2. IC 2015, Calipoly
CIGN:
Putting benchmarking
into practice
Luk Bouters, Jörg Westbomke, Tommie Nyström, Robert Sutter, Gillian Mothersill
3. IC 2015, Calipoly
CIGN = Creative Industries Global Network
This presentation will
• Introduce CIGN (partners, objectives)
• Inform you about the results of report 1a
• Update you on the latest re EU policy and action on
skills identification
A second presentation will
• Present the results of report 1b
4. ICERI 2014, Seville
CIGN pools the expertise from 5 different
HEIs and countries
• Linköping University (Sweden)
• Ryerson University (Canada)
• Stuttgart Media University(Germany)
• University College Artevelde (Belgium)
• University of the West of Scotland (UK)
5. ICERI 2014, Seville
CIGN = Creative Industries Global Network
This three-years, Erasmus+-funded project aims at:
• Bringing the worlds of education, employment and
training together;
• Furthering professionalization of staff of HEIs;
• And promoting a more effective use of information
technologies by HEIs
6. ICERI 2014, Seville
How will CIGN help the project partners?
Benchmarking!
Benchmarking is not ranking!
Benchmarking refers to a co-operative effort
to identify best practices (e.g. evaluation
of internships, language teaching) and to create
a conducive environment for peer learning.
Benchmarking will help us to detect and share the
best practices inside and outside the country.
7. ICERI 2014, Seville
How can CIGN help us/you?
Three main areas of activity:
1. Identification of sectoral gaps and new
competences needed. Report 1a&b
2. Development of new curricula, learning
methodologies (blended learning materials).
Forthcoming (year 2);
3. Assessment of skills and quality enhencement of
the learning programmes (year 3).
8. ICERI 2014, Seville
1. Identification of sectoral gaps and new
competences needed.
• Report 1a focuses on EU policy in the area of
skills identification;
• Report 1b presents national reports on skills
identification in the CIGN-partner countries;
• Report 1a: details in a forthcoming article.
9. ICERI 2014, Seville
Report 1a – some general observations
• This report focuses on the increasingly vital link
between shifting technological trends, labour
market activity and the skills demands;
• New functional and professional profiles are often
already (long) in existence before the related skills
are formally defined by official bodies;
• The question of up-skilling the workforce became
central and acute when Europe’s economic
competitiveness became at risk;
10. ICERI 2014, Seville
Report 1a – some general observations
• Today, even after years of recession, it is clear that
it is not possible to predict the future (skills)
precisely. Despite this, many broad trends
continue, in particular the shift towards a more
knowledge-based, automated and service-
oriented economy.
• Particularly, the media design and production
sector = dynamic sector was/is in constant need
of up- or reskilling;
11. ICERI 2014, Seville
Report 1a - specific
• the report describes
• the transformation of the skills portfolio as the print
sector evolved into the Creative Industries;
• the establishment of various councils to come to a
more structural and concerted approach in
assessing skills needs;
• And the EU’s efforts to introduce a more
standardized, uniform and systematic approach in
data gatering on future skills need in the EU.
12. ICERI 2014, Seville
Report 1a - specific
• There has been a shift in the objectives of
identifying future (technical) skill needs for
manpower planning to more general assessment
of skills needs to inform all labour market
participants;
• Today, most countries have some kind of data
collection system to monitor the labour market
and the required skills but they vary greatly in
levels of sophistication, organisation and detail,
However, the national systems cannot exchange
information
13. ICERI 2014, Seville
Report 1a - specific
• So diversity rules, but all have one common
objective: to improve the match between labour
demand and supply;
• But the fact remains: not all job vacancies are
filled because industry and education do not
always understand each other.
14. ICERI 2014, Seville
Report 1a – specific
• There is a growing demand and petition for
anticipation systems at pan-European level to
deliver comparable data on future (skills) challenges
across Europe
• In response to this, the EU Commission supports the
setting up of European and National Sector Skills
Councils designed to anticipate the need for skills in
specific sectors more effectively and achieve a
better match between skills and labour market
needs.
15. ICERI 2014, Seville
• Only very recently have the specialized HEIs and their
international network been more actively and
systematically involved in this process.
• Regarding the sector of print media design and production,
the International Circle has been invited to represent the
HEIs
16. ICERI 2014, Seville
Report 1a – the context
• To complement these quantitative forecasts, the
European Commission has also published a series
of studies on emerging competences and future
needs. These cover 18 economic sectors, and
provide a transversal analysis of the evolution in
skills needs in the selected sectors, taking into
account their global, national and regional
contexts. Again the aim is to anticipate possible
changes in jobs and skills needs up to 2020;
• One of these sector is the print and publishing
sector
17. ICERI 2014, Seville
Report 1a – key messages
• Some international organisations such as Cedefop
has begun to fill the need for skill needs
anticipation on a continuous basis;
• Demands for generic and key /core skills to meet
labour market needs will remain a significant
feature;
• But education is not just about employment and
jobs;
• It is about giving people a real chance of
influencing and shaping their lives
18. ICERI 2014, Seville
Report 1a – the future
- The implementation of policy recommendations and action plans
still remains the most difficult point;
- Who’s paying the bill? There are a number of European
Commission ‘s programmes or funds which provide support for a
range of actions related to anticipation of skill needs and to the
transfer of results into policy and practice.
