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The diffusion of Information Communication Technology (ICT) and their impact on the transformation of our society and economy it is something which anyone can see in their daily lives.

in Europe 56% of all households have broadband connection and even more persons rely on ICT for their daily jobs and the pervasiveness of ICT it is not only limited to the ICT sector, but it goes well beyond as we all deal in one way or another with ICT and ICT applications.  A recent IDC Report highlighted that in 5 years time 95% of all jobs will require digital skills.  In a recent study, INSEAD found that 85% of the competitiveness of a country is related to the level of skills and education attainments of the country’s population. 

The importance of ICT goes hand by hand with the importance of the capacity and ability to use and exploit it at the maximum. It is therefore of capital importance to foster digital competencies, raise awareness of ICT studies and career opportunities and help to equip people with new skills for new jobs for inclusion, growth and innovation in Europe.

This session will highlight how eskilled practitioners and ICT professionals are pivotal for Europe’s success as an innovative society, in which business and individuals are able to foster creativity, promote education, increase potential, drive growth and take advantage of career opportunities in all sectors

As recently highlighted by President Barroso, 80 million people in Europe have low or basic skills and by 2020, 16 million more jobs will require high qualifications, while the demand for low skills will drop by 12 million jobs.  The EU economy is potentially hampered by a shortage of qualified ICT skills and ICT practitioner skills need to be upgraded. This calls for activities at the level of universities and schools, as well as open and effective ICT training and certification outside the formal education system, including the use of online tools and digital media for re-skilling.

The contribution of ICT to the European economy is fundamental for the development of productivity and knowledge-intensive products and services. There is an important need to address ICT-related skills (e-skills) issues in order to respond to the growing demand for highly-skilled ICT practitioners and users, meet the fast-changing requirements of industry, and ensure that every citizen is digitally literate in a lifelong learning context requiring the mobilisation of all stakeholders. These challenges can only be effectively addressed by a real mobilisation of Member States and industry. The European Union (EU) can provide a platform for exchange of best practices and well-focused solutions as identified through dialogue with stakeholders.

If it is possible to draw a lesson from the current financial and economical crisis, it could be then said that we need to act differently to be able to ensure a sustainable and equitable growth, preserve our planet for the future generations and wide to distribution of wealth.

We are also all living in an exciting world and in a time of amazing opportunities, where new ideas, new voices and new equilibrium are emerging from all over the world. It is a time where Information and Communication Technology potentially would enable each person to be more creative, more active, more in control, more participative, more empowered, more and better informed.

Mastering ICT can enable all this, and much more, where the limits are given only by our capacities and our fantasy and in a rapidly changing world, e-Skills, including digital literacy, remain the foundation for Europe’s success as an innovative society. Research, education and innovation need to be at the centre of European policies, both at EU and national level, if we want maintain European competitiveness, employment, and social inclusion.

The tickets are booked. Rabiëlla Samuel, Marsha Waaldijk and Cinne Noordpool are ready for their big trip to China. For six weeks the INHolland students will be on mission for a research project, not solely for their differentiation minor Expedition InChina, but also for the WCIT congress, the international congress on the ICT- domain, which is going to take place end of May at Amsterdam RAI. The focus lays on the theme e-Inclusion; what role does the internet play in life of Chinese citizen?

Blocking websites, authorities that disable your surfing habits and censor the results of search engines like Google; in the Western world China does not quiet embody a country that praises freedom of  speech. But how does the self-perception of the Chinese look like in particular that of the Chinese students. Which digital means do they use to connected to see the relevance of the international opinion?  Are there any groups that are disclosed from international happenings and what is the influence of digital media in terms of social communities?

Chinese students and the internet 
Rabiella (Communication), Marsha (Management, Economics & Law) en Cinne (Communication) are eager to find answers to these questions. In different cities in China, namely  Jinan, Chengdu, Chongqing en Shanghai, they will together with other school mates  interrogate students in internet cafes. How connected are the students with means as internet, telephone or just by online-gaming all day? The objective is to conduct a study for the purpose of the WCIT congress. The focus lays primarily on students but the minor students will also try to picture the internet conduct on the country side.

Censorship and control 
“e-Inclusion comprises that everybody is able to have a digital footprint and to express your opinion in that medium.” Cinne explains. “For me it doesn’t seem that easy in China. Censorship is in place and freedom of speech is limited. Everything is under control. I believe that the Chinese youth is being given a twisted picture on the world abroad.” Marsha agrees. “ I think they are missing out on a lot in China.”

As an example Marsha takes the student-protest from June 4^th 1989 on the Heavenly Peace Square. As you search on Chinese search results you receive a different viewpoint compared to western websites. The infamous picture of a Chinese man standing on the square to stop a tank does not appear in the search results. Despite the censorship Marsha, Rabiëlla and Cinne believe that the Chinese have their own approach on how to find the truth on the world wide web, but probably it takes a lot of time and patience.

Crash-course Mandarin 
Around April 10th a quarter is leaving for Asia. At the moment they are being prepared for their stay which includes a crash-course in Mandarin. “I had about six weeks of  Mandarin and can already speak and read it to some extent, I also recognize some characters” says Rabiëlla. “It is probably not easy” Cinne: “Chinese is a sound language and very different from western languages. One word can have many different meanings.” Further the language is earning more and more relevance, adds Marsha. “One in five people speak Chinese.”

Even girls of Surinamese origin are interested in discovering China, the country on the other side of the world. Marsha: “I am fascinated about every country that I don’t know anything about. I like China because of its size and because of its substantial influence on the rest of the world.” “I want to become a world citizen China” Cinne says confidently. And why China? “I admire Chinese people and can show great respect for the fact that they can adapt to all different cultures. You see them everywhere here in the Netherlands but also in Suriname.” Rabiella plans her own business in Suriname by opening her own ‘copycenter’. She sees herself sealing international deals with China. “The production costs are quiet low. Perhaps this trip can make a start and I can do some networking.”

The perspective on ‘Department of the Future’ offers a framework incorporating techniques that are succeeding in commerce and industry, as well as in government around the world. It will help government departments to transform themselves in a structured, manageable and cost-effective way.

The name “Department of the Future” reflects the fact that action can be initiated within an individual department. However, the impact of the action reaches beyond the boundaries of any one department, to citizens, government as a whole, and the delivery system that connects Whitehall with the front line.

Rather than working within functional silos, our approach encourages departments to adopt the citizen’s perspective. The Department of the Future approach facilitates change in areas like setting objectives that cut across departmental boundaries, improving leadership models and governance structures, and creating a more participatory policy development process. It fosters a climate of continuous improvement and the sharing of best practice, whilst also opening up the potential to rethink the scope and role of government. The resultant changes often address both short-term and long-term requirements simultaneously.

Read more: http://www.uk.capgemini.com/industries/public/thought_leadership/department_of_the_future_full/
 

Do you know how we can change the world by using IT?

The extreme growth of the world industry in the past century can be attributed mainly to the fast improvement in ease and efficiency of the transportation of products and people over increasing distances. This high degree of mobility made us independent from the location of certain activities. We eat fresh grapes from Argentina without reflecting on its supply chain and we take it for granted to be able to be back in Amsterdam the morning after a business meeting in Copenhagen. Increasing mobility makes the world smaller, and makes things possible that would otherwise be unimaginable. The big problem, however, is that as fast as our mobility improved, our dependency on it grew equally.

What should we do?