Knowledge Transfer between Industry and Education:

Knowledge Transfer between Industry and Education: Skills Alliances in the ICT Sector Article 1, February 2014 Antonio Herrera Director, Strategic Development, Inlea aherrera@inlea.com Dr. Michelle Selinger Lead Consultant, ConsultEdu michelle@consultedu.co.uk Education institutions are beginning to address the lack of employability skills but what about their knowledge of industry related content and the skills required for the workplace? Are ICT Industry Education and Certification programs a valid form of knowledge transfer? Should Skills Alliances between ICT Industry and Education Institutions be promoted and encouraged by society and governments? Introduction A widely accepted definition of employability is: a set of achievements, - skills, understandings and personal attributes that make graduates more likely to gain employment and be successful in their chosen occupations, which benefits themselves, the workforce, the community and the economy. Yorke (2006) This definition is often taken to mean soft skills and a way of learning, and not always the content of what is learnt, or the resources used to learn it. In addition, practical activity in academic institutions is often limited or lacking, so the skills of taking knowledge and applying that knowledge in an authentic context are rarely tested. This means that much of what is taught and learnt remains mainly theoretical. Here lies the basis of the first question above: Education institutions are beginning to address the lack of employability skills but what about their knowledge of industry related content and the skills required for the workplace? Many academic institutions are beginning to offer students work experience within their academic programs, but not all academic curriculum is consistently checked for changes in industry or commercial practices. ICT Industry Education programs can ensure the relevance of knowledge and skills ICT Industry Education programs fill that void. In existence for over 15 years, these programs have been specifically designed to be taught in academic institutions. Over this time they have consolidated and become increasingly established. There are reasons to believe that they are here to stay, and therefore it makes sense to analyse and explore these broad alliances, and to consider the next steps in their development as the employability of college leavers and graduates grows in favour. In the UK, for Article 1, February 2014 Page 2 of 7

example, academic institutions increasingly recognise that graduates from the education system are ready and able to contribute to future economic growth through the provision of knowledge, skills and creativity in new business environments. If we accept that the majority of the population are users of technology, we should be conscious, to some extent, of the need to count on professional expertise in design, deployment and management of ICT systems. These systems enable software applications that are key to business efficiency and competitiveness, as well as social media applications for personal use such as WhatsApp, Facebook or Twitter. ICT Industry Education programs contribute significantly to learner motivation as students see increased relevance and applicability in their studies, and the programs prepare hundreds of thousands of students worldwide to successfully follow professional careers in ICT. ICT Industry Education programs built by market leaders ICT Industry Education programs are promoted by the market leaders who develop learning resources that are usually donated to academic institutions. These resources provide industry relevance and contribute to the official curriculum. Courses are often between one semester and one year in length and are taught by the institution s own instructors. Universities, colleges, vocational education and technical schools are typical of the education institutions whose instructors use the ICT Industry learning resources in their classrooms, with the guarantee that they are providing their students up to date and high quality learning resources and practice in developing solutions that have real value in the workplace. The resources are usually introductory, entry level courses taught to students who have little expertise or understanding of the subject matter, and who are unlikely to have little, if any, work experience. Other candidates might be ICT practitioners who need to update their basic knowledge or retrain part-time over an extended period as part of their lifelong learning. Specific examples of known ICT Industry education programs are the Oracle Academy, HP Institute, Microsoft Academy and the Cisco Networking Academy, of which the latter is one of the pioneers, and possibly the one program that has had a major influence on the acceptance and take up of industry education programs. All companies offer some form of certification on successful completion of the program or, at the very least, opportunities to take, and successfully pass, assessments that will lead to the award of industry recognised qualifications. One of the key characteristics of ICT Industry Education programs is that the learning resources are designed by leading ICT Industry vendors. This is a major differentiating factor when compared to traditional curriculum resources: ICT industry vendors are best placed with current knowledge of the solutions that are being developed and deployed through the sector, and as they are also market leaders, they can guarantee that the knowledge, skills and competences students develop will be of immediate application in professional practice, and clearly contribute to increased employability. The Cisco Networking Academy uses a public-private partnership model to create the "world's largest classroom." Cisco partners with educational institutions, non-profits, nongovernmental organisations, and community centres that provide classroom space, computer lab equipment, and qualified instructors. Cisco provides online curricula, virtual learning tools, instructional support, teacher training, and professional development opportunities for instructors. Networking Academy helps students prepare for entry-level ICT jobs, additional training or education, and globally recognized certifications by equipping them with the skills needed to maintain networks that form the backbone of the global economy. (Cisco, 2014) Article 1, February 2014 Page 3 of 7

