Europe strives to hold back "digital brain drain"

With more than half of Spain's and Greece’s young people jobless, those with in-demand digital skills are increasingly seeking work in stabler Austria, Germany and the Netherlands.

According to Fiona Fanning, the secretary general of the Council of European Professional Informatics Societies CEPIS, the increasing demand for skilled workers in the information and communications technology (ICT) sector in stabler economies is hampered not only by the lack of new entrants into the profession, but also by mismatches in competences that workers have today.

The lack of a common means to consistently understand and communicate ICT professional competencies and attractive career paths is considered one of the key reasons for this.

In March, the European Commission is set to launch a "Grand Coalition for Digital Jobs", outlining measures designed to increase job mobility, but also to rationalise training and certification in the sector to match skills to vacancies.

Seeking to resolve this challenge, the e-Competence Framework (e-CF) – a pan-European reference framework of ICT competences – will be recognised as a priority by the Grand Coalition.