Putting technology in the hands of individuals who make a difference, is always inspiring. Alfred Nobel, himself would have been impressed to hear the youth gathered in his home town of Stockholm recently to share their innovative, change-making ideas to take on some of society’s tougher issues. Microsoft Innovate4Good is a global initiative that aims to empower youth to change their world and...

Microsoft OneNote has helped reduce student drop-out rates in Norway. The country has made large investments in ICT education in recent years. What are the effects of these investments? How have they provided optimal learning and better outcomes for students?

Students report that the operating system makes it easy to view information without opening applications. The Microsoft in Education team talks with Heiki Tähis, Head of IT and CIO of the Tallinn Polytechnic School in Estonia, about the school’s adoption of the Windows 8 operating system.

Traditionally, young people are educated to become competent employees. This has been the goal for many years and has proved to be essential for the development and growth of modern society. For many years the educational systems has fostered an increasing number of educated and trained individuals for the benefit of the individual and society.

If you were an employer looking for a young person to recruit, would you rather hire someone with impeccable academic credentials or someone who you knew can communicate effectively, has good organizational skills, can take decisions independently, bring the best from others to achieve common goals?

Why are there so few women technology entrepreneurs? There are numerous research projects and opinion polls that have looked into the issue, but we decided to go straight to the source and ask some of the leading female Start-ups working with Microsoft in Europe what they think.

Europe is at risk of being left behind by countries such as India, which is reshaping its future with new entrepreneurial creativity and social policy innovation. Currently the EU member states lose €153 billion every year by not being able to reconcile a quality transition and easier access to the labour market for the 14 million out-of-work, disengaged young Europeans.

You’ve all seen the figures over the past year and more that show high youth unemployment across some European Union Member States. But do people know that technology can have an enabling role in Europe and beyond? 

Recently, both at European level and at Microsoft, we have had many discussions on how can industry improve and bridge the productivity skills of youth transitioning from school to work, and one of the things that we have found out is that it cannot happen without investments efforts and good will at national level in all European countries.

The Grand Coalition for Digital Jobs was launched last week to address the shortfall of Europeans with digital professional skills and to exploit the employment potential of ICT. The EU's competitiveness is "under threat" according to Neelie Kroes, Vice President of the European Commission, if it cannot fill the expertise gap. 

Can you develop an educational app in twenty four hours? That was the challenge about twenty teachers took on during the Appathon in London. Prior to the Appathon, they attended three virtual universities to get to know the TouchDevelop programming platform and thought up an educational app.

Like many young people across Europe, Bulgarian youth are also struggling to find their best opportunities. A survey last year by the National Employment Agency shows that more than 19% of Bulgarian youth aged 15 to 29 are unemployed; while other estimates indicate that this number is actually closer to 30%. Eurobarometer research shows that 74% of Bulgarian youth want to immigrate. The country’s...

In the presence of the Ireland Chief of Government, M. Enda Kenny, T.D., Microsoft announced today details of its YouthSpark programme in Ireland with an investment of €6 million by the company, and a target to empower 30,000 youth to change their future over the next three years. The programme includes a range of educational initiatives, software donations for youth focused non-profit organisations as...

In this high level event we plan on gathering 100 young Spaniards, Startups and SMEs with the objective of establishing a forum for dialogue in which the young generation, civil society leaders, government elites, MEPs and entrepreneurs will discuss the role of youth as the key to the future in Spain’s competitiveness, in three of the areas that have been set as priorities: development of ICT skills,...

The local economies that are recovering the quickest following the recent downturn are those that have a labour force that is adaptable to external trends and shocks. As the recent OECD Skills Strategy has highlighted, skills are the new global currency of the 21st century, with governments increasingly focusing on the need to boost skills as a means of returning to growth and supporting social...

Young, high-potential & yet lacking the employable skills that open the door to our labour market? Sharpening the lens on a critical European business and political issue: YOUTH.  Collectively, European industry, government, and education providers convened last month at the Youth, The Key to Europe’s Future event hosted by Microsoft under the common accord that Skills are the global...

On the 28th of January (15:00-16:00 CET), CSR Europe will pre-launch the upcoming European Business Campaign on Skills for Jobs by means of a webinar, open to all members, partners and other parties that are interested to know more about the direction CSR Europe is taking with this campaign & to find out about opportunities for collaboration and engagement. 

As we discussed extensively at the ‘Youth, the Key to Europe’s future’ event in Brussels on 22nd of January, today’s educators face some tough challenges as they work to prepare students for the 21st century workplace. Microsoft and its partners are helping them make the grade.

Demand for “cloud-ready” IT workers will grow by 26 percent annually through 2015, with as many as 7 million cloud-related jobs available worldwide, according to an IDC White Paper sponsored by Microsoft Corporation and released today. Research projects as many as 7 million new cloud-related IT jobs globally by 2015, with fewer qualified candidates to fill open roles, according to global...

Recommendations for education systems to support an improved workforce in the 21st century. Education systems need to be reformed in order to provide the workforce of the future with ‘updated’ skills.

The Partners in Learning Global Forum 2012 was a unique experience in my career, summarising in two words: Life Changing! I was able to be connected with brilliant personalities and projects and I felt that I wasn't alone on this journey.

Today, millions of job positions remain untaken in Europe. Yet millions of young people are unemployed. The Youth Employability Award recently organised by Microsoft, Accenture and Adecco aimed at presenting efficient solutions to this issue.

14 million European young people are not in employment, education or training, and at the same time thousands of jobs remain unfilled.

Last week, the European Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion presented the Youth Employment Package, a key component of the European Employment Strategy, that seeks to help more young people get into jobs throughout the European Union.

Digital skills are in short supply at a time when Europe needs them most. According to European Commission estimates, Europe faces a shortfall of 700,000 digitally skilled workers by 2015, a gap that seriously threatens the region’s ability to compete. With youth unemployment in some countries as high as 50 per cent, the financial burden of supporting the young jobless is jeopardising future economic...

When looking at the current state of the European economy, it is hard to ignore the struggles of one group in particular – today’s youth. There is a generation of out-of-work, disengaged young Europeans that cost EU member states €153 billion every year, according to new findings by EU research agency Eurofound. 

Microsoft’s event “Transforming education to regain economic prosperity”, will seek to promote and explore new assessment methods around collaborative problem solving. The discussion with key actors involved in this project, will provide guidelines to policy makers on how to help education communities prepare for PISA 2015.

Last month, we joined the first ever pan-European job shadowing programme, led by Junior Achievement- Young Enterprise Europe, which gave us the possibility to look directly into a company and their market. That company was Microsoft.

Microsoft is happy to sponsor this year’s European Employment Forum 2012, which will take place in Brussels on the 27th & 28th of November.

A private grade 4-12 educational institution in Greece (Athens), Doukas School has invested heavily in innovative education to provide its 2,000 students with the finest educational, cultural, and athletic programs in the country.

The Next Partners in Learning Global Forum will take place in Prague on 28th Nov-1st Dec. What the Partners in Learning programme does is to help school leaders discover and share best practices to foster a culture of innovation. 

Cloudy grey skies didn’t dampen the air of hopeful anticipation at the recent EuroSkills Competition, which brought together 450 highly skilled young people – a small fraction of Europe’s currently 3.4 million unemployed youth. 

Technology donations for nonprofits made easy: What has benefited German nonprofits for nearly four years now, is now also available in Austria. As of late September, the online technology donation portal Stifter-helfen.at – IT for nonprofits went online with a press conference in Vienna and media coverage in various print and online titles. It gives Austrian nonprofits access to over 100 products...

"Europe needs a youth guarantee - that young people will be in work, training or education within months of leaving school’’ László Andor, European Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion.

Youth unemployment in Europe is high. In many cases there are jobs available but the skill sets to meet them are scarce. Digital skills are in high demand and essential for enhancing employability, and driving innovation and sustainable growth in Europe. 

Today we are announcing Microsoft YouthSpark, a new company-wide initiative designed to create opportunities for 300 million youth in 100 countries over the next three years.

Companies want employees who can think critically, work collaboratively and communicate through new technology. A revolutionary project is teaching students how to do them all.

There’s no escaping the news of today about growing unemployment and economy turbulence, which means uncertainty for many – not the least to students and fresh graduates. But as the economy stagnates for now, innovation, entrepreneurship and enthusiasm are still holding a bright camp at - where else - than universities.

The School Istituto Laporta in Galatina is a school of excellence. The Partners in Learning (PIL) school programme marked an important step for the school.  When the PIL programme was implemented, the school maximized its potential at national and international level.

The Partners in Learning for School Leaders programme is a result of a partnership between Microsoft Portugal and the Ministry of Education in Portugal. It is aimed at giving Portuguese school directors a set of skills that will enable them to innovate, modify and transform not only their schools but also their surrounding community. 

ICT has recently been pointed out by the European Commission as one of the big job growth areas and as a digital native, a student in 2012 who has grown up surrounded by technology I should feel privileged.. 

Some revolutionary ideas for school reform are not so new. The 17th-century philosopher and ecclesiastic Comenius had important things to say about 21st-century education. More than 300 years ago, he favoured “learning through play”, arguing that the successful acquisition of knowledge was active, not passive and that it should be a pleasure, not a task. “That guy was ahead of his...

To achieve a smart, sustainable and inclusive EU, technology can play an important role in preparing European youth with the skills needed.

