A call to arms: e-Skills book launch
European decision makers called to arm all citizens with the tools to compete in the digital age in new book ‘The e-Skills Manifesto – A Call to Arms’ launched at the European Business Summit in Brussels.
Brussels, Wednesday 30 June 2010
‘The e-Skills Manifesto - A Call to Arms,’ authored by Ade McCormack - Financial Times columnist, adviser and ICT market commentator - makes its European debut today. Teasing out the strengths, opportunities and challenges ahead for Europe, the book is universally endorsed by the European digital technology industry sector as an outstanding reference text for policy and decision makers.
“This evidence based work guides decision makers in addressing an issue which lies at the heart of Europe’s capacity to build a culture of innovation and a fully inclusive digital society,’ states Bridget Cosgrave, Director-General, DIGITALEUROPE.
“Any public official who values developing young talent and building a culture of innovation in Europe should read, ‘The e-Skills Manifesto, A Call to Arms’, says Jan Muehlfeit, Chairman of Microsoft Europe. “Lead figures in government, education, policy, research and industry outline the commitments required for preparing European citizens to take on the challenges of the digital age.”
“This Manifesto firmly places e-Skills as a priority issue for European Institutions and Member States, mapping out as it does the relationship between digital literacy, competitiveness, productivity growth and job creation,” adds Muehlfeit.
“This book is a clarion call for decision makers to harness talent, leverage opportunities and enable all European citizens to engage fully in the global digital society,” Muehlfeit concludes.
“The importance of e-skilling cannot be over-emphasised. Productivity growth requires that European citizens not only acquire digital skills for the work and study they currently do, but equip themselves with the tools needed to deal with the pace of the digital revolution sweeping across all cultures and societies,” states Johan Deschuyffeleer, Senior Vice President, Technology Services EMEA, HP.
“McCormack encourages stakeholders to re-examine the ways in which European business, education and government approach life-long skilling. For European business and society to benefit in competitive times, those who strive for excellence will be the winners. The e-Skills Manifesto provides a vision for Europe to keep pace with and stay ahead of the competition,” outlines Deschuyffeleer.
"Motorola welcomes ‘The e-Skills Manifesto’ and strongly supports its "call to arms". Earlier this year, the European e-Skills Week proved a big success; however we need to keep momentum high at both EU and national levels to ensure that all European citizens are equipped with the necessary skills in technology to embrace the digital revolution,” points out Karen Tandy, Senior Vice President, Public Affairs & Communications, Motorola.
To download ‘The e-Skills Manifesto, A Call to Arms’, please visit:
http://eskills-week.ec.europa.eu/e-skills_Manifesto
Media Enquiries:
Natalia KUROP – DIGITALEUROPE, Director Communication & Marketing
T. +32 2 609 53 26 >> F. +32 2 609 53 39 >> M. +32 487 34 05 71 >> E. natalia.kurop@digitaleurope.org
ABOUT THE EUROPEAN E-SKILLS WEEK
European e-Skills Week (http://eskills-week.ec.europa.eu) highlighted the growing demand for skilled ICT users and professionals to drive a competitive and innovative Europe. This exciting campaign sought to inform students, young professionals and SMEs about the vast range of opportunities that ICT-related jobs present.
Throughout the past months, public authorities, ICT companies, education institutions and students engaged in hundreds of activities, training events, competitions and much more. The awareness campaign culminated in a dedicated European e-Skills Week from 1 to 5 March 2010.
This ground breaking initiative of the European Commission’s DG Enterprise and Industry was coordinated by DIGITALEUROPE and European Schoolnet in conjunction with twenty national partners.
ABOUT DIGITALEUROPE
DIGITALEUROPE is the pre-eminent advocacy group of the European digital economy acting on behalf of the information technology, consumer electronics and telecommunications sectors. We are dedicated to improving the business environment, and to promoting industry’s contribution to economic growth and social progress in the European Union.
DIGITALEUROPE ensures industry participation in the development and implementation of EU policies. DIGITALEUROPE’s members include 60 leading corporations and 40 national trade associations from all the Member States of EU; altogether 10,000 companies with 2 million employees and €1,000 billion in revenues. You can learn more about our activities via http://www.digitaleurope.org.
