IFIP IP3 releases the GIC 2020 Skills Assessment Report

The ICT industry is in a state of unprecedented growth and change. Companies in all sectors are struggling with ferocious competition to hold and win customers and remain competitive. Business must ask “How will technology enable us to hold our market position and gain competitive advantage?” It is no longer sufficient to just use technology – the challenge is to use technology for innovation. At the same time, the risks that result from innovative use of IT must be managed.

The role and purpose of professionalism within ICT is clear and will not significantly change. However, the knowledge, skills and abilities ICT professionals need is constantly changing. This change will continue and accelerate in the years ahead.  When you add to this the global IT skills shortage and the resulting war for talent, CIOs and other business leaders have to focus on acquiring and developing the skills that are required today and in the future. Educators and other learning and development professionals are challenged to provide ICT professionals with appropriate skills and competencies.

IT Skills

IT people must develop the required skills for next 5 years

The purpose of the GIC 2020 Skills Assessment report is “To develop a vision of the types of skills and capabilities required within the IT profession for 2020” and it considers all the issues mentioned above. The report was compiled by GIC Director and Vice-Chair, John Morton, with input from all GIC Directors.

Leon Strous, IFIP President, remarked “We applaud the Global Industry Council (GIC) of the IFIP International Professional Practice Partnership (IP3) for compiling the 2020 Skills Assessment Report.  At a time when the need for ICT professionals is still increasing at a pace where supply cannot keep up with demand, it is extremely important that no concessions are made as far as the quality of information systems is concerned. We have become too dependent on ICT to be able to afford bad systems. The risks of losing substantial amounts of money or, worse, the loss of life are simply too high. As professionals, we have a duty to safeguard the quality of what we do. This report is a landmark for further work in this respect. “

Frits Bussemaker, Secretary General International Relations CIONET International & Partner CIONET Netherlands, further confirmed the importance of the report, saying “We are witnessing a global transition to a Digital society. This change is accelerating and therefore both public and private organizations need to understand today what digital skills they need to possess. The IFIP IP3 GIC 2020 Skills Assessment report provides excellent guidance on what these digital skills are. The report is produced by seasoned IT executives who work at the coalface of IT and will help any organization seeking or providing digital skills with acquiring the right skills.”

John Morton, CEO of CPM and a founder of three technology start-ups, is the principal author of this report. He will deliver a Keynote Speech at the IFIP World Computer Congress (WCC) IT Job Forum, with the title “No battle was ever won according to plan, but no battle was ever won without one.” (Title borrowed from a quote by Dwight D. Eisenhower).  This presentation looks at one important aspect of the report, Big Data Analytics, and the need for different thinking to drive the next wave of the ICT Industry.  IFIP IP3 is running a session on The Development of the Global ICT ProfessionThe session will include case studies from various national societies.

The GIC 2020 Skills Assessment report can be downloaded here.

Download official Press Release GIC 2020 Press Release Sep 2015