Transcript Almedina Music

WITH THE FINANCIAL
SUPPORT OF THE
EUROPEAN UNION
Western Balkans
Regional Competitiveness Initiative (RCI)
Regional Conference – New Skills for New Jobs in the Western Balkans
Sarajevo, 12 July 2012
1
Regional Competitiveness Initiative – an overview
Objectives:
• Support medium and long-term competitiveness
• Provide capacity building through pilot projects
• Transfer of lessons learned through regional working groups
Focus Areas:
• Human capital development – address major skills gaps
• Innovation – strengthen innovative capacities of the private sector
Duration: 2010-2013
Beneficiaries: Seven Western Balkan economies
WITH THE FINANCIAL SUPPORT
OF THE EUROPEAN UNION
2
Focus Area: Human Capital Development
How is Human Capital being
addressed in the RCI?
1. RCI Working Group
on Human Capital
Development
WITH THE FINANCIAL SUPPORT
OF THE EUROPEAN UNION
2. Pilot projects in WB
economies
3
RCI Working Group on Human Capital Development
Overall objective: address skills gaps in the beneficiaries by:
1. Providing effective analytical and policy management tools;
2. Identifying medium and long-term policy options; and
3. Stimulating social dialogue between academia, government
structures and industry.
WITH THE FINANCIAL SUPPORT
OF THE EUROPEAN UNION
4
1st Working Group on Human Capital Development
“Supporting Skills For Innovation in the Western Balkans”
held on 8 June 2011 in Split.
Outcome: Identification of lessons learned from various donor projects to sustain
and mainstream actions minimizing skills gaps, such as:
1) Intergovernmental co-ordination between ministries is a must if projects are to be mainstreamed;
2) Regional approaches are needed for measuring skills needs and developing responses;
3) Increase involvement of private sector and entrepreneurs in the development of policy responses;
4) Alignment of the National qualification frameworks with European qualification frameworks;
5) Entrepreneurial training needs to be based on the practical experience of those teaching entrepreneurship;
6) Better co-ordination between international donors is needed;
7) Innovation has to happen in enterprises (not just universities) and result in value creation;
8) Innovation means a readiness for change and this is a significant obstacle for many firms in the region.
WITH THE FINANCIAL SUPPORT
OF THE EUROPEAN UNION
5
2nd Working Group on Human Capital Development
“Skills gaps analysis in the Western Balkans: design,
implementation and policy responses”
held on 20-21 March 2012 in Paris.
Sessions:
Interactive capacity building
Workshop
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OF THE EUROPEAN UNION
1. Designing a skills gap analysis
2. New approaches to skills gap
measurement
3. Future skills planning
4. Policy responses to skills gaps
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Session 1: Designing a skills gap analysis
Before designing policy responses to skills gaps an economy must understand the
strengths and weaknesses of its human resources. Once these strengths and
weaknesses are known one can begin to orient policy to bridge skills gaps.
Typical cases of skills gaps:
• inadequate number of workers with adequate skills;
• adequate number of persons with “wrong” skills;
• spatial distribution of skills does not meet the needs of the labour market.
WITH THE FINANCIAL SUPPORT
OF THE EUROPEAN UNION
7
Session 2: New approaches to skills gap measurement
The Working Group examined a new methodology to measure skills
gaps based on an analysis of the demand and supply of skills in a
defined skill sector. A skill sector is a group of homogenous
occupations and related skills: the simplest and most complex are
captured in this concept.
If we understand the demand for skill sector skills we will
understand the total demand for skills within an area in the
whole economy.
WITH THE FINANCIAL SUPPORT
OF THE EUROPEAN UNION
8
Session 3: Future Skills Planning
The Working Group also reviewed different types of skills planning techniques,
such as forecasting and foresight, and discussed their benefits and limitations
of each:
Forecasting can provide some insight in terms of short-term needs, however, it is
an unreliable tool for long-term planning.
Skills foresight is an exercise in visualising future scenarios and then prepare
adequate policy responses. Foresight requires a blend of qualitative,
quantitative, and sector research; and relevant expert knowledge in order to
understand the interconnectedness of several areas, such as the labour
market, the education system, and regional developments.
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OF THE EUROPEAN UNION
9
Session 4: Policy responses to skills gaps
• Necessity of bottom-up planning approach (from local level to
supra-national level);
• Due to the complexity of skills issues, it is important to integrate
multiple policy responses (e.g. regional policies, education
policies and employment policy). Integrated policy development
should be included in all steps of the policy development cycle;
• Key planning instruments are labour market information systems,
quantitative and qualitative research on future labour demand,
monitoring and identification of changes in skills needs.