The prospects for Europe's youth were never bleaker; the prospects were never brighter.

As youth unemployment continues to rise across Europe, today’s students are more pressured than ever before to make the most of their education and prepare themselves for the jobs of the future.

Why the industrial model – hierarchical organizations using standardised methods to produce uniform products – no longer works for schools or students.

According to the European Disability Strategy 2010-2020, one in six people in the European Union has a disability so severe that it prevents them from fully taking part in society due to environmental and attitudinal barriers.

How do we inspire innovation in young people? How can we successfully marry technology with social entrepreneurship? How do we foster ideas for positive change?

Where Europe succeeds, we succeed Europe matters to us. For the past thirty years, it’s been our aim to help fuel the European economy with the programs, partnerships, products and services we deliver, through ourselves and others. Our investment has reaped significant return for thousands of new and existing businesses across the continent. My job takes me to interesting places all...

Imagine a world where a handheld mobile device helps you to navigate an area destroyed by a natural disaster to free a trapped victim from the rubble. Or a world where gaming technology helps to rehabilitate a child suffering from a crippling disease. Believe it or not, thanks to some very talented young minds from Central and Eastern Europe, that world already exists. It might seem trite to talk about hope...

In these challenging economic times, helping European students to acquire the knowledge and skills needed to support their success as adults has become critical to the long-term competitiveness of Europe.

“The best way to have a good idea is to have a lot of ideas!” is how the saying goes. That is precisely the enthused response that Innovate4Good drew in Brussels where I just spent the day with 150 amazing young people from around Europe .

For years, Microsoft has been working with governments to help large scale transformation of education.  Since 2007, one of the key elements of that work has been the Shape the Future program.

Innovate4Good@Microsoft in Brussels will bring together over 120 young Europeans in interactive workshops and activities to discuss how they can imagine and realise leadership in today’s technology driven economy.

Early on in the year, much was being said about youth employability being the key to the economic crisis. We felt that was the problem. It was only being said, little was being done.

Her Royal Highness, Crown Princess Mary of Denmark welcomed hundreds of students, IT industry leaders, member state officials and representatives from the education community to discuss the theme, “Future Jobs and e-Skills in Europe” in Copenhagen for the official closing event of European e-Skills Week 2012.

The sun rises and so do I. It is the first day of my journey to the Partners in Learning European Forum (PILEF 2012) in Lisbon.

Where Europe succeeds, we succeed Europe matters to us. For the past thirty years, it’s been our aim to help fuel the European economy with the programs, partnerships, products and services we deliver, through ourselves and others. Our investment has reaped significant return for thousands of new and existing businesses across the continent. In an increasingly hyper-connected world,...

Microsoft Certification has come a long way in its first twenty years. It made its debut with the Microsoft Certified Professional Program, a measuring tool for employers and IT professionals.

In terms of modernising educational systems, Commissioner Vassiliou says, “We have a long way to go”.

Microsoft just launched the Faculty Connection Regional Site for Spain, inspiring the continual advancement and improvement of technology studies that equip students with the innovative skills they need to be employable in today’s competitive job market.

Where Europe succeeds, we succeed Europe matters to us. For the past thirty years, it’s been our aim to help fuel the European economy with the programs, partnerships, products and services we deliver, through ourselves and others. Our investment has reaped significant return for thousands of new and existing businesses across the continent.

The London School of Economics study investigates what the real economic effects of cloud are likely to be, and especially what that tells us about employment and job skills in the near future.

My nephew is arguably Manchester United’s greatest fan ever. This devotion sends him regularly online to follow the Red Devils’ latest results, news and chat. Recently, he was devastated to see comments he had never made appearing in a chat room discussion and was rebuked for views that were not his or insulting remarks he had not contributed. It was soon clear that he had fallen victim to...

Technology skills are vital in driving a competitive and innovative Europe, as they provide the essential tools and knowledge for the workforce to access better jobs, enhancing overall workforce employability across sectors and functions.

If your organization is drawing on ICT professionals simply to operate and maintain ICT systems, then it is wasting money on ICT. 

The EU Commission is constantly working on developing common policies and regulations on how to address the challenges of migration and promote successful integration. The Europe 2020 Strategy targets to raise the employment rate of 20-64 year olds in the EU to 75%.

One of the important pieces of news discussed mid- January at the Education World Forum, held in London, was that the OECD’s international PISA study in 2015 will include a new and mandatory area of 21st Century Skill assessment – Collaborative Problem Solving.

International rankings confirm Europe “must do better”.

The EU is preparing a new global list of institutions of higher learning that will be “more open, more transparent, more useful”.

