Europe in deep software crisis
- as growing skills and talent cap its just not getting better
Europe is in deep skills cap and innovation capability crisis regarding digital reindustrialization. Bottom up endogenous growth and strategic ownership of software-based technological and services innovations. The vast importance of own software industries is not understood by policy makers, industrialist and national leaders. It’s essential for citizens to understand that the ongoing software-crisis has continued now for over 50 years and no successful effort has been taken to change the course. Europe remains as the largest net user and importer of software products, services and works of all global economies. The past ten years have just accelerated the costly outsourcing of European owned business, technology. This has led to loss of control on IT services such as cloud, AI and robotics innovation.
The 2016 ICT skills and talent demand were estimated to grow from 8,903 million to 9,224 million by the end of 2018. As analysed now 2018 the demand has grown over 600?000 more than estimated to over 9,390 million. When analysing the ICT work force composition Finland has the highest level of shortage in ICT managerial skills and talents (technical - architects, software engineers, project managers, business analysis and core ICT professionals with 3 - 4 years HEI degree etc.). The IT professional recruitment growth remains above 4% in coming year but will be slowing down to 3% in coming year. Lack of European IT and software industry is cutting innovation profits, which are essential for economic renewal, transformation and competition capability.??
Cross analysing several ICT skills and talent studies in Europe on can conclude that Europe has shortage of those fields that do not exist in Europe university education system etc. "software engineering", "informatics engineering", "systemes solutions numerique enginiuer", "wirtschaftsinformatik ingenieur", "wirtschaftsplatform ingenieur and "business and information systems engineers (platform engineers)". The talent gap in these managerial and critical leadership talents areas in Europe is between 300 000 to 500 000 university educated business savvy engineers - future e-leaders and innovative market creators.
"The capabilities aren’t easy to measure” but in the end to fiscal year everyone should recognize the development in annual reports as intangible software-based competitor are growing 10 x faster. “Manager often pay less attention to them than to tangible investment like plats, buildings, machine and equipment” because they are educated only analyse small, simple and physical world problem of old traditional and mechanistic industrial era. “There intangible capabilities in software give investors confidence in future earnings” concludes leading digital innovation agents the key findings.?????
"The only way to change our course and drive our own innovation is education. As the old way of thinking don’t work - innovation is not sporadic nor heroic solo risks taking action that just arrives from shadows of mystic back woods. Innovation is systemic exploration process and continuous pursuit of learning by doing. We must focus much more on education system and structures since current once are not working." adapted from words of leading European education innovator, former chancellor and past university president. "There is no systemic high level strategic higher education institute (HEI) initiative to change EU countries nor EU Commission policy agenda on digital software business engineers’ skills and close the severe systemic talent gap."
"Digital transformation call for new technical skills and talent HR approach by recruiting out-of-box thinking, creativity, risk takers, radical shakers, visionaries, ambidextrous education with tech foundation and SW da Vincie’s." adapted from the words by CIO of multinational marketing and media conglomerate operating in over 50 countries.
Digital skills agenda is lacking is strategic reindustrialization, ambitious goals to establish new industries, markets, competition and creation of own software, software engineering & digital software business within and for endogenous growth and strategic ownership.
The new updated CIO roles matrix by European CIO's (S4IxC) strategic four “I” capabilities to gain and make the impact:
and strategic four “C” capabilities for offence to expand:
Europe must align and build momentum around national CIO, SW and IT expert organizations to boost skills and talent to strategic competency to create strategic capability in EU owned digital SME and business agenda. The true capability exists only if we have European owned strategic software industry, business, talent pool to innovators and entrepreneurial bottom-up old Bologna type HEI system delivering software-based start-up and scale-up companies.
Growing skills and talent cap is policy crisis
European policy system is not able match with todays and future digital software innovation leaders and workforce needs - we fall more and more behind. The lack of technology leader education simultaneously with talent and education gap is driving general status to wrong direction.
European own digital software and platform industry would add over 5 000 000 new jobs with new 300 000 software engineers creating the new industries, markets, platform, systems, products, tools and other end user productivity innovations.
Big threat and opportunity: divergence of graduates and IT professional workforce. As gap widens the implications are negative for start-ups, businesses and enterprise. The salaries start to rise faster than productivity and for experts work load makes innovation less creative, original and competitive.
