Interventions for Sustainable Information Society Employment for Disadvantaged Groups e2001 Conference Venice, October 2001 Susan ODonnell, Models Research

KISEIS Study Studying interventions for IS employment for disadvantaged groups Began July 2001 Final report in mid-2003 Includes field studies in four countries: Ireland, France, Spain and Finland

Why disadvantaged groups? Social inclusion central to IS policies Measured by rates of Internet use EC - e-Inclusion report September 2001 Disadvantaged groups have lower rates of Internet use

Why employment?

Why IS employment? Significant skills shortages across Europe ICT technician: 600,000 to 1m needed ICT professional: 300,000 to 500,000 High-end ICT skills will ensure sustainable employment

Why interventions? A market-led expansion of the IS will not tackle exclusion Digital divide growing in Europe Less than 17% of European workers have ICT training provided by employers Only 4% of low-income earners have ICT training provided by employers

Why interventions? Public funds for high-level ICT education limited to third-level institutions Third-level education out of reach to many experiencing disadvantage High-end ICT training programmes expensive or unavailable in many regions

EMPLOYMENT Initiative Operated from Funded projects to improve access to the labour market App. 200 projects across Europe had an information society dimension Target groups: unemployed, women, disadvantaged youth, disabled people

Types of IS interventions ICT training (most popular intervention) Service provision (local information services, local employment services…) Enterprise development (including self- employment in IS sectors) Online support services

Were the interventions successful? KISEIS field work Jan-June 2002 Interviews with former EMPLOYMENT project participants Interviews with employers Case studies of mainstreaming initiatives

Preliminary work in Ireland TRAMLINES project ( ) trained 25 unemployed people MCP (Microsoft Certified Professional) FOUNTAIN project ( ) trained 61 young early school leavers ECDL and MOUS certifications Evaluations in 1998, 1999, 2000

Lessons from the Irish experiences: Which interventions work? Need a strong local IT sector Training in certifications in demand by employers Training in customer service skills desired by employers Continued training inputs by employers

Lessons from the Irish experiences: Which interventions work? Flexible training organisation Training programme well-designed, sensitively delivered Personal support for trainees Mix of training approaches

Lessons from the Irish experiences: Which interventions work? Appropriate recruitment, selection and induction process for trainees Adequate training allowances Targeted support for trainees with low educational achievement and women Support for childcare and career guidance for single parents

Dissemination of results Policy-makers at national and EU level Policy areas: employment, information society, life-long learning, social inclusion Developers of intervention programmes Researchers and evaluators of programmes

Contact Susan ODonnell Models Research Abbey House Upper Abbey St. Dublin 1 Ireland