Certification, as an industry-recognised validation of skills, is a proven differentiator — whether the individual is a seasoned professional looking to demonstrate his or her value to the organisation or someone hoping to break into the industry for the first time.

Enabling a new human capacity to match a new era of exponential change in our global economy is one of our greatest challenges, not just for governments but equally for industry and certainly the focal point of initiatives from the third sector and NGOs like us Langas i Ateiti ‘Window to the Future’.

The IT industry in many EU countries still faces the problem of a lack of IT workforce and IT skills.

We are constantly hearing that the labour market is changing with new kinds of jobs needing new sets of skills.

I have highlighted in my articles before, how we should prepare people for Europe 2020 jobs and the importance of elevating young people for the new world of work, however I have to re-emphasise once again some fundamental ideas about unemployment of today, and of jobs of the future.

Kiel University of Applied Sciences, founded in 1969 in northern Germany, has six faculties and 5,600 students. It has a reputation for innovative degree courses with intensive modularized learning in small groups, and is known to tailor their curriculum to meet industry needs.

Microsoft PIL is a global program focused on improving teaching and learning through the effective use of technology in the classroom.

18 projects, and the teachers behind them, were awarded special recognition at the Partners in Learning Global Forum on November 10, 2011 in Washington, D.C. This year’s winners were selected from more than 115 projects, narrowed from more than 200,000 applicants, who competed at national and regional events over the course of the year.

Last month I revealed the recent outcomes of the white paper “Cloud Computing in Turkey: Players, Policies, Challenges and Opportunities” at a Cloud Computing conference hosted in Turkey.

In May 2010 the European Commission adopted its Digital Agenda, with “enhancing digital literacy skills and inclusion” as a priority. “Improving digital literacy is crucial to Europe’s future,” Commissioners Neelie Kroes and Androulla Vassiliou announced. “We must invest in the e-skills of all EU citizens to make sure that no one is left behind as the economy goes...

The European Employment Forum 2011 is taking place in Brussels on the 22nd & 23rd of November in the frame of the Employment Week and is co-organized by the European Commission. The event will look at the labour market in the light of the significant changes that have taken place over the past few years in the global economy. Despite the often gloomy outlook, there are reasons for optimism, and...

Cloud Computing: What IT Professionals Need to Know. Curiosity has been sparked as to what the emerging roles and skill sets IT professionals and Developers should look to acquire as we transition to the cloud! Microsoft Learning has released a paper that takes an early look at just that!

There is a great sense of momentum right now in the digital inclusion community. From grass roots volunteers getting people online across Europe, to the highest level policymakers, everyone has noticed it.

Did you know that one in six people in the European Union - around 80 million – have a disability that ranges from mild to severe? Moreover, only 50% of the disabled people of working age are in employment.

You, readers may recall James Thurston’s earlier blog on the Europe 2020 strategy; leveraging the labour market to drive European economic growth, via a ‘smart, sustainable and inclusive model’ to harness untapped employment potential. As the world continues to battle to the burden of recession, this quest remains as relevant as ever.

We have seen the global financial crisis affect all economies around the world to varying degrees, but it has been especially severe in some European countries such as Spain, Portugal and Ireland. In Spain we see the youth unemployment rates at almost 50%, and in Portugal we hear the news that the Education budget will be cut 8% (600 million euros less than this year). Ireland has experienced a drastic...

Looking for web-based teaching tools to prepare its students for the future, Kello School in Finland deployed Microsoft Live@edu to give students a rich online learning experience, foster peer collaboration and enable students to work away from school all within a secure online environment.

With economic recovery here in France, the technology sector is booming! Future engineers and IT professionals are increasingly coveted by companies. Many software and technology consulting companies have announced major hiring plans, encouraged by a forecast industry growth of 3.5% for 2011.

The Race Online 2012  campaign has been established to provide all UK citizens with the opportunity to experience and use the internet, safely, to improve their digital skills, communicate online and take advantage of the many financial savings that are only available online.

In July 2011, Romania’s first Digital Agenda conference highlighted the importance of getting every European citizen online and equipping them with the right digital skills.

Cloud computing has all the ingredients of a true revolution in the way business, governments and individuals handle information.

It’s all about inspiring breakthroughs!

Mapping the route ahead for cloud computing, specifically looking at the human capital investment needed to bridge the transition and the question of organizational infrastructure, was recently made relevant to both Italian and EU-level institutions as well as stakeholders at the European Parliament in Rome.

In this case study, you can read about the Lincoln Specialists Schools Group (LSSG) which is making advanced and specialised school courses available to students in Lincoln through cloud computing, and fighting the decline in student population in rural UK – with the help of an innovative SME - F1 Group.