ICT Industry Education programs and commercial learning courses It is important to establish a clear difference between ICT Industry Education programs and other commercial learning or training solutions in this sector. Commercial training consists of short intensive courses (one or two weeks duration) offered through highly specialised training companies with cutting edge equipment, and subject to a pricing differential depending on the level of certification being sought. These courses are targeted at experienced ICT practitioners who need to acquire specific skills in a short period of time, often with the objective of achieving the vendor industry certification necessary to do their job or gain promotion. In this series of articles we focus on those programs that are designed to be used within academic and other not-for-profit institutions. Awareness of ICT Industry Education programs ICT Industry Education programs are currently used extensively in education institutions around the world, but there are still thousands of education institutions who are not using these learning resources, nor are they aware of their existence. This triggers the third of the questions posed at the beginning of this article - Should ICT Industry Education programs be promoted and used more extensively across the education sector? The Academy formula has been very successful as there are thousands of education institutions worldwide using ICT Industry learning resources and students gaining employment as a direct or indirect result. This has stimulated growth in ICT Industry Education programs while at the same time giving education institutions the challenge of adapting to each different set of program rules, processes, contracts, etc. since each ICT vendor has their own approach. An added issue is the aggregated cost of participating in each of the programs, because typically, there are costs related with using the respective education resources. It is clear, therefore, that a certain level of concentration and harmonisation among ICT Industry education programs, would be desirable in the medium term to help education institutions implement a combination of valuable vendor education resources and avoid duplication of effort. So another key question focuses on the feasibility of integrating education resources and program processes from multiple ICT Industry vendors in shared platforms with unified operations and participation criteria. Recognition of ICT Industry Education and Certification Programs ICT Industry Education and Certifications programs are presently supported and recommended by supranational government entities. For example, the European Commission through the Grand Coalition for Digital Jobs (EC, 2013) includes such clear recommendations in three of the six main objectives. This acknowledgement and support is relatively recent as it was in 2007 when the European Commission s Directorate General for Industry published an official declaration, paving the way for the creation of the Grand Coalition. The key priorities and concrete short-term actions declared in the Grand Coalition for Digital Jobs website include: Improve the image and attractiveness of ICT careers Offer training packages co-designed with the ICT industry Offer more aligned degrees and curricula at vocational and university level education that will respond to the needs of the students and the industry Article 1, February 2014 Page 4 of 7

Improve recognition of qualifications across countries by stimulating take-up of a European certification scheme for digital skills of ICT professionals, based on the existing e-competence Framework Reduce labour market mismatches by stimulating mobility Stimulate digital entrepreneurship by liaising with Startup Europe, a single platform for tools and programmes supporting people wanting to set up and grow web start-ups in Europe In the USA, the National Skills Coalition (2013) makes a direct reference to Industry Certifications in their public report Toward Ensuring America s Workers and Industries the Skills to Compete : Every U.S. worker should have access to the equivalent of at least two years of education or training past high school leading to a vocational credential, industry certification, or one's first two years of college to be pursued at whatever point and pace makes sense for individual workers and industries. Every person must also have access to the basic skills needed to pursue such education. Additionally, in Canada: it is critical for national and subnational governments to work together to encourage publicly and privately-driven policies, programs and initiatives that support the development of local and regional university-industry linkages Bramwell, Hepburn & Wolfe, (2012) Oracle was the first industry vendor to provide learning resources to education institutions in 1993. Around 1996 Novell Netware, expanded their training program, Novell NAEC (Novell Authorized Education Centre), with a very simple formula consisting of offering the same manuals used in their training program for experienced practitioners, to education centres for a greatly reduced price (Novell Education Academic Partner program NEAP). The one strict rule was that they could only use such training resources as part of their official curriculum to students enrolled in long term programs (one year minimum). Oracle has been leveraging its technology leadership to advance education since 1993. Oracle Academy strives to advance computer science education and make it accessible to students globally to drive knowledge, innovation, skills development, and diversity in technology fields and currently supports more than 2.5 million students in 102 countries. By partnering with 7,000+ educational institutions worldwide, Oracle Academy enables educators in secondary schools, colleges, and universities to use Oracle software, curriculum, Oracle Press books, lectures, certification preparation, and community resources to equip students with the technical skills they need to enter the global workforce prepared to succeed. Membership is available to non-profit, accredited education institutions seeking to integrate Oracle Academy resources into diploma and degree-granting programs. (Oracle, 2014) Later on, Cisco launched the Cisco Networking Academy with great success due to a combination of key factors. These factors included the development of learning resources tailored to the needs of students in education institutions through an innovative elearning platform, combined with high discounts for the electronic equipment needed for laboratory practices, and a three tiered model of education institutions to organise processes such as on boarding, train-the-trainer, etc. In just a few years this resulted in more than ten thousand education institutions worldwide offering the Cisco Networking Academy resulting in Article 1, February 2014 Page 5 of 7

the program becoming very successful and stable, constantly reviewed and updated, and still in operation. The current success of ICT vendor programs in education institutions helps to formulate questions about the need for and relevance of flows of knowledge transfer between the academic and industry sectors such as the industry influences in the curriculum of university programs (Brennenraedts, Bekkers & Verspagen 2006), as well as the nature of alliances for the development of technical skills and competences in the broad sense, and also in the specific details. There might be more questions than answers, and this series of articles has the intention to raise and answer the most meaningful questions through the collaboration between experts from both sectors. Related concepts to be explored in further papers Comparative description of the main ICT Industry Education Programs Pedagogical aspects of ICT Industry Education Programs Socio-economic impact. How the ICT Industry Education Programs contribute to the knowledge economy, and transforms the lives of individuals. Towards a greater harmonization and integration of ICT Industry Education Programs to enable greater participation of Education Institutions and harmonization of multi-vendor platforms. Considerations when developing ICT Industry Education Programs for global use Extending the concept of ICT Industry Education Programs into programs for other sectors of the economy History, current context, and future evolution of knowledge transfer flows and skills alliances between academic and industry sectors. References Bramwell, A. Hepburn, NH. & Wolfe (2012) Synthesis Paper on Leveraging Investments in HERD. Final Report to the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. Program on Globalization and Regional Innovation Systems. Munk School of Global Affairs. University of Toronto. Knowledge. May 15 Brennenraedts, B., Bekkers, R. & Verspagen, B. (2006) The different channels of university-industry knowledge transfer: Empirical evidence from Biomedical Engineering. Working Paper 06.04, Eindhoven Centre for Innovation Studies, Department of Technology Management, Technische Universiteit Eindhoven. The Netherlands Cisco (2014) Cisco Networking Academy. Available at https://www.netacad.com/web/about-us/aboutnetworking-academy EC (2013) Grand Coalition for Digital Jobs. Available at http://ec.europa.eu/digital-agenda/en/grand-coalitiondigital-jobs-0 Oracle (2014) Interview with Alison Derbenwick Miller, Vice President, Oracle Academy Article 1, February 2014 Page 6 of 7

US National Skills Coalition (2009) Toward Ensuring America s Workers and Industries the Skills to Compete. Available at http://www.nationalskillscoalition.org Yorke, M. (2006) Employability in higher education: what it is what it is not. Learning and Employability Series One. York: ESECT and HEA. Available at http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/assets/documents/employability/id116_employability_in_higher_education_33 6.pdf Article 1, February 2014 Page 7 of 7