THE MEMBERSHIP OF DIGITALEUROPE
COMPANY MEMBERS:
Adobe, Acer, Agilent, Alcatel-Lucent, AMD, Apple, Bang & Olufsen, Bose, Brother, Buffalo, Canon, Cisco, Corning, Dassault Systems, Dell, EADS, Epson, Ericsson, Fujitsu, Hitachi, HP, IBM, Ingram Micro, Intel, JVC, Kenwood, Kodak, Konica Minolta, Lexmark, LG, Loewe, Micronas, Microsoft, Mitsubishi, Motorola, NEC, Nokia, Nokia Siemens Networks, Nortel, NXP, Océ, Oki, Oracle, Panasonic, Philips, Pioneer, Qualcomm, Research In Motion, Samsung, Sanyo, SAP, Sharp, Siemens, Sony, Sony Ericsson, STMicroelectronics, Technicolor, Texas Instruments, Thales, Toshiba, Xerox.
NATIONAL TRADE ASSOCIATIONS:
Austria: FEEI; Belgium: AGORIA; Bulgaria: BAIT; Cyprus: CITEA; Czech Republic: ASE, SPIS; Denmark: DI ITEK, IT-BRANCHEN; Estonia: ITL; Finland: FFTI; France: ALLIANCE TICS, SIMAVELEC; Germany: BITKOM, ZVEI; Greece: SEPE; Hungary: IVSZ; Ireland: ICT IRELAND; Italy: ANITEC; Lithuania: INFOBALT; Netherlands: ICT OFFICE, FIAR; Poland: KIGEIT, PIIT; Portugal: AGEFE, APDC; Romania: APDETIC; Slovakia: ITAS; Slovenia: GZS; Spain: AETIC, ASIMELEC; Sweden: IT&TELEKOMFÖRETAGEN; United Kingdom: INTELLECT; Belarus: INFOPARK; Norway: ABELIA, IKT NORGE; Switzerland: SWICO; Turkey: ECID, TESID, TÜBISAD; Ukraine: IT UKRAINE
ABOUT EUROPEAN SCHOOLNET
European Schoolnet (www.eun.org) is the network of 31 Ministries of Education in Europe and beyond. EUN was created more than 10 years ago with the aim to bring about innovation in teaching and learning to its key stakeholders: Ministries of Education, schools, teachers and researchers.
European Schoolnet’s activities are divided among three areas of work:
- Policy, research and innovation
- Schools services
- Learning resource exchange and interoperability
THE MEMBERSHIP OF EUROPEAN SCHOOLNET
Austria: Federal Ministry for Education, Art and Culture; Belgium: Flemish Ministry of Education and Training and the General administration for Education and Research of French-speaking community; Czech republic: Centre for International Services, Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports; Denmark: Danish IT Centre for Education and Research, Ministry of Education; Estonia: Ministry of Education and Tiger Leap Foundation; Finland: Finnish National Board of Education; France: Ministry of higher education and research ; Greece: Ministry of National Education and Religious Affairs ; Hungary: Ministry of Education and Culture; Iceland: Office of Information and Service Ministry of Education, Science and Culture; Ireland: National Centre for Technology in Education; Israel: Directorate for Science and Technology, Ministry of Education, and MAKASH; Italy: National Agency to support School Autonomy (formerly INDIRE); Lithuania: Centre of Information Technologies; Luxembourg Ministry of National Education and Vocational Training; Malta: Department of Technology in Education, Ministry of Education; Netherlands: Kennisnet Foundation; Norway: Directorate for Primary and Secondary Education; Poland: Ministry of National Education; Portugal: General Directorate for Innovation and Curricular Development; Slovenia: Ministry of Education and Sport; Slovakia (observer): Ministry of Education; Spain: Educational Technology Institute, Ministry of Education; Sweden: Swedish National Agency for Education; Switzerland: Swiss Agency for ICT in education; United Kingdom: BECTA.