Education in Tecnology and Sustainability: Bridging the Gap

Education in ICT emerges as the most powerful tool to drive positive change and to bring a brighter future for people and a more sustainable future for all.

At a time of global challenges as #lossofbiodiversity  #inequality and #climatechange, we are seeing #information and #communication #technologies (ICT) as a trust partner that can accelerate the fulfillment of the Sustainable Development Goals (#SDG) and the #ParisAgreement.

When we talk about #ICT we use to think about it as a sector. But there is no longer like that because it is everywhere now, and it is enabling the economic value of the many industries. World Economic Forum estimates that 70% of the new value created in the whole economy will be digitally enabled in the next 10 years.

Analyzing the available data, we found in a recent report published by McKinsey & Company that European companies relative underperform compared to other major regions when it comes to ICT innovation, production and adaptation. As result, European companies are growing more slowly and creating lower returns their counterparts in US and China.

We could say that Europe is at risk to miss the last technology revolution, lagging on growth in ICT and other disruptive innovations. In terms of value, to miss this technology revolution could be to €2 trillion to €4 trillion of the corporate value added of a year by 2040. This amount is equivalent to six times the amount needed to transition to net-zero emissions or the 90% of all current social expenditure in Europe. This economic impact is putting at risk the value that enable our wellbeing state as wages, investments, and economic growth.

In conclusion, Europe needs to reduce the gap with other regions on ICT to avoid vulnerability and build sustainable and inclusive prosperity.

In her 2022 State of the Union address, the President of the European Commission , Ursula von der Leyen , highlighted the shortage of #skills as a major challenge and proposed that 2023 would be the European Year of Skills.

The objective is to boost competitiveness, participation, and talent of #digital SMEs. Europe has the aim at ensuring that 80% of adults have at least basic digital skills and that 20 million ICT specialists are employed in the EU, with more participation from women.

The 70% of businesses in the European Union report a lack of staff with adequate digital skills and this is an obstacle to investment and to growth. According to Eurostat more than 75% of EU companies have reported difficulties in finding professionals with the necessary skills and European Labour Authority warns that there is a severe shortage of ICT specialists and STEM-qualified workers in Europe.

In conclusion, there are serious digital skills shortages that put at risk our economy, our welfare state and the sustainable transformation.

Efforts must be put on educate and train and work on lifelong learning, upskilling, and reskilling of employees. Education is the most powerful weapon in our hands to change the world and to face the big challenges.

Europe are taking significant steps integrating tech training in the education programs and with significative programs as the Digital Europe Program and the Digital Skills and Jobs Coalition (DSJC).

We are seeing also leading technology companies putting free training platforms at the service of people.

 As an example, I would mention the program of Huawei “ICT Academy” where UNESCO is a global partner and that is running in partnership with many universities and schools around the globe. Through these partnerships, the ICT Academy delivers ICT technologies training, encourages students to get a certification, and develops talents with practical skills for the ICT industry and the community.

The program is running in more than 170 countries and supported more than 200.000 students. It could be a good idea to build more public and private alliances as this one, to accelerate tech education and reach more people, enabling to build together a more sustainable and inclusive society.

This article has been written after attending to the event #HuaweiConnectEurope in Paris a couple of weeks ago. I was deeply inspired by the work that the Huawei’s team is doing and by the positive energy of some of the participant that I had the opportunity to meet. Congrats to all of you for your amazing job.

In summary, my conclusion is that education in ICT is as the most powerful tool to drive positive change and to bring a brighter future for people and a more sustainable future for all.

#leadership #AI #sustainability #ESG #innovation