Current Activities / Workforce Development

• SFIA - Skills Framework for the Information Age
• ESiB - E-Skills into Business
• MaP>IT - South East Sector Skills Unit
  

After some two years of collaborative effort, we are about to launch the Skills Framework for the Information Age (SFIA).

It is a characteristic of most "professions", whether medics, vets, lawyers, accountants that they have agreed processes for the recruitment, training, development and certification of staff as competent practitioners. Despite the best efforts of many individuals and organisations the IS community has not managed to reach broad agreement on such a scheme, until now.

SFIA embraces skills needs of an organisation by providing a simple but elegant "lightweight" matrix of skills descriptors organised into seven levels of accountability; follow, assist, apply, enable, advise, initiate/influence, strategy/inspire/mobilise. There are six major categories of activity; Strategy & planning, Management & Administration, Sales & Marketing, Development & Implementation, Service Delivery and Use. The categories are further subdivided and the matrix contains 71 detailed Skills Descriptors where accountability and category present a populated intersect on the matrix. You don`t strategize at level one!

SFIA can sit above other standards which are written to finer levels of discrimination, our Occupational Standards, the British Computer Societies` Industry Structure Model, to which cross references have been made.

SFIA has many uses, its adoption has been recommended by CCTA, it can assist with, individual/team assessment, career planning, skills audit, planning future skills needs, a common language to communicate between suppliers, procurers and users, an agreed set of definitions to produce and analyse labour market intelligence. It is a powerful lever to increase the UK`s competitiveness to enable it to be a world-wide centre of Information Systems excellence.

We hope to announce a launch Plan soon.

Partners included:

• Information Systems suppliers: EDS, Microsoft, IBM, Oracle
• Users: the Post Office, Norwich Union, Reading Borough Council, Ministry of Defence
• Industry Associations: AISS (Alliance for Information Systems Skills), BCS (British Computer Society), IMIS (Institute for the Management of Information Systems), IEE (Institution of Electrical Engineers), CSSA (Computing Services & Software Association), and others.
• Government and its agencies, DfEE (Department for Education & Employment), DTI (Department of Trade & Industry), MOD (Ministry Of Defence) and CCTA (Central Computer & Telecommunications Agency)

If you would like further information, or to become involved, please look at the dedicated web site www.sfia.org.uk or get in touch with Gordon Greaves on or e-mail
( top )

The aim of the project is to develop a leading edge programme to address ICT skill needs in SMEs within the south east region: owners, managers and members of the workforce employed in SMEs. SEEDA (the South East of England Development Agency) has rightly identified that SMEs are often inexpert purchasers and implementers of new technologies, particularly ICT. Yet they need to become competent if they are to successfully innovate, compete and grow through, for example, the adoption of e-commerce.

This programme will rapidly build their capacity to acquire and apply new technology in pursuit of business goals, leading to increases in productivity and profitability. One of the main outcomes of the project will be the production of a web-based Business Improvement Tool, which will "map and match" the skills required by SMEs to achieve their business goals, to a similar map of learning objectives and units of training to national standards. SMEs will notably be able to diagnose their business needs, identify skill gaps, devise a customised ICT strategic training plan and assess their own progress.

The project aims to reach 65,500 SMEs and to support 20,000 SMEs with the production of a business improvement action plan. Additionally, it is expected that a minimum of 10,000 employees will start training as a result of the project to improve user productivity.

The project is a partner to the government’s UK On Line for Business programme.

Partners and curriculum contributors include: Energis (providing a world class e-portal built for small businesses), M2S, Toshiba, EDS, BT, Danish Technology Institute, Skillserver, Institute of Directors, CSSA (Computing Services & Sopftware Association), Professor Hepworth of the Local Futures Group, Professor Anne Jones, Communications Management Association (CMA), BCS (British Computer Society), ICTMB, University of Surrey, All South East England Business Links, the South East Chambers of Commerce, Isle of Wight Partnership, TEC National Council, ITTA (USA), webevaluate.com (USA), Interco, Informatics CTEC, Prince plc, the Courseware Company, Corporate Learning and Global Training Solutions.

The project will be rolled out in April 2001 following a 6-month pilot in Kent, the Isle of Wight and Milton Keynes. Please visit the ESiB site at http://www.esib.co.uk

Contact : Nigel Payne on or

MaP>IT 1999/2000 was a £2.5m programme, part-funded by the European Social Fund, aimed at examining and helping the problem of Ageism in IT and related sectors. It consisted of:

• A major research project by Open University Business School into the barriers faced by mature entrants to IT
• Forward-looking labour market information for the IT, Engineering and Construction sectors
• Three Regional training projects providing free IT training to mature practitioners, employed by small companies in Engineering or Construction, and resident or employed in London, Eastern or Yorkshire/Humberside Regions
• The production of Employer and Employee Guides
• An overall Evaluation project.

Paper copies of the various reports may be purchased for £50 each.

MaP>IT Two is currently under development, and is expected to be launched in selected English Regions early in 2001. It will provide free IT training for employees of small businesses, self-employed, or unemployed, in those Regions.

Contact : John O’Sullivan on or
( top )