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...

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.

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.

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...

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...

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...

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.

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...

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.

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...

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...

“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...

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.   

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. 

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.