Published on Thursday27thApril2017

Minister O’Connor launches National Digital Skills & Jobs Coalition

20170427 MMOC Digital Skills

Pictured are Mary Cleary, Deputy CEO, Irish Computer Society; Jobs Minister Mary Mitchell O’Connor and Andre Richer, Principal Administrator, Internal Market, European Commission

Jobs Minister Mary Mitchell O’Connor today officially launched Ireland’s National Digital Skills and Jobs Coalition. The initiative forms part of the Skills Agenda for Europe which is being promoted across all EU Member States by the European Commission. It will be co-ordinated in Ireland by the Irish Computer Society Foundation, working with the Council of European Professional Informatics Societies (CEPIS).

The establishment of a national coalition in Ireland will result in actions supporting the ICT Skills Action Plan developed by the Department of Education and Skills, the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation and employer representative groups, and will also support the Digital Strategy for Schools. The Coalition will provide a mechanism to co-ordinate outcomes from existing projects and communicate results at a national and European level. It will bring a wide range of companies, organisations, agencies and representative bodies together to promote the digital skills and jobs agenda in Ireland.

Today’s launch coincides with Tech Week, the national festival of technology aimed at students, parents and the public, taking place all over Ireland 

Minister Mary Mitchell O’Connor said:

It’s one thing to have modern technology and modern communications. But it’s quite another to develop the right skills to use digital technologies and then apply them in a working environment. Not before time, digital skills are now recognised as fundamentally essential skills, along with literacy and numeracy. They are also the basis for a functioning digital society and Digital Single Market.  Digital advances are changing the structure and nature of employment as we know it today. The National Digital Skills and Jobs Coalition will support Ireland’s continuing economic progress and competitiveness.