Stockholm on February 23 on IT as the science of the future and a tool for students’ progress in school. It’s important for us to make sure we take advantage of the opportunities and benefits that actually result from using IT as an educational tool in schools. Of course our hope is that this will be a way to attract more young people to apply to IT-related study programs and careers. But it’s also important for us to make sure we encourage future generations to become competent IT users, who have high demands in terms of both the IT environments in their future work places and the e-society that we are becoming.

It’s clear to us that there’s no lack of interest among young people or involvement on the part of the schools in this issue. My organization often receives inquiries from schools and individual teachers about internships, lectures and company tours. This is clearly an area where those of us in the industry can improve at doing our bit – and help ensure a supply of qualified people for us in the long term. One of my New Year’s resolutions for 2010 is to visit at least 10 school classes as a way of trying to interest young people in a career in IT. And if I can do it, so can you – send me an email with your resolution and I’ll link you up with a school close to you!

Anne-Marie Fransson
Director-General at Swedish IT&Telecom Industries
Member of the Stockholm IT Region steering committee

You can reach Anne-Marie Fransson at anne-marie.fransson@almega.se