E-skills are no longer required only for those who work in IT departments, but for everyone participating in a digitized economy. The new economy is a digital economy. It's notable that many of the goals and metrics outlined in the European Commission's new Digital Agenda – public Internet use, availability of government services over the Internet, broadband adoption among disadvantaged groups...

Paving the way for new digital technologies such as the transition to the cloud requires a parallel investment in human capital.

Flexible working is the norm in many Microsoft subsidiaries across Europe. Employees are empowered to use our own technology – from Lync to Windows Phone to Sharepoint and Office – to communicate and collaborate, creating a culture of trust and transparency where people may work in a way that better suits work-life balance. These efforts have paid off, as today, the Great Place to Work Institute...

The IT Academy in perspective

In January, Microsoft participated in the largest gathering of Ministers of Education in Europe and around the world at the Education World Forum.  At the forum, discussion of ensuring our students have the right skills to compete in this global economy was top of mind.  In partnership with Cisco and Intel, with the leadership of University of Melbourne we had the opportunity to participate in two...

As part of Employment Week, Microsoft acted as main sponsors providing leadership to a series of events and awards where one of the highlights was the Skills for Employability ceremony. 

In this case study, you can read about how students and staff at the University of Bologna can now collaborate and learn anytime and anywhere, thanks to cloud computing.

“What could we get if we invested 4 billion Euros in digital infrastructure and skills instead of building a fixed link across the Femern Belt to Germany?“ Raising aspirations for the digital economy and providing challenging angles of thought leadership, an eSkills manifesto was recently launched during the conference Digital Skills for Growth and Welfare hosted by Microsoft in the Danish...

I was one of the 26 young ladies from all over Europe invited by Avanade to get involved in the first Women in IT Career Workshop to experience, learn, and share the insights of a successful path in IT. The event took place at the Accenture office in Kronberg, Germany, led by Avanade and joined by Microsoft and Accenture. Female executives representing the three companies defined a successful and...

“This is not a niche group!”, “ Let’s not still be having the same discussion in 20 years!”, “Let’s get the elephant out of the room!”  were just some of the impassioned rallying cries at the Employer Forum on Accessibility in the Workplace last week.

Middlesex University serves 33,000 students, with campuses in London and Dubai.  The university was using an on-premises e-mail system based on Microsoft Exchange Server that it wanted to expand to meet the growing volume of e-mail and to offer students a variety of online tools for collaboration.

This post is a discourse on how new technology is a key factor that induces enjoyment as an educational path to the skills of the 21st century.

Business is moving to the cloud. According to IDC* predictions for 2011, 80% of new software will be available as cloud services; by 2014, over one-third of software purchases will be delivered through the cloud. 

Career Factor is the new online reality show based on the experiences of 9 IT personalities seeking to improve their careers by learning new skills, working towards certification and finding a new job. Each of our candidates have set a professional goal and over the course of the next 5 months they will share their every step along the way in real time.

In this case study, you can read about how the European University Institute (EUI) overcame limitations in storage space of its previous email system with cloud computing, achieving 100 times more storage and 43% in cost savings. The European University Institute (EUI) was set up in 1972 by the six founding Member States of the European Communities to provide advanced academic training to...

Get Online Week starts today across Europe, running from the 28th February – 5th March 2011. As the name suggests, the awareness week aims to get people using the Internet and gaining the skills needed to participate in the new information-based economy. Even in this age of smartphones, wi-fi hotspots and social media, 200 million people in Europe are still without the Internet.

Youth unemployment remains around 20% within the UK and across the OECD. A key challenge facing young people is that they are lacking the experience to enable them to successfully compete for jobs in a tight labour market. 

Take a Microsoft consultant in Madrid, add a PR Director in Kiev,  include a development tools specialist in Warsaw and an online marketing director in London. Then add to this the HR consultant in Dublin and finally throw in a very generous sprinkling of technical experts all around Europe. That’s when you start to get a sense of the cumulative value that employees at Microsoft are...

Office 365 for education will extend learning possibilities to students while helping them master technology they will use in their future careers.

Last month, people from around the world gathered at two education events in London – the Education World Forum (EWF) and the BETT trade show, one of the largest ICT in education conferences worldwide – to discuss how technology can help improve the state of education globally. Interestingly, The New York Times recently reported on the modern day skills students need to excel and succeed in...

Since its launch in 2003, Microsoft’s Unlimited Potential (UP) community technology skills program has reached more than 50,000 community organizations across the world in bringing technology access and skills training to more than 170 million individuals. 

Microsoft’s more than 16,000 employees in Europe possess a great wealth of talent and skills, not only in software engineering, development and deployment but also in many non-IT fields that are essential for all successful organizations -- from marketing and public relations to customer relationship management and key corporate functions such as financial and human resources strategy and services....

Between them, Microsoft technology specialists Artur Żarski, Carlos de Huerta Mezquita and John Arnold have spent more than 40 years at the forefront of the IT revolution. As Microsoft technology volunteers, they also share this wealth of expertise with their local communities. And as finalists in Microsoft Europe’s 2010 European Volunteering Awards, Artur, Carlos and John provide inspiring examples...

Imagine walking out to compete at the world-famous marble stadium where athletes gathered for the Panathenaic Games in ancient times and the first modern Olympic Games in 1896, and where the 2004 Olympic marathons finished. That’s the dream of thousands of Special Olympics participants around the world who are striving towards the 2011 Special Olympics Summer World Games, in Athens, Greece.  

Skills are the link to the successful economies of Europe 2020. The way in which we forecast skills demands, provide access to relevant learning tools and engage Europeans more readily in ongoing workforce development will rapidly impact the job profiles and employment opportunities seen on the European market.

Microsoft has recently launched Imagine Cup Solve This, a new program to provide inspiration for students looking to help solve the world’s toughest problems whilst giving them a platform to narrow their skills gap.

The way we learn is changing. The voices of young people from across the globe are captured in this video, illustrating how they see the transition to a new culture of education empowered by technology.

The ‘European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion' is drawing to a close. This should make us wonder why we still see an unacceptably high number of Europeans enduring both poverty and social exclusion. Both are being heightened by the economic crisis, but the headlines often focus on the immediate casualties of the crisis – those whose jobs and benefits come first in the firing...

Many of the jobs in the next two decades simply do not exist today. Regardless of economic sector - retail, automotive, logistics, tourism, manufacturing or telecom- the transformation of industrial processes is upon us! However- are Europeans equipped and in the right skills ‘gear’ for a more digitally driven economy?

Talent has no age. Talent has no passport. Talent has no gender; but opportunity has all three. Indeed, it is people that are the world's greatest untapped resource.

For many years at Microsoft, we have been deeply committed as a company to ensuring that the magic of software is accessible also to the non-profit community worldwide. Nonprofit organizations generally strive to serve communities and fill gaps in tough economic times, where resources are increasingly tight. 

Did you know that 77 percent of jobs will require technology skills in the next five years as predicted by experts?  (Source: IDC)  That's one of the reasons Microsoft is working to help students get low-cost training and certifications that are crucial for today's job market and the next generation of young innovators.

In the constant battle to do more with less, non-profit organisations are increasingly turning to technology to improve productivity and reduce administrative costs, which ultimately allows them to focus their resources where they have most impact – benefiting the most vulnerable in our society.

The fusing of ICT with business economic delivery models is challenging the future of the IT profession.

Global dimensions are changing. To name a few: the shift to a low carbon economy, globalization, technological change, accessible education and an ageing population have all sparked a change in the skills, knowledge base and competencies that the labour market demands. 

The recent announcement of “Youth on the Move” by the European Commission has highlighted the challenge we have in Europe to help our young people into work. This is a major issue in the UK with 950,000 unemployed young people, a 20% youth unemployment rate. Older workers have traded down to lower skilled jobs during the economic crisis, displacing young people with less experience.

Just a few weeks after the launch of the EU flagship initiative Youth on the Move, on 4 October, Microsoft and European Schoolnet hosted a successful EU roundtable on eEducation entitled “ICT – are we doing enough to keep Europeans ahead in education?” in Brussels.

Creativity is at the heart of stimulating innovation and fostering sustainable growth at European level.  When it is combined effectively with new digital technologies it can solve some of today’s greatest global challenges whilst at the same time generating new employment pathways in the region.

I want to share my reflections on the recent announcement of the “Youth on The Move” initiative launched by the European Commission.  First of all, I was very pleased to see how much this initiative recognizes that opening doors to employability is at the heart of Europe’s success in 2020.  Microsoft is a partner in this journey.

At the end of 2009, you may have seen news of a pilot project on Microsoft.eu that aimed to help remove barriers to job mobility. CITEVE for unemployed people video was posted describing how Microsoft and CITEVE joined forces in Portugal to bring technology skills to unemployed textile workers in the country.  

In Europe we have education placed high on the political agenda, indeed the first single EU-level strategy embracing both education and employment ‘Youth on the Move’ has recently been launched as a key facet of the Europe 2020 agenda!

The world's premier student technology competition celebrates this year’s winners on the 6 October! The event takes place at the European Parliament and is hosted by Polish MEP Rafal Trzaskowski.

Innovation in technology has changed the way we access and consume knowledge! With this in mind there can be no greater impact than that on the delivery of education and the creation of an attractive learning path for students both young and old. 

Technology can be an amazing tool to help drive social change and economic development. In their constant struggle to do more with less, many nonprofits have already embraced technology to improve productivity and reduce costs.

