Icon has joined the Digital Skills and Jobs Coalition, for which the eSkills Foundation is the Maltese national contact point. It joined the initiative with the aim of further developing the digital skills needed in the local digital economy as well as to focus on training to increase the skills of the labour force.
An initiative proposed by the European Commission under the New Skills Agenda for Europe, the coalition brings together the Member States, companies, social partners, NGOs and education providers to further reduce the digital skill gaps as a partnership.
With notable members, such as the European Digital SME Alliance, ECDL and Google, the coalition is committed to tackling skill gaps at all levels, from high-level ICT specialist skills to the skills needed by all European citizens to work in a digital economy and society. Members are encouraged to pledge action to train more digital experts, re-skill and up-skill the labour force and provide citizens with the digital skills needed for their lives.
The coalition has set goals to be achieved by 2020, such as training one million young unemployed people, supporting the upskilling and retraining of the workforce, modernising training education and training and reorienting and making use of available funding.
Icon’s pledge is to ensure that its staff is sent on training programmes to remain at the forefront of technology, increase retention as well as increase levels of job satisfaction.
The company will also be offering new internships. The internship roles will be within the company’s services, which are software services, web development and digital marketing. Finally, a white paper will be published on data analysis that will be free to the public. This in-depth report will help both students and companies who wish to learn how to harness the power of big data and analytics.
Francesca Falco, from the secretariat of the Digital Skills and Jobs Coalition, said: “We are delighted that Icon has endorsed the objectives and principles of the Digital Skills and Jobs Coalition Charter and we take pride that you have agreed to make a contribution to boost digital skills in Europe.”
Gege Gatt, director at Icon, stated: “Developing a digital talent pool is crucial for the Digital Single Market, for European competitiveness and for our digital society to remain inclusive. Icon is committed to assist the coalition to reach its goals through proactive activities for Malta’s labour force.”