Skills Development And Education Vital To ICT Sector

Employment and Learning Minister Sir Reg Empey stressed that skills development, quality education and training was vital to the success of the local ICT sector.

The Minister was addressing delegates attending 'One Year On', a conference hosted by e-skills UK, the Sector Skills Council for IT and Telecommunications. The event was to celebrate the achievements of e-skills UK during the first year of the implementation of its Sector Skills Agreement in Northern Ireland.

The Minister said: "My department has recognised the importance of this sector to the local economy, by designating it as one of our priority skills areas.

"It is not just the specialist ICT companies which are reliant on good IT skills. Nowadays, virtually every company in Northern Ireland, large and small, uses IT for all sorts of business needs, from human resources to finance, from PR to marketing. Never has the need for increased skills in this sector been so critical, or had such a high profile.

"The Sector Skills Councils have a critical role to play in progressing the skills agenda in Northern Ireland. They are the voice of the employer and the role of the employer in improving the skills of our workforce is crucial – not only in articulating the skills needed now and in the future, but also in providing the opportunity for employees to be trained and up-skilled whilst in the workplace."

The Minister reported that since the publication of the Department for Employment and Learning's (DEL) Skills Strategy for Northern Ireland: 'Success through Skills' in 2004, a great deal of progress has been made in tackling a range of skills issues. Six new area-based further education colleges have been established, the Strategy for Management and Leadership, 'Leading …to Success', has been published, the Department has introduced the Training for Success programme and established an employer-led skills system, which includes the Sector Skills Councils and Skills Expert Group.

The Minister recognised the important role being played by e-skills UK in the promotion of the ICT sector. He said: "e-skills UK has recognised the importance of promoting the ICT sector and has initiated research into the development of a Career Attractiveness Strategy for Northern Ireland. This strategy will target various groups, such as school pupils who are thinking about career choices and students who have already made an initial vocational choice, but who may be considering switching to a career in ICT. It will also encourage those who have started out in the industry to make it their career."

(CD/JM)