- e.g. Erasmus+
- promotes the establishment of sector skills alliances;
- aims at delivering transnational (lower and higher) VET curricula and joint
degrees;
- Supports capacity building and networking of HEIs.
19. ICERI 2014, Seville
Report 1a – the future
- As HEIs and other training institutions are tapping into these funds
and are gearing up to better respond to the skills demands from
industry and to the personal preference of students for new media
applications, the supply of formal qualifications is also rising
rapidly.
- Not withstanding this, the development of new training
programmes takes more time and resources than made available
through EU- or national funding. But when the available
qualifications lag too far behind, companies react quickly and take
the lead in developing further training of their staff themselves.
20. ICERI 2014, Seville
Where is CIGN now?
• End of phase I;
• On the basis of the skills gaps identified, educational
programmes will be developed adopting blended learning
methodologies
• Need more info?
http://cign-education.eu/
21. • Personal view: Many policy makers are still more
concerned with trying to control and micro manage
educational and training systems, rather that helping to
ensure that they work effectively. Education and training
systems need the capacity to cope with rapid changes,
but this may be best achieved by allowing decisions to
made at a more micro level rather than trying to do
everything from the top down
• Difference US/Canada and Europe: former data more as
guidance rather than a way to control/manage the
education process
22. • Ideally it is desirable to embed forecast activities into a
wider context by involving the various stakeholders
(including teaching staff, employers, etc).However, in
most Member States there are no clearly articulated
views among employers about what kind of employees
they need in the future, and what skills are necessary for
further developments of their companies. Another
problem is the lack of overall national strategy on the
development of the economy in most countries.
Therefore, there is often no agreement on what sectors
are the most important for future development, nor on
what the necessary skills are.
23. • Although the necessity to integrate the changing skills
needs of the labour market into LLL is recognised and
accepted by all stakeholders and partners, developing
new qualifications takes time and resources. When
integration is lagging behind, sectors react quickly and
lead the work on further training of their staff themselves.
24. • helping to develop the education and training sector
generally across Europe. This includes networking,
knowledge sharing and discussions about different
anticipation methodologies and approaches in different
countries and at different levels, building a more
comprehensive system for anticipation by experts, using
existing (European) forecasts as a starting point .
Editor's Notes
I would like to talk to you about CIGN and how this project is attempting to bring benchmarking into practice
To this end, CIGN pools
Given its grandiose title, the aim of the project mustbe very ambitious. And indeed it is: it <will attempt to put benchmarking into practice.
Benchmarking will play a key role in this. University rankings are seductive, simple methods to award a score. On the basis of this score a list is drawn and a position is assigned.
Structural changes rock our society and economies and creates a constant demand for new competences and functional profiles
They do not speak to each other, no common language
They do not speak to each other, no common language
They do not speak to each other, no common language
Evolation: from technical skills to more generic skills, but still only from a company pointof view . But people are not only going to university because they can to be ready for work, for a company, they would like to develop themselves als a person, Now more: attuning the aspirations and objctives of a company with the personal development aspirations of the employee
As noted earlier, the old fashioned idea of mechanistic “manpower planning” has been rejected. But this does not mean that it is not important still to try to anticipate the way things are changing. However, such work should be regarded as providing broad guidance rather than precise predictions. As emphasised in the introduction, it is notable that the USA , one of the most market orientated economies in the world, devotes more resources to skills anticipation activity than anywhere else. This is not based on the idea of trying to predict precisely where training efforts should be focused. Rather, the aim is to provide detailed LMI, including forecasts, to all labour market participants (potential students, as well as education and training providers) to ensure that they are well informed about the choices they face. It is left to individuals and education and training institutions to make their own choices and decisions rather than imposing things from the top down.
As noted earlier, the old fashioned idea of mechanistic “manpower planning” has been rejected. But this does not mean that it is not important still to try to anticipate the way things are changing. However, such work should be regarded as providing broad guidance rather than precise predictions. As emphasised in the introduction, it is notable that the USA , one of the most market orientated economies in the world, devotes more resources to skills anticipation activity than anywhere else. This is not based on the idea of trying to predict precisely where training efforts should be focused. Rather, the aim is to provide detailed LMI, including forecasts, to all labour market participants (potential students, as well as education and training providers) to ensure that they are well informed about the choices they face. It is left to individuals and education and training institutions to make their own choices and decisions rather than imposing things from the top down.
This presentation comes with an article which will be published in the conference handbook. In this article you will find more information on the context and the project objectives
But policy makers are still loath to “let go” and the tendency to try to plan from the top down remains strong
