Skills and innovation talents related to future business growth Seminar “Innovation and modernisation of the rural economy” Gaio, Portugal, June 18, 2015 Peter Laan (FARO Advies, project leader) FARO Advies

Future business growth in rural areas using young talents Based on ideas and results from: - Interreg IV-B North Sea project Vital Rural Area ( ) - Future business growth using young talents (proposed Interreg V-B North Sea project, ) FARO Advies

General remarks related to rural and remote areas  Average educational level is low  Infrastructure (especially ICT)and level of services is poor or poorly accessible  Living and working circumstances are not attractive for youngsters  Potential for innovative sectors can be better utilised (i.e. low carbon economy and the renewables industry) or connected to urban centres through supply chains FARO Advies

 Too little innovative and competitive enterprises (‘top sectors’) are present in rural areas  Especially sectors in ß-science, technique and ICT suffer on the lack of skilled people  Labour markets and 3rd level education are insufficiently tuned FARO Advies Associated problems

Avoiding a waste of human capital  OECD (2015) ”Young people are struggling to enter the labour market. In some countries up to 25% of the year-olds is neither employed nor in education or training (NEET). Improving the employability of youth requires a comprehensive approach”  Young people are not well-equipped for entering the labour market  Recruitment from abroad over under-qualified local workforce prevails in many sectors FARO Advies

Megatrends as drivers for innovation Dealing with megatrends that currently transform the global industrial environment and business terms in general, hence function as drivers for innovation:  Demographic change (ageing population)  Globalization  ICT development  Smart technologies  New media  Organising FARO Advies

Reshaping our vision towards work FARO Advies Skills and competences will be the global currency of the 21st century! Companies (SMEs) must take the lead in finding the right future skills, competences and knowledge to compete on the EU and global market Skills shortages Skills gaps

Skills shortages in specialized industry sectors FARO Advies SMEs compete within comparable sectors (supply chains) -> not adding capacity, not sustainable It leaves companies with the challenge to ensure important knowledge and skills do not disappear Expertise is domain-specific -> being an expert in one particular domain does not easily transfer to other domains When retirement starts to take hold and demand increases, skills shortages will become more widespread unless recruitment and training is increased to compensate

Skills gaps to overcome  Fast market developments ask for a non- institutionalized approach  Megatrends as drivers for innovation ask for key- skills for future workforce, not recognized today Novel and adaptive thinking Social intelligence New media literacy Cross disciplinary skills Creation of a design mind-set Conceptual thinking FARO Advies

Illustrative example built on new skills FARO Advies Source: EIfI, 2014

Skills gaps to overcome  New emerging markets ask for innovative young entrepreneurs Labour requirements should not specifically be sector- or job-directed, but rather focusing on future work skills and competences, required across different jobs and work settings FARO Advies

How to efffectively work towards overcoming the skills problem  Primary response = Flexibility Non-institutionalized approach -> i.e. regional Living Lab driven by entrepreneurs/SMEs Talent development that is not job- or sector directed Multi-sectoral, bottom up approach (i.e. student companies)  Secondary response = stimulating non-traditional learning methods Vocational Education and Training Master apprentice system ‘Discovery learning’ (technical sector, design and problem-solving attitude) FARO Advies

Living Labs as experimental gardens and a melting pot for innovation FARO Advies Regional Living Lab Quadruple Helix Open innovation Co-creation Regional approach: meet & cooperate New enterpreneurs: network approach Discovery learning (technique, ß-sci, ICT, enterpreneurship) New skills and competences Up-skilled VET Master- apprentice Non- traditional learning Future innovation: Multidisciplinary approach SMEs

Skills for success ! A skills system that is future proofed and develops the talents of young people with the skills required by industry developed in partnership with industry for industry: “ skills for success” FARO Advies

Regional and rural development  Developing or attracting innovative industry sectors and SMEs to rural areas needs asks for an integrated and long term regional approach -> Smart Specialisation Strategy FARO Advies

 Regions with strong coalitions of local/regional authorities, entrepreneurs and knowledge- centres/universities show a good performance  Region building implies: * creating of connections * using each others qualities * creating win-win effects * joint strategies * focus and priorities * strong governance  and.... is based on mutual TRUST!! FARO Advies Smart Specialisation Strategy – attention points

FARO Advies

% young people on vocational courses % of under 25 yrs who are unemployed Hungary25,726,6 United Kingdom32,119,6 Denmark46,59,9 Germany50,98,7 The Netherlands67,08,7 Austria76,58,8 Vocational training and unemployment Source: Eurostat, 2010

 Learn from the good examples, performing well in PISA and in their economies  Apply to the yrs curriculum  Emphasis on vocational training that is “in tune with industry needs” -> improving economic performance and employment prospects -> making locations more attractive to inward investments by creating a talented young population FARO Advies The importance of a good VET system