Skills4.0 | Smart talent, strong industry

Region:

Europe

Closing the gap between industry and talent

In this project, companies, training institutions and technology experts join forces to tackle the skills gap in industry. We promote the influx of talent into Industry 4.0 and develop a range of training programmes in line with the future needs of industry.

Context

Industry is making a digital leap forwards. Automation, AI, the Internet of Things (IoT) and other technologies are completely transforming production. The impact can be felt all the way through to the shop floor: jobs are changing, responsibilities are shifting and the need for both technical and human skills is growing.

Companies are looking for technical profiles that understand the changes that are occurring and can take them on board. But levels of enrolment on technical training courses are still modest. What’s more, the courses currently on offer do not always match the actual situation in industry. Skills4.0 offers a response to this.

Objective & results

Increasing awareness
We encourage young people, job seekers and companies to make the most of the possibilities offered by Industry 4.0. We literally put Industry 4.0 on the map, because getting people excited about technology starts with imagination and inspiration. We use demonstrations and educational material to show how technology is changing job content, why technical professions are now more exciting than ever and why they matter. By doing so, we make industry’s potential tangible and show people that a future in technology is anything but boring.
Optimising technical training courses
Technical training courses prepare for the future on the basis of a clear view of what is needed. Essential skills for Industry 4.0 are translated into a skills profile that is compared with the existing offer. No match? In that case, targeted updates or new course content are introduced, geared to the actual situation in Flanders, Wallonia and France.
Strengthening soft skills
Soft skills, too, are vitally important in Industry 4.0. Communication, cooperation and flexibility are increasingly determining the level of success achieved by staff in a technological environment. Specific priorities are set on the basis of input from companies. Existing tools are analysed to make these skills measurable and trainable, so that talent is not only technically sound, but also versatile in human terms.

Approach

Skills4.0 is being undertaken in cooperation with partners from Flanders, Wallonia and France. The challenges surrounding Industry 4.0 are comparable in the three regions, so cooperation is both logical and worthwhile. Combining expertise and infrastructure results in a powerful learning and development network that strengthens training courses and prepares talent for long-term careers in industry.

Target group

Skills4.0 targets three core groups:

Companies in search of technical talent for their Industry 4.0 challenges
Young people and job seekers interested in a technical job with a future
Training and technology partners aiming to align their offer with the industry of tomorrow

Funding

The total Skills4.0 project budget amounts to € 3,360,640.14, 60% of which is funded by the France-Wallonia-Flanders Interreg programme, the cross-border cooperation programme with the financial support of the European Regional Development Fund.