Introduction: project scope and objectives The aim of this project is to identify digital skills requirements in the broader Australian workforce and examine the capacity of the VET system and industry training packages to effectively meet this growing need for digital skills. There are three broad categories of digital skills requirements (ECORYS 2016): Category 1: Basic computer literacy for everyday life Category 2: Digital skills for the general workforce, enabling them to effectively use information technology (IT) systems and general technology processes across all sectors Category 3: Digital skills for professionals specifically working in the information and communication technologies (ICT). While there is an abundance of research on Category 1 (for example, Bowles 2013; Bynner et al. 2010) and Category 3 digital skills (for example, Deloitte 2016), little attention has been paid to Category 2 skills. The evidence suggests however that there is a growing lack of skills essential to effectively implement the new, highly digitised and mechanised systems of work, and, furthermore, that the Australian economy is struggling to meet Category 2 digital skills requirements (Deloitte 2016, Hajkowicz et al. 2016). The consistent message is that for the Australian economy to full advantage of the opportunities ‘take presented by new technologies the workforce must be equipped with digital skills’ … (Deloitte 2016, p.5). Recent National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) studies show that the challenge lies not merely in adequately skilling new workers, but more importantly in how to upskill the existing workforce for ongoing productive employment (Snell, Gekara & Gatt 2016; Callan & Bowman 2015). This therefore focuses on a very important aspect of the workforce skills challenge facing Australia; that is, how to effectively equip the workforce with the appropriate digital skills for enhanced workplace participation and sustainable economic productivity. The research is guided by three key questions: What are the areas of digital skills-formation gaps (defined as the gap between the skills that industry employers want and what the training system is able to produce and supply) in the general workforce? What are the weaknesses and shortcomings in existing industry strategies, government policies and training programs, with specific regard to developing workforce digital skills? How can these shortcomings be addressed in order to eliminate the skills gap and effectively meet Australia’s growing demand for digital skills? The project employs an embedded industry case study methodology, drawing on the combined strengths of stakeholder interviews, a structured employer survey, secondary data
Introduction: project scope and objectives The aim of this project is to identify digital skills requirements in the broader Australian workforce and examine the capacity of the VET system and industry training packages to effectively meet this growing need for digital skills. There are three broad categories of digital skills requirements (ECORYS 2016): Category 1: Basic computer literacy for everyday life Category 2: Digital skills for the general workforce, enabling them to effectively use information technology (IT) systems and general technology processes across all sectors Category 3: Digital skills for professionals specifically working in the information and communication technologies (ICT). While there is an abundance of research on Category 1 (for example, Bowles 2013; Bynner et al. 2010) and Category 3 digital skills (for example, Deloitte 2016), little attention has been paid to Category 2 skills. The evidence suggests however that there is a growing lack of skills essential to effectively implement the new, highly digitised and mechanised systems of work, and, furthermore, that the Australian economy is struggling to meet Category 2 digital skills requirements (Deloitte 2016, Hajkowicz et al. 2016). The consistent message is that for the Australian economy to ‘take full advantage of the opportunities presented by new technologies … the workforce must be equipped with digital skills’ (Deloitte 2016, p.5). Recent National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) studies show that the challenge lies not merely in adequately skilling new workers, but more importantly in how to upskill the existing workforce for ongoing productive employment (Snell, Gekara & Gatt 2016; Callan & Bowman 2015). This therefore focuses on a very important aspect of the workforce skills challenge facing Australia; that is, how to effectively equip the workforce with the appropriate digital skills for enhanced workplace participation and sustainable economic productivity. The research is guided by three key questions: What are the areas of digital skills-formation gaps (defined as the gap between the skills that industry employers want and what the training system is able to produce and supply) in the general workforce? What are the weaknesses and shortcomings in existing industry strategies, government policies and training programs, with specific regard to developing workforce digital skills? How can these shortcomings be addressed in order to eliminate the skills gap and effectively meet Australia’s growing demand for digital skills? The project employs an embedded industry case study methodology, drawing on the combined strengths of stakeholder interviews, a structured employer survey, secondary data
Developing-appropriate-workforce-skills.docx