The latest set of Cedefop Pan-European Skill projections has just been published:

Cedefop (2018) Skills forecast: trends and challenges to 2030. Cedefop reference series 108, Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union.

IER has been involved in producing these comprehensive and detailed forecasts since their inception in 2005. The latest project which runs until 2020 is now being led by our long standing partners Cambridge Econometrics.

The Institute for Employment Research has produced the annual report for the West Midlands Productivity and Skills Commission. The report synthesises the Commission’s understanding of the regional productivity and skills challenges across the Five Foundations of Productivity - Place, innovation, Infrastructure, People and Ideas/Innovation (as outlined in the Industrial Strategy) - within three of the region’s priority sectors – Business, Professional and Financial Services (BPFS), Building & Construction Technologies, and Automotive.

This analysis forms the basis for a set of recommendations for each of the Foundations.

The IER facilitated the Regional Skills Summit on the 3rd July. Hosted by the Edge Foundation, the skills summit brought together the Skills Directors of the Mayoral Combined Authorities. Liverpool City Region and the Greater London Authority Skills Directors presented their recently published skills plans, and the summit concluded with a presentation by Jonathan Barr of the OECD. The Skills Summit continues IER's recent work into the sub regional skills agenda which has recently included a feasibility study of the Skills Advisory Panels (for DfE) and writing the Annual Report for the West Midland's Combined Authority's Productivity and Skills Commission. Read the report written by Peter Dickinson and Chris Warhurst here.

‘One by One’ is a national research project which aims to help UK museums of any size better define, improve, measure and embed the digital literacy of their staff and volunteers in all roles and at all levels. The project aims to deliver a transformative framework for museum workforce digital literacy. The project, funded by the AHRC, runs until March 2020. The first phase of the One by One project mapped the ways digital skills are currently supplied, developed and deployed in the UK museum sector and pinpointed current changes in the demand around these skills. Read the phase 1 report for more findings.

The ‘One by One’ project, funded by the UK’s Arts and Humanities Research Council, seeks to understand the impact of digital technology on museums. The notions of visit and object, collection and exhibition, have all been disrupted and renegotiated by the influence of digital technology. However, over a third of museums in the UK still feel that they do not have the in-house skills to meet their digital aspirations, and rather than improving, some digital skills areas have decreased.

Sally-Anne Barnes, Erika Kispeter and Doris Eikhof (University of Leicester) have undertaken the first phase of the project mapping digital skills and literacies in UK museums. Some initial findings have been published as part of the Museums in the Web 2018 conference to be held in April. The project is led by Dr Ross Parry from the University of Leicester.