ARISA project: Artificial Intelligence Skills Alliance

Logroño, La Rioja, Spain. 6 July 2022

The growing demand for skilled employees within the Artificial Intelligence (AI) cannot be met by current education and training programmes. Europe needs an innovative European AI Strategy that can fast-track the upskilling and of the EU’s workforce to meet this ever-increasing demand.

There are a wide variety of occupational profiles in the ICT sector, and with digital transformation being adopted by almost every company in Europe, ICT roles now need to be filled right across the economy, not just within technology companies but also and equally important within any companies and organisations, public and private, demanding and making use of ICT services for all kind of business and organisation purposes. This exponential growth in the number and variety of ICT roles is creating huge demand for highly skilled and experienced ICT professionals, it is estimated that between 2018 and 2030 there will be around 1.6 million job vacancies that will need to be filled in Europe.

The project will support the implementation of the Pact for Skills by developing a sectoral skills strategy on AI. This strategy aims to lead to systemic and structural impact on reducing skills shortages, gaps, and mismatches, as well as ensure appropriate quality and levels of skills. The project overall contribution will be on developing local ecosystems of skills (pilots) that will complement the existing computing, data, and applications that can foster the engagement of local communities, respond to their needs, harness local creativity and knowledge, and build a human-centred, diverse, and socially driven AI.

The ARISA project configurating the European AI Skills Alliance, sets up a consortium of 16 partners and 4 associated partners led by DigitalEurope, brings together key Industry and Education stakeholders from across the domain and it manages an approximate budget of 3.464.356 euros.

The proposed project will deliver a wide range of key outputs across 9 different Work Packages (WP) over 48 months of implementation:

  • WP 1: Project management (DigitalEurope)
  • WP 2: Needs analysis (SKILLSNET)
  • WP 3: AI Skills Strategy (University of Applied Sciences Utrecht)
  • WP 4: Development of curricula and training program (Adecco Formazione)
  • WP 5: Development of a certification system (ASIIN)
  • WP 6: Piloting in different EU countries (UNIR)
  • WP 7: Dissemination and communication (DigitalEurope)
  • WP 8: Long term sustainability (DIGITAL SME)
  • WP 9: Quality assurance (EXELIA)

Partners: DigitalEurope AISBL* (BE), Gospodarska Zbornica Slovenije (SI), Informatikai, Tavkozlesi Es Elektronikai Vallalkozasok Szovetsege (HU), European Forum of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (BE), AS BCS Koolitus (EE), European Digital SME Alliance (BE), Exelia EE (EL), Associazione Cimea (IT), ASIIN Consult GMBH (DE), Stichting Hogeschool Utrecht (NL), Budapesti Muszaki Es Gazdasagtudomanyi Egyetem (HU), Digital Technology Skills Limited (IE), Univerza V Ljubljani (SI), ADECCO Formazione SRL (IT), Warszawska Wyzsza Szkola Informatyki (PL),  Global Knowledge Network France (FR),  Universidad Internacional de La Rioja SA (ES), NVIDIA GmbH (DE), IT Professionalism Europe (BE), Amazon Web Services Emea Sarl (LU)

Reference: 101056236

Time span: 2022-2026

Funding type: European public

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