The Malta Information Technology Agency (MITA) recently announced a collaboration with renowned research institution Insead eLab for the development of a Maltese e-Skills Demand and Supply Monitor.
The aim of the monitor is to gauge the present and forecasted availability of e-skills and how these match the anticipated demand from the industry.
Such a barometer will help policy-makers get a clear indication of the evolution of the supply and demand of e-skills locally and identify the exact gaps and mismatches.
The availability of e-skills is an important component for the economic development and competitiveness of any country. While at a European level this availability is clear, locally no hard empirical facts and figures are available.
The monitor will therefore facilitate dialogue between policy-makers and leading stakeholders in an effort to ensure that Malta will be able to boost the productivity and the employability of its workforce and be able to compete successfully with global competitors.
The demands of employers from the ICT and ICT-using industries will be identified through a mixture of desk and field research, while the current supply in regards to ICT practitioner skills being generated by educational institutions will be measured both qualitatively and quantitatively. The analysis of these two pillars of demand and supply will lead towards concrete action to bridge the existing gaps and mismatches of e-skills.
A crucial focus of the monitor will be its predictive component. A forecast of the upcoming three years, both in terms of demand as well as the supply of e-skills, will be completed.
Any resulting gaps should be addressed by targeted investment by government, as part of its current and future Human Capital programme within the national ICT strategy.
Insead eLab is one of the leading global institutions in e-Skills data analysis and policy-making. Its partners and clients include the World Economic Forum, World Bank, UNCTAD, ITU, WTO, OECD, European Commission and the government of Qatar.