EU Supports E-Skills for Growth and More Employment

Turkey will participate in Europe-wide activities of the e-Skills Week organised on the initiative of the European Commission. The week will highlight extensively the contribution of information technologies to growth and employment.

The Youth Association for Habitat and the National Youth Parliament will organise local and national activities in 81 provinces between 1-15 March 2010, in cooperation with the State Planning Organisation, United Nations Development Programme and Microsoft. The National e-Skills Development Summit, where IT supported e-skills will be discussed will be organised in Ankara on March 9.

The positive impact of information and communication technologies (ICT) on business life and employment has prompted the European institutions, which would like to raise public awareness, to take action. In that respect, a broad range of activities will be held between 1 and 5 March 2010 to celebrate the e-Skills Week organised on the initiative of the European Commission and under the joint coordination of Digital Europe comprising 101 European companies and European Schoolnet, a network of 31 Ministries of Education in Europe. More than 300.000 persons are expected to participate in the e-Skills Week which will be celebrated across Europe with nearly 100 activities such as conferences, seminars, workshops, school visits and IT caravans.

Having stated that “Digital industry has the capacity to create 400.000 new jobs in Europe until 2010” President of DigitalEurope Erkki Ormala said e-skills week is a very significant initiative that will boost interest in IT and innovation.

Within the scope of the e-skills week the Youth Association for Habitat, as the contact point in Turkey, will hold a “National e-Skills Development Summit” in Ankara on 9 March 2010 in partnership with State Planning Organisation, UN Development Programme and Microsoft with the participation of relevant institutions. (Click to access the agenda of the Summit)

It is expected that the Summit, where Minister of Transport Binali Yıldırım and the representatives of the relevant sectors will participate, will focus on training, employment, e-citizenship and innovation in the area of information and communication technologies. At the summit the prominent CSOs, public and private sector institutions of Turkey dealing with IT issues will discuss problems and proposed solutions regarding qualified employment supported by technology.

Youth Association for Habitat realizes E-Skills Week in Turkey under the scope of "Empowerment of Youth for E-Transformation of Turkey- Bilenler Bilmeyenlere Bilgisayar Öğretiyor Projesi" project implemented by the State Planning Organization, United Nations Development Program, and Microsoft.

The project, which targets young generation's effective involvement in Turkey's transition to an information society, has reached out to 106.675 people since 2005 with its 848 young volunteer trainers in 70 provinces through gratis trainings on computer literacy, digital life, Internet security, web design and software development. Thanks to the online education support, an overall number of 608.000 citizens have had access to information technologies. These youngsters, who actively hold up Turkey's e-transformation process, are in the meantime members of the National Youth Parliament composed of the representatives of country-wide stretched City Council Youth Assemblies.

Being one of the national contact points in the framework of the E-Skills Week, İstanbul Bilgi University is also hosting various events.

For the details of the events carried out under E-Skills Week, please refer to the official web site: