"For a truly strengthened ICT skills capacity, we need a fundamental change of the learning and training processes," the Commissioner went on in her opening speech, which was delivered via video.


Participants at the symposium discussed how public-private partnerships between governments, industry, and civil society would help better address the challenge of fast-changing technological developments, which public syllabuses on their own have difficulty to cope with. Industry has therefore increasingly been forced to set up its own training and certification programmes.


Minister Taeib Hadhri, Tunisian Ministry for Scientific Research, Technology and Skills, referred in his speech to his government's multiple projects involving different stakeholders to improve e-skills, along with ICT infrastructure. This has made Tunisia "the top ICT country in Africa according to a recent World Bank study," said the Minister.


Stakeholders present at the Symposium endorsed the "Tunis e-skills declaration" calling for new measures, such as the endorsement of industry and other non-formal training and certification within the formal public education systems, fiscal incentives for companies and individuals alike to encourage investment in e-skills training, and public support for innovative multi-stakeholder projects.


"The Tunis e-skills declaration provides a roadmap for governments to prepare themselves for the educational challenges of the 21st century," comments Antonio Herrera, chairman of the "e-Skills Certifications Consortium" (eSCC). Herrera very much welcomes the Commissioner's commitment. "The EU has a crucial role to play in developing European-wide certification standards that can deliver the skills that employees, employers, and citizens are demanding."