Challenges and opportunities of SMEs in the context

Challenges and opportunities of SMEs in the context of future of work and digitalization: Session 4 – Examples of good practices 6 /12/2018 Vice President European DIGITAL SME Alliance Mr. Jose Luis Pancorbo © 2017 – European DIGITAL SME Alliance All rights reserved. European DIGITAL SME Alliance 123 Rue du Commerce| 1000, Brussels, Belgium www. digitalsme. eu | office@digitalsme. eu

§ The European DIGITAL SME Alliance is the largest network of ICT SMEs in Europe, representing about 20. 000 digital SMEs across the EU. § Our members are national SME associations and ICT clusters of digital SMEs. § Digital SMEs are providers of digital solutions and enablers of digitalization. 2

Skills Gap in Europe – Affecting SMEs

Digitalisation will affect any SME ü ü 4 Need of digital skilled workers: 9 out of 10 will require some level ü ü European ICT job numbers will grow by more than 670, 000 by 2020 ü e-Leadership skills gaps exist for both technically skilled personnel as well as managers. These skills are needed across the company to implement ICT innovations According Eurostat 40% of companies trying to recruit ICT professionals (in ICT sector and other sectors) reported difficulties in finding skilled workers Insufficient participation of women to ICT workforce: ü Almost 9% of women with tertiary education leave ICT jobs to take care of their children. This costs 16. 2 B€/year in productivity loss ü In 2018, only 11. 8% of workers in digital jobs with ICT-related studies are female, while in 2011 women were 14%. ü Digitalisation is key for flexible work patterns that attract and retain more women to the workforce

Digital SME Alliance initiatives 5 ü#digital. SME 4 skills ü Our contribution to the Digital Skills and Jobs Coalition. ü It is a campaign to equip workforce with digital skills. In exchange, companies were offered pledger’s label and visibility. ü The campaign aimed to get 5, 000 ICT professionals trained by 2019. The goal has already been achieved, and more than 40 participating SMEs from 13 different countries trained around 7, 000 ICT professionals. ü skills. digitalsme. eu: Supporting specialised skills development: Big Data, Internet of Things and Cybersecurity for SMEs ü This EU-funded initiative supports technological skills development in all sectors. ü The main objective is to research, design, test and validate specific measures (e. g. specialized trainings, certain policy initiatives, etc. ) supporting the development of before-mentioned skills.

Key take-aways ü To bridge the skills gap, we need a better architecture of public-private engagement ü A key feature should be to strengthen industry involvement across all sectors ü Focus on SME involvement, as they are the main source of employment and economic activity in Europe 6

Best Practices: CONETIC

üCONETIC: the experience for more than a decade Promoting Digital Skills and Contributing to increase the competitiveness of the SME ü Public-Private model of collaboration with the commitment to job placement ü 1317 ICT job seekers in ICT have been successfully trained ü 1111 successfully trained ü 725 have been employed by our spanish ICT companies ü 64 ICT training specialities (key: training programs designed to the real needs of the companies) 65, 25% ü 330 companies have benefited from these programmes 8

KEY FINDINGS üTraining programs aimed at real needs of the market üRequired professional profiles by the companies üTraining programs designed with the contracting companies üCoaching: Soft skills, Orientation and Services for Employment throughout whole education process üTraining placements before the recruitment üThe hardest thing: FIND PROFILES WITH A TECHNICAL BASE: WE NEED ACT IN EARLY STAGES OF EDUCATION TO FOSTER STUDENTS’ INTEREST IN ICT 9 EMPLOYABILITY

Best Practices: La Rioja

DIAGNOSIS OF THE PROBLEM üExisting IT technics need update on most demanded technologies üUnbalanced training offer and market demand • Number of training vacancies & knowledge areas and geographic zones üIT skills not enough presence during school & college üNot enough talent management inside the company • Size of the company • Training is made without the intervention of the company • Talent attraction and retention is achieving increased popularity, not enough budget yet 11 IT JOB OFFER vs DEMAND - LA RIOJA - Spain 2018 AREA Developme Tech support nt and systems üUnbalanced job offer and demand, specially profesional training and development Tittle required # Job offers # Graduates Difference Computer degree or equivalent 17 0 -17 Professional training 62 116 54 Not required Computer degree or equivalent Professional training 0 34 55 -38 -45 Not required 72 100 17 -17 JOB OFFER PROFILES Developer Systems administrator Web developer 24, 64% 20, 29% 14, 49% Technicalprogrammer Analyst Technical support Telco. Installer Project manager Big Data Junior developer Consultant Mobile Dev. 8, 70% 7, 25% 5, 80% 2, 90% 1, 45%

OUR SOLUTION üDiagnosis of the problem ü 14 Focus Group with students & teachers üAnalysis of job offers & available research data ü 40 Interviews with companies üIncrease IT vocations ü 11 IT Entrepreneurs in schools üPromote IT events: Arduino day, Codeweek… ü 3 Tier collaboration: government, academy, business üDual professional training: 4 new degrees üDesign of Internship offering üIncrease IT positions graduates in university üActions to increase talent acquisition and retention 12 üContinuous training üWe gather our workforce needs, design courses and run them collaborating with others: Red. es, CNFNT, FER üPromoting digital skills for other sectors üDigital transformation office üDissemination of technology üAssessment for manufacturing companies üResults ü 3 Tier design of all education plans ü 90% of new graduates hired ü 11. 000 training hours planned ü 80% more university graduates ü 200% more university applicants ü 30% more professional training graduates

Conclusions üPublic-Private model of collaboration can help to bridge the skills gap and promote employment ü A key feature should be to strengthen industry involvement across all sectors, with focus on SMEs ü A leading role of ICT industry, in particular SMEs, as providers of knowledge and training 13

Thank you for your attention!