Research | ICTD | Employability & Workforce Development

 

Employability & Workforce Development: ICT Skills in the 21st Century

While demand for more scientists and engineers drive many conversations regarding the 21st century workforce, not very far down the pyramid talk turns to basic ICT access and fluency for community members. Farmers, clerks, fishermen, teachers, accountants, entrepreneurs and others have seen benefits.

ICT skills are a critical asset for participation and opportunity in the information age.  Increasingly, entrepreneurs and workers that possess these skills discover better jobs and options than they had before.  Worldwide, community organizations recognize the important role that ICT skills play in preparing young and old for the rapidly changing economy. 

Effective ICT access and training programs however are difficult to operate and sustain.  Important examples of success typically involve organizations that are deeply embedded in the practical needs of their community and integrate ICT with a variety of services that address these needs.  Training programs that succeed and promote social and economic development need to be understood, modeled and expanded.

    • How can ICT training make the largest impact on employability and income generation in underserved communities? 
    • What complementary services are needed? 
    • What role do social and employer networks play? 
    • What management and program design models best promote sustainability and impact? 
    • What social and cultural dynamics need to be considered? 
    • Which examples are the most instructive? 
    • What are the lessons to learn from failure and unsustainability?

With significant support from Microsoft Unlimited Potential, the CIS ICTD Program is attempting to answer these questions through a variety of research projects.

Publications and Ongoing Projects

ICT Skills, Youth, and Entrepreneurship: Creating Economic Opportunities in Rural Latin America

The study will examine the role of ICT in creating opportunities and advance youth entrepreneurship in rural areas of Brazil, Mexico and Colombia focusing on three main research questions:

    • How are NGOs, through their telecenters or community technology centers CTCs, preparing youth for entrepreneurial activities in rural Latin America and what is the role of ICT skills in these programs?
    • What partnerships are NGOs building to support rural social and economic development?
    • How effective are these programs for creating economic opportunities for the youth? And how youth perceive that the appropriation of ICT can help improve living conditions for them and their families

Watch for this report in April 2008.

Bridging the e-Skills Gap in Central and Eastern Europe: The Growth of e-Skills and Employability Initiatives in the Newly Expanded European Union

This study examines the relationship between basic Information and Communication Technology (ICT) skills – or e-skills – and employability, focusing on several NGO projects in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Latvia, Poland and Romania.  The study explores the ways that NGOs integrate employability outcomes into ICT training programs.  The study documents if  these programs constitute a fragmented, patchwork approach or if there is evidence of a larger, successful regional trend to build e-skills among underserved populations.

Full report (pdf) April 2008

eSkills and Employability at the Barcelona Conference (2007)

Summarizes a meeting among NGOs held in Barcelona in the Summer of 2007 that explored the current state of eSkills training programs for marginalized groups in Europe. NGO representatives from twenty countries gathered to share best practices, discuss sustainability strategies, find bridges to participate in policy-making, and build a network and platform for continued collaboration and information sharing across the continent .

Full report (pdf) August 2007

ICT Training and Employability: Integrated Service Delivery in Workforce Development Networks (2007)

Community organizations in the United States are providing ICT training as part of a larger, holistic array of services to promote employability.  Integrating ICT with other services, whether in-house or through strategic partnerships is central to the strategy of many effective community organizations.

Full report (pdf) June 2007

 

 

Participants at the eSkills and Employability conference in Barcelona, June 2007. Photo by Pawel Makowiecki, Institute for Responsible Business, Poland.

Project Team

Maria Garrido
Andy Gordon
Chris Coward
Joe Sullivan

Sponsors:

Microsoft (Community Affairs)