Call for new digital software engineering jobs agenda
Europe will not survive with ordinary end used oriented digital agenda. The continuous imbalance of digital services has grown to a massive macroeconomic questions as Europe has lost over 20% of taxable revenues steams to global platforms. This development is a results of entire industries shifting 70 - 100% from analog world to digital such as banking, e-commerce, media and advertising. EU does not have institutional structure nor unit analysing the impacts and consequences of these development. I simple words there is no studies on software economics and digital transaction economics. OECD has estimated that by 2030 EU has lost over 30% EU its taxes or tax foudation to on EU owned or outsourced foreign owned digital platforms. EU or its depaertments have no policy analyses or strategic unit to even study this at all. The economic intrest is annually 6 trillion euros and 1 trillion in profits to boost innovations, education, research and European businesses.
We should address and make business schools to teach software engineering as part of digital transformation not just use, intermediating theories of agency and boundary. The artificial theory discourses by narrow disciplines are creating cognitive foxholes, slowing down innovation, cutting productivity, increasing risks within organizations and even on national agendas. "The traditional business school education programs and views are not working anymore as we are now in craftmanship and expert skills and talent " by stated executive vice president of HR in digital innovation multinational.
European SME and large enterprises are not investing in skills talent and Talent Boost to close digital software business gap. Even the companies with budgets do not invest in future. The strategic high skills and talent demand has increase by +30% in Europe in six years. The HEI education system is NOT matching Europe’s needs. Digital talent gap is growing year to year and situation is getting more and more challenging. We need much closer collaboration by key stakeholder. Despite the huge investment in education by companies and EU member states over 50% companies are responding to have skills shortage. European private business and enterprise sector as whole are cutting investment to skills and talent while talent gap is too risky to tackle - right education program outcomes are not available to deliver talent.
"The new 'SOFTWARE SYSTEMS' strategic architect of value flows capability is the most strategic competency and skills area in future CIO office supporting, making and defining the digital transformation path of business or enterprise." stated CIO of the largest multinationals in the panel.
One needs and especially the administrative non-tech policy side needs to realice and accept that regulation based is not helping Europe unless we have own "software engineering" capability to innovate and that our own European owned industry exists. In my oppinion regulation based innovation policy has slowed down Europe in the era of software as general purpose creative technology to innovate and form markets that did not exists. The software engineering skills and talent are in the epicenter of reindustrialization of Europe and to create data collection platfrom, user friendly services, ethical algorithms and smart human led society.
European skills and talent gap is widening and hindering the state-of-the-art competitive edge and business possibilities to expand. Systematic and structural business and competency gap is threatening business innovation, transformation and change. There is huge strategic leadership and policy gap. Software economy is one trillion euro sized “grand challenge” to Europe, European commission and European parliament.?Europes next big thing is "DG Software economy and innovation" and creation of the missing 60 new software universities to drive innovation and change as european businessess & citizens want it to happen and emmerge to embrace European values and ethics.
Please share your thoughts on how policy making can and should be fixed after election?
You software economy evangelist,
Mika
Few more recent and relevant post:
LINK: European Software Agenda
LINK: Strategic Sovereignty
Many good alerting issues! Add also the impact dimensions as well as outlook options on Trade on IA
As you know, we already tried to fight the software crisis in the 90ies. I must say, that from retrospective having once been ESI’s Director I am disappointed that that initiative was scaled down, in the end the ESI became a little profiled department of tecnalia, Spain. In general my impression is that top managers of companies developing / integrating software have no to little ideas about the specificities of this technology and how to manage software engineers.
Learning & Performance Facilitator | Master of Arts in Digital Management
6 年A symptom of the problem: only 2 of the 40 people liking this article are women.
Passionate for Data Analytics | Entrepreneur & Tech Optimist
6 年Agree, we are a startup from Germany building a smart data platform and see the same problems here!
Coach for business excellence and growth | SW & HW | Systems | Cyber | Platform | Enterprise
6 年As they just stated in the digital transformations original well and now also in the AI's holy global strategic center "Creating the next gen digital platform for any business has a lot to do with the capability of the organization to build differentiating software." #mit #2019