European Universities and the ICT Industry

Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) have a distinct and unique role to contribute to the overall advancement of Europe, in its efforts to ensure economic and social success. Europe needs continuous progress in information and communications technologies and its industry and universities contribute to this progress. The demand for professionals increases constantly and exceeds the offerings. Both in the industrial and university communities persists an opinion about a divorce between the formal existing educational institutions and the needs of ICT professionals by the industry. This divorce is considered by some to be at the origin of the scarcity of ICT professionals in many ICT specialties. While preparation of eSkills for basic ICT use is not the task of universities, but of high-schools, we may note also that there are still in several EU countries university graduates that do not have all the necessary basic skills to use ICT or E-business at work or at home. Policy makers, universities and industry have to increase investment in universities for preparing the right ICT skills. Europe has to bring its universities at the level of expectancy of the i2010 strategy.