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OF THE EUROPEAN UNION
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Skills gap analysis on a regional level?
During the Working Group meeting on HCD in March 2012 the
participants discussed the possibility to conduct a skills gap
analysis on a regional level in a sector that is of interest for
all economies.
Such a skills gap analysis could be performed in the follow-up
to the RCI project planned to begin in 2013.
WITH THE FINANCIAL SUPPORT
OF THE EUROPEAN UNION
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Focus Area: Human Capital Development
How is Human Capital being
addressed in the RCI?
1. RCI Working Group
on Human Capital
Development
WITH THE FINANCIAL SUPPORT
OF THE EUROPEAN UNION
2. Pilot projects in WB
economies
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Pilot projects in the WB economies
2011
Bosnia and Herzegovina:
“Triple Helix Partnerships between
academia, business and government”;
FYR Macedonia:
“Development of an Innovation Strategy”;
Montenegro:
”Voucher scheme for SMEs”;
Serbia:
“Development of a Competence Research
Centre”.
WITH THE FINANCIAL SUPPORT
OF THE EUROPEAN UNION
2012
Albania:
“Business Plan Competition”;
Croatia:
“Development of an Innovation Strategy”;
Kosovo*:
“Development of an Innovation Strategy”.
* This designation is without prejudice to positions on status,
and is in line with UNSCR 1244 and the ICJ Opinion on the
Kosovo Declaration of Independence
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Pilot projects: Beneficiaries identified one project for implementation
Innovation projects
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
A.
B.
Services for supporting technological innovation –
manufacturing extension services
Services for supporting non-technological innovation
Support establishment of inter-firm networks in specific
sectors
Develop programmes to spread technology-specific
information
Innovation competition
Mechanisms to finance business services in support of
innovation (e.g. voucher schemes)
Establishment of an Innovation Fund
Increase investment readiness
Mapping of existing venture capital schemes
Explore development of business angel networks
Business plan competition
The establishment of a Competence Research Centre (CRC)
Assist governments in reviewing the overall policy
framework for innovation
Practices and techniques for monitoring innovation
Identifying domestic projects for joint ventures
Improving the “triple helix” relationship.
WITH THE FINANCIAL SUPPORT
OF THE EUROPEAN UNION
Human Capital projects
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
C.
Assist governments with systematised usage of skills gap
analysis for policy making
Review strategies for work-related training
Review best practices in internship programmes
Review best practices in VET and apprenticeship schemes.
Assessment of the effectiveness and design of policies to
encourage reverse migration
Improving social networks within the region and the diaspora
of highly-skilled individuals
Review the impact of the tax system, labour market
restrictions and parental support on female employment in
the Western Balkans
One-stop-shop for self-employed to start-up their own
businesses
Support the drafting of a labour market information strategy
Map career guidance programmes in the Western Balkans
Reviewing system of continued education training
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Human Capital Component in pilot projects
Horizontal actions across all pilot projects:
1. Best practice transfer from OECD countries
2. Support government officials in understanding pros/cons of policy instruments
3. Assist government officials in application of policy instruments
Albania
(Business plan
competition)
Bosnia and
Herzegovina
(Triple Helix)
•Transfer of
investment
readiness skills
to young
entrepreneurs
• Study trip
• Training
• Close cooperation among
universities →
transfer of knowhow
WITH THE FINANCIAL SUPPORT
OF THE EUROPEAN UNION
Croatia /
FYR Macedonia /
Kosovo*
(Innovation strategies)
• Assessments include
reviewing the
contribution of the
education system to
national innovation
systems
Montenegro
(SME Voucher)
• Voucher aims
to improve nontechnological
innovation
• Focus on raising
organisational
management and
marketing
capabilities of
SMEs
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Serbia
(Competence
Technology
Centre)
• Transfer of
know-how from
researchers to
industry
• CTC
management need
skills to broker
relationships
between academia
and businesses
Next steps
• 3rd RCI Working Group meeting on Human Capital
Development will be organised in autumn 2012.
In the meantime, the participants are asked to assess what
capacities exist in the region to perform a regional skills gap
analysis (based on the methodology discussed in March
2012)
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OF THE EUROPEAN UNION
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Thank you for your attention!
Almedina Music
Policy Analyst - Regional Competitiveness Initiative
Private Sector Development Division
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
[email protected]
WITH THE FINANCIAL SUPPORT
OF THE EUROPEAN UNION
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