Posted by Maria Daniela Perez on March 24, 2023

The European Commission, under the Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, released a report providing an overview of the main outputs, results and impacts achieved by Blueprints such as METIS for sectoral cooperation on skills to date, as well as their current efforts to build synergies with the Pact for Skills and ensure sustainability.

Introduced in 2016 by the Skills Agenda for Europe, the Blueprints for sectoral cooperation on skills represent a flagship EU initiative to support skills development, upskilling and reskilling. The report showcases the progress made by 21 selected Blueprints that include businesses, trade unions, research institutions, education and training authorities, and public authorities to develop and implement strategies to address skills gaps in specific sectors or ecosystems.

The report notes the successes of METIS which include the strong cooperation between the project and other Blueprints to overcome common challenges and explore the potential for synergies. This is in addition to the relevance of METIS to the implementation of the European Chips Act by focusing on the skills and talent shortage in the semiconductor industry.

You can find the full report here: Bridging projects and Policy: Blueprints for sectoral cooperation on skills

by RES4CITY | Mar 3, 2023 | Events, News, Valencia 

On March 6th, RES4CITY’s network of European hubs has officially launched in Valencia, Spain.

To promote the work of the RES4CITY project, a network of European hubs has been created in 7 urban areas across Europe. These hubs are based in the following locations:

*Maynooth, Ireland
*Coimbra, Portugal
*Genoa and Sassari, Italy
*Grenoble, France
*Halmsted, Sweden
*Kongens Lyngby, Denmark
*Valencia, Spain

 The hubs are designed to drive strategic partnerships between academia, industry, local authorities, and other types of organisations operating in education – in support of RES4CITY. Each of the seven hubs is engaging with local, national and international stakeholders collecting feedback and input for RES4CITY’s micro-programmes.

Our European hubs launch event is open to everyone from students and professors to professionals and companies. Join us on March 6th where you will;

*be introduced to the RES4CITY project, its aims, and objectives
*find out more about the network hubs
*hear from experts during the Green Talks
*participate in the Climate Fresk workshop
*join other attendees for a networking lunch 
Register for the event here: https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/entradas-lanzamiento-del-hub-res4city-valencia-green-talks-mural-del-clima-514280164817  
 

METIS participated in the SEMI Industry Strategy Symposium Europe—ISS Europe, on 15-16 February 2023 in Vienna, Austria. Laith Altimime, President of SEMI Europe, mentioned the efforts that the project has made on involving the key players across the industry, education & training.
On Thursday, February 16, during Session 2: Closing the Talent Gap and Cultivating the Workforce of Tomorrow,  Léo Saint-Martin, Associate consultant, DECISION Etudes & Conseil, presented “Skills Needs of the European Microelectronics Industry (METIS Project) Current Situation, Shortage, and Recommendations”.
In his presentation, Léo shared the current state of play of the European microelectronics industry in terms of skills needs: shortages, job profiles, technical and soft skills the most sought-after and summarized the key evolutions since 2020 using data collected within the METIS project. He also discussed the policy recommendations collected within METIS from key European stakeholders to tackle the skills shortage.
Finally, Léo presented the current initiatives ongoing to address the skills shortage: the METIS projects, the EU Chips Skills Alliance, and the Microelectronics Pact for Skills.
Learn more about the event at semi.org/isseurope

The RES4CITY kick-off event took place on 6 October 2022 at Maynooth University.
As part of the event, students, faculty and industry partners joined the RES4CITY partner consortia in celebrating the project’s launch.
Professor Brian Donnellan, Vice President for Engagement & Innovation and Interim Vice President for Research at Maynooth University, and Prof McNamara, Head of the School of Business and incoming Dean of Social Sciences at Maynooth University, participated in the event.
The event feature 17 project partners from across Europe, including the United Nation Training and Research Centre (UNITAR), based in Switzerland, with Mr Alex Mejia, Director of UNITAR’s Division for People and Social Inclusion, presenting at the event. 

WiTEC Sweden was represented by Ozana Jaurelius, our project administrator.

Posted by Maria Daniela Perez on January 10, 2023
Posted by Jennifer Read, EMS Now | Jan 10, 2023 | Analysis, Europe, skilled labor shortage, Women in Tech

The EU Chips Act is intended to build regional semiconductor manufacturing capability to support advanced electronics manufacturing. But where will all the skilled workers come from?

METIS (MicroElectronics Training Industry and Skills) was launched in November 2019 as a Sector Skills Alliance on Microelectronics to “bridge the skills gap in microelectronics for a more competitive Europe and to pave the way for EU leadership in data driven technologies, enhancing high-skilled labor supply, addressing emerging skills needs and identifying jobs of the future in the era of connected intelligence.”

A recently released report, based on comprehensive survey results, revealed that 96% of the respondents reported some amount of mismatch between the skills taught in training and education institutions and the needs of the organization. In other words, there is an urgent need for better microelectronic skills training across all institutions. For example, the development of completely new ESCO profiles related to microelectronics, including

• Microelectronics designer => Focus on developing and designing systems, from the top packaging level down to the integrated circuit level. System-level understanding with analogue and digital circuit knowledge, integrating the technology processes. Overall outlook in microelectronic sensor basics.
• Microelectronics smart manufacturing engineer => Microelectronics smart manufacturing engineers design, plan and supervise the manufacturing and assembly of electronic devices and products, such as integrated circuits, automotive electronics or smartphones, in an Industry 4.0 compliant environment.
• Microelectronics materials engineer => Design, develop and supervise the production of materials that are required for microelectronics and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), and can apply them in these devices, appliances and products.
• Microelectronics maintenance technician => In charge of preventive and corrective maintenance in semiconductor manufacturing.

The report goes into detail about the following recommendations:

• Increase the involvement of the microelectronics industry in the education process
• Develop clusters and networks favoring dialog between industry and education representatives
• Communication campaigns to improve the image of the sector
• Sponsor state-of-the-art manufacturing infrastructures
• Shared facilities: large companies, education players, SMEs and research?
• Adaptation to the EU digital compass?
• Develop joint degrees in microelectronics
• Favor intra and extra-EU mobility

Here’s a copy of the complete report. Read the original article at emsnow.com