The Europe 2020 strategy calls for economic growth based on a smart, sustainable and inclusive model that targets an overall employment rate of 75% and a reduction of poverty by 20 Million among other priorities.

Picture 400 of the brightest young minds from 70 countries in Poland, selected from 325,000 students revealing some of the youngest entrepreneurial technology innovations on the globe! 

In June the "Enterprise & Industry Magazine" of the Directorate-General for Enterprise and Industry of the European Commission included an important article on e-skills.

The 2010 Zero Poverty campaign spearheaded by Caritas in Europe reveals that 1 person in 10 with a job in the EU nonetheless lives in poverty.

Can Europe use cloud computing to stimulate economic growth?  If so, what skills will be needed to make most advantage of this technology trend? 

If you missed the chance to read Professor Jonathan Liebenau’s great post of skills and cloud computing, I strongly recommend you finding 10 minutes to watch his webinar on how skilled (or not) the European work force will be to embrace cloud computing

It takes some new thinking to be able to benefit from cloud services.  As much as service providers might offer “seamless”, “trouble-free”, or “integrated” cloud services, customers need to have the insights to position themselves as capable users.   

Against the backdrop of the biggest eSkills campaign in Europe, an exciting national eSkills roadshow to help stimulate economic growth in Hungary was launched by Microsoft together with the Association of IT Enterprises  and the HELB Foundation

With UK unemployment reaching 2.5m and 77% of all jobs requiring digital skills, we launched Britain Works in September 2009 to help 500,000 people get jobs through IT skills training by 2012.   

Sylvie Laffarge tells FUTURES why eSkills are increasingly important for immigrant women looking for employment in the EU.

The first ever meeting of the G20 employment ministers  set the tone for a concerted response to the current global employment challenge

Caritas and Microsoft are working together to help disadvantaged people in Europe find employment, escape poverty and overcome exclusion through access to computer skills training.  

We were at the Go digITal event during eSkills week earlier March and spoke to a number of ICT students present.

The European Union has singled education and training as one of its priorities with the adoption of the Lisbon Strategy, its overarching program focusing on growth and jobs.

 The European Union has singled education and training as one of its priorities with the adoption of the Lisbon Strategy, its overarching program focusing on growth and jobs.

www.e-aptitudini.ro portal puts the incentive on upgrading skills! An initiative launched during the European eSkills Week by Junior Achievement Romania and Microsoft to match the demand for eSkills trainings against available educational resources! 

The pace of change and development in education has picked up substantially in recent years – largely because of the key role ICT is increasingly playing in both teaching and learning. 

Education is one of the important targets in Europe’s 2020 Strategy and rightly so.

The feeling in Berlin this week is not quite one of the majestic city of the past, but much more an innovative, exciting capital looking to the future.

With support from Microsoft, enabling Telecentre-Europe to meet and develop the bid, they have secured a €260,000 capacity-building grant from the EU Grundtvig Program. 

Women now account for over half of Europe’s immigrants. They face many challenges including higher unemployment and are often clustered in less-skilled occupations.

CeBIT 2010 opened its doors yesterday, March 2nd. This year’s theme of the most important fair for the IT business is “connected world”.

We can no longer afford to discard skills and human capital if we want to meet the challenges of a knowledge-based society and to maintain European competitiveness, employment, and social inclusion.

This is an advertorial that we have produced recently with the European Commission in support of the European e-Skills Week (1-5 March 2010).

I strongly believe that innovation is the lifeblood of the 21st century economy. If we just take the way research is done today compared to 15 to 20 years ago we can see a huge difference.

Have a look at Ade McCormack’s recent Financial Times column, which highlights the importance of e-skills to our future, the role of management within organisations, and how it all affects technologists, users and the socially excluded alike…

I recently had the chance to speak to one of our Students to Business partners, Roberto Pietra, who is VP of HR at the tech services firm, Avanade.

The competitiveness challenge is one which will decide the future of Europe, and given the nature of globalisation, we as a continent need to get further into the business of selling ideas to be able to meet this challenge

Every year, Microsoft runs the Imagine Cup, a global technology competition for students to develop their IT skills while at the same time making a difference. 

Forward-looking perspectives from INSEAD’s recent conference  ‘Building e-Competences to Strengthen Innovation in Europe’  and the European University-Business Co-operation Forum  would suggest that the academic/business footprint on skills and workforce development is moving towards a closer fit but that there is more work to be done!

Yesterday I attended an MEP breakfast debate on e-skills, organized by Digital Europe.  It was an enriching debate which demonstrated the level of interest and activity that stakeholders are carrying forward to raise the profile of ICT as a key skill-set for the jobs of the future. Europe needs ICT-ready people to embrace the vision of the Digital Agenda. We need faster transition from “learning...

After the crisis, the e-skills gap is looming in Europe.

No matter where I am, there’s one thing we hear that’s always the same: educators the world over want access to affordable, secure, and easy-to-use technology that gives them the tools to increase quality and variety in delivering their curriculum.

I’m very proud to be writing that Microsoft has just launched the Microsoft Student Career Portal! The portal provides insight on five IT careers, along with the learning tools, certification exam guidance, and various resources necessary for students to gain technical skills that can differentiate them in today’s challenging job market.

This video captures snapshots of the thoughts, recommendations and commentary that were sparked during the November 30th dinner debate around 'Skills for Innovation'.

As you might have read in my recent post, the IDC last week published a report sponsored by Microsoft, entitled “Post Crisis: e-skills are needed to drive Europe’s innovation society” (view PDF) which is based on the input of over 1,300 employers and training partners.

In the coming five years, only 10% of jobs will be left for those who have no ICT skills, a figure that is especially significant at a time of rising unemployment in Europe and worldwide.

Research from 13 European countries indicates ICT skills requirements is driven by technology trends – not the recession.

How a student from Wrocław became an expert in software verification – via Aachen and Redmond.

As a teenager in 1990s war-torn Kosovo, Alban Rrustemi loved a good crime film – especially one with computing gadgets.

We recently wrote about the Get on the Bus tour of 12 European cities by the Microsoft Born to Learn team. 

We are glad to see that we at Microsoft are taking on challenge and the leadership to boost skills and employability in Europe especially in today's tough economic times.

Lutz Ziob, General Manager of Microsoft Learning, speaks of the importance of ICT skills for the European economy and workforce. Filmed in Brussels in October, 2009.

Microsoft Learning drives around Europe with the Get on the Bus Tour. Video contains interview the participants as they stopped by Belgium. 

Interviews with stakeholders on e-skills in Europe. Filmed at the launch of the report - Post Crisis: e-skills are needed to drive Europe’s innovation society - by IDC at Microsoft in Brussels, November 2009

No longer confined to geeks, eSkills is everybody's business.

CITEVE and Microsoft join hands to support Portugals textile industry workers by providing them with IT training to update their skills and re-enter the workforce.

Have a look at this interview with Jean Philippe Courtois produced by the INSEAD eLab, following the publication of a report by the European Business Summit and INSEAD proposing a Skills Pact for Europe.

As of last week the Microsoft Born to Learn team has been touring Europe on a bus and creating a lot of buzz... 

We are glad to see that we at Microsoft are taking on challenge and the leadership to boost skills and employability in Europe especially in today's tough economic times.

An innovative partnership in Portugal that helps unemployed textile workers gain essential ICT skills and jobs is being extended to other industries.

In Germany’s knowledge-rich economy, it is estimated that 75 percent of productivity growth is generated through the use of information and communications technology (ICT) in the workplace, where one in two German employees uses a PC in their job.

In Hungary, the ICT industry is leading an innovative national partnership with government, academic and non-profit organizations to deliver ICT skills training and boost competitiveness and growth at all levels of the economy.

The field of computing was still young in 1965 when SUPINFO was founded as the first French private higher-education school dedicated to information technology (IT). 

Through the Students to Business (S2B) program, Microsoft collaborates with universities and businesses to provide students with specialized IT training and help them find jobs and internships at local companies.

Sylvie Laffarge, Microsoft's Director Community Affairs Europe, tells FUTURES that in challenging economic times, collaboration and investment in education and skills training are more important than ever.

“Technology can play a crucial role in enabling nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) to achieve their goals, share best practices, raise funds and learn from one another. Since NGOs are our partners in delivering great community affairs programs, it is in our interest to support them in building their technology capacities as a route to fostering their key role as social entrepreneurs and...

Working with Ireland's most disadvantaged communities, the Fastrack to IT (FIT) is a successful example of an industry initiative which brings together government organisations with companies such as Microsoft to couple IT skills with a structured programme to help individuals to secure full-time employment.

Through its Digital Skills for SMEs program, the Latvia@World project is providing special training for small and medium sized enterprises and enabling entrepreneurs to make use of the latest technologies, thereby enhancing their business skills and overall competitiveness.

Ali Tarabit has been a volunteer with the charity organization Aviation Sans Frontières (ASF) for almost three years. With his help, ASF has revolutionised its office operations, improving its efficiency and opening up new possibilities.

If Europe is to prosper in the global economy, it needs a lot more people like Fabian Suchanek. The 27-year-old German student is full of enthusiasm for his field, computer science.

Innovation isn't just what scientists and engineers do: it's also a feature of many community-based organisations and social entrepreneurs. But the result is the same: new ways of doing things and new products and services that enable people to change their lives.