Information points report

Information points report

ESCO (2017) SEC 004 FINAL Document Date: 09/02/2017 Last update: 08/03/2017 Table of Contents Table of Contents... 2 Purpose of this document... 3 Third meeting of the Member States Working Group on ESCO... 4 Integration of the Digital Competences Framework in the ESCO Transversal skills thesaurus... 5 Update on the EURES Implementing Acts... 8 Update on the organisation of the ESCO v1 launch conference... 9 Feedback from the DGT translators on the ESCO content...12 March 2017 2

Purpose of this document The purpose of this document is to inform the ESCO Maintenance Committee (MAI) on Commission action following their advice on ESCO and on recent developments on the ESCO project. The Commission will not provide formal presentations on the topics covered in this document. We kindly invite the MAI members to submit questions via e-mail before the meeting. We will collect the questions and report on them in the meeting. March 2017 3

Third meeting of the Member States Working Group on ESCO The third meeting of the Member States Working Group on ESCO (MSWG) took place in Brussels last 12 of December 2016. It was attended by: - representatives of 22 Member States (MS) authorities on labour market and education and training (all MS except EE, ES, PT, PL, IE, GR), - representatives of observer countries (IS, NO), - representatives of European social partners (Business Europe, UEAPME and ETUC), - Commission services and CEDEFOP. The main goals of the meeting were: - to report on the results of the first phase of consultation on the English prerelease version of ESCO and to introduce the second phase of consultation on the ESCO linguistic versions; - to provide an update on the last policy developments related to ESCO (Skills Agenda, EURES, Europass); - to present the results of pilot projects using ESCO; to discuss the next steps. Following the presentations of the Commission services on these respective topics, the discussion focussed on the following points: - The new Commission proposal for governance of EU tools and services for skills and qualifications, and the role and status of the MSWG in this governance: the MS asked for clarifications on this issue, and the Commission services clarified that the proposed new governance is currently being discussed at the Education Committee. - The current status of the new EURES regulation and the mappings of national occupation classifications to ESCO: MS inquired about possible financial support for implementing the mapping process. The Commission services stated that technical support, and possibly financial support, will be provided. However, this is still under discussion and the concrete modalities of this support will be communicated at a later stage. - The role of ESCO in the new Europass Decision: some MS expressed concerns about the inclusion of ESCO in some articles of the new draft legal act and asked for a revision of the text. This is currently being discussed in the Education Committee. - The continuous updating of ESCO: a first approach was presented by the Commission services, which will be further developed. - The consultation on the linguistic versions of ESCO to be launched beginning of 2017, which is taking place in two steps: the first one on the ESCO occupations (February-March 2017) and the second one on the ESCO skills (April-May 2017). Other subjects such as the progress status on the qualifications pillar or the presentation of two pilot projects using ESCO were also discussed during this meeting. The next steps will be the organisation of two webinars after each of the two consultations of the MSWG on ESCO translations. The next MSWG meeting will probably take place in May 2017. The dates will be communicated at a further stage. For more detailed information, all the presentations and the minutes of the meeting are available in Escopedia. March 2017 4

Integration of the Digital Competences Framework in the ESCO Transversal skills thesaurus The Digital Competence Framework for Citizens, also known as DigComp, is a tool to: improve citizens digital competence; help policy-makers formulate policies that support digital competence building and plan education and training initiatives to improve the digital competence of specific target groups. DigComp also provides a common language on how to identify and describe the key areas of digital competence and thus offers a common reference at European level. It was first published in 2013 by the Institute for Prospective Technological Studies (IPTS) of the European Commission s Joint Research Center (JRC). The origin of this work goes back to 2006 when the European Union proposed eight key competences for lifelong learning, one of which was Digital Competence. DigComp is integrated in EUROPASS under the section Digital competence. Please see the image below: Figure 1 EUROPASS structure of digital skills In 2016 a new version, DigComp 2.0, was published. DigComp 2.0 is the first part of a larger update that foresees improvements to the conceptual reference model. These include revising the competence areas, the competence descriptors and their titles. DigComp 2.0 structures 21 competence descriptors in the following five competence areas: 1. Information and data literacy 2. Communication and collaboration March 2017 5

3. Digital content creation 4. Safety 5. Problem solving Skills Aiming at achieving convergence between DigComp and the ESCO Transversal ICT skills thesaurus, in 2015 the Commission services and IPTS carried out a mapping between the two skills thesauri. The results showed that they were very similar. This led the Commission services to aim for a complete alignment between the two thesauri by integrating the 21 competence descriptors of DigComp into the ESCO transversal ICT skills. Below you can find a list of 18 new skills and knowledge (17 skills and 1 knowledge) in the ESCO Transversal ICT skills thesaurus which have been extracted from DigComp. Three of the DigComp skills perfectly matched skills in the ESCO Transversal ICT skills thesaurus and were kept unchanged New skill browse, search and filter data, information and digital content manage data, information and digital content evaluate data, information and digital content interact through digital technologies share through digital technologies engage in citizenship through digital technologies collaborate through digital technologies manage digital identity develop digital content integrate and re-elaborate digital content copyright and licenses related to digital content protect personal data and privacy protect health and well-being while using digital technologies protect the environment from the impact of the digital technologies solve technical problems identify needs and technological responses creatively use digital technologies identify digital competence gaps Table 1 New skills integrated in the ESCO Transversal ICT thesaurus Skill groups With regard to the skill groups, some of these are slightly different between the two thesaurus. The titles for some in DigComp do not contain the ICT element while in the ESCO Transversal ICT skills thesaurus they do, e.g. Safety (DigComp) vs. ICT safety (ESCO Transversal ICT skills thesaurus). We believe that the ICT element should be explicitly mentioned in the title of the skill group. The Commission services will meet with IPTS to agree on a common approach. In addition, we implemented slight improvements to three of the skill group titles in the ESCO Transversal ICT skills thesaurus to better match the ones in DigComp. Below you find a list of these skill groups in the ESCO Transversal ICT skills thesaurus: March 2017 6

DigComp Current ESCO Transversal ICT skills Digital data processing Old ESCO Transversal ICT skills Digital data processing Information and data literacy Communication and Digital communication and Digital communication collaboration collaboration Digital content creation Digital content creation Content creation with ICT software Safety ICT safety ICT safety Problem-solving Problem-solving with digital Problem-solving with ICT tools tools and hardware Table 2 Skills groups in DigComp, and the ESCO Transversal ICT thesaurus (old and current) The 21 new additions to the ESCO Transversal ICT skills thesaurus will be communicated to DGT for their translation. March 2017 7

Update on the EURES Implementing Acts The Commission services received various questions on art. 19 of the new EURES Regulation 1. We collected these questions and are preparing a Q&A document in cooperation with the services responsible for the EURES network. As soon as this document is finished (expected in March 2017), we will share it with the MAI. 1 Regulation (EU) 2016/589 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 April 2016 on a European network of employment services (EURES), workers' access to mobility services and the further integration of labour markets, and amending Regulations (EU) No 492/2011 and (EU) No 1296/2013. March 2017 8

Update on the organisation of the ESCO