Objectives of the working group

1.      Collect data: activities, initiatives, campaigns, resources, tools, impact metrics with respect to youth employment

2.      Propose joint activities: identify partnerships and opportunities for collaborative initiatives that could impact on youth employment

3.      Make policy recommendations: identify policy recommendations that could be beneficial to youth employment

Topics to address

1. Awareness

• Importance of digital skills among young people: exploring the issues and barriers
• Encouraging young people to choose ICT careers: exploring issues and barriers

2. Tools, Campaigns, Resources

• Profiling tools and methodologies that help young people according to their ICT skills level and potential
• Support schemes for young people to upgrade their ICT skills (Pan- European, national)
• Employment/employability campaigns
• Best training practices and tools to upgrade ICT skills for young people
• Best motivation schemes and good practices initiatives to replicate/upscale

3. Skills matching

• Linking young peoples’ career plans with employer needs at two levels
  • At a general level
  • At a higher level within the gaming, cloud and mobile sectors
• Helping young people understand what skills are needed to get a new digital job, and where these resources can be accessed locally

 4. IT Apprenticeships, Internships & mentoring

• Encouraging and supporting industry to create valuable apprenticeships and internships
• Enabling and encouraging in-service ICT training (when its often the first area to be cut in difficult economic times) to build a wider base of highly skilled IT professionals
• Mentoring schemes
• Overcome geographic issues for young people to be able to afford to take up schemes away from their homes