e-Skills and Jobs: Copenhagen Declaration Launched at European e-Skills Week Closing Event

COPENHAGEN, Denmark, March 30, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

The European e-Skills Week 2012 campaign celebrates its conclusion in Copenhagen, in conjunction with the Danish EU Presidency.

Her Royal Highness, Crown Princess Mary of Denmark welcomed students, industry leaders and officials gathering from more than thirty countries to discuss how future jobs and future education will shape Europe, and to launch the Copenhagen Declaration on e-Skills.

e-Skills are needed across all sectors of the European economy, and ever more sought after by employers who have challenges to fill vacancies. Even during the crisis, employment has increased by 3% for technical and highly e-Skilled professions.

The growing professional ICT shortage threatens to lead to a Europe-wide shortfall by as many as 700,000 professionals by 2015. Further, engineering and computer science graduates have been in continuous decline in all EU countries since 2006. A case in point is the UK where IT student numbers have plunged from 31% to 17% in 2009.

Eurostat research reveals that e-Skills gaps are particularly large in Ireland, Belgium, and Malta, but also in countries considered "frontrunners" in terms of digital literacy and e-skills availability in the workforce - such as the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, France, and Germany.

The European e-Skills Week 2012 is an initiative of the European Commission and aims to address the need for digital talents and job creation in Europe by raising awareness about the importance of ICT related opportunities for citizens and organisations.

Closing event highlights include a prize giving ceremony for e-Skills Week Competition Winners who came to Copenhagen from eight member states, debate between young entrepreneurs and leading industries, and the launch of the e-Skills Copenhagen Declaration. Signed by thirty nine organisations, the Declaration demonstrates massive support across the EU for the European Commission objectives outlined in the Communication e-Skills for the 21^st century.

The Copenhagen Declaration is a complement to the latest version of e-Skills Manifesto, which will be published in full in June 2012; a summary interactive version of the Manifesto is available for comments on line. 

Find out more about e-Skills Week: http://eskills-week.ec.europa.eu/web/guest/press

SOURCE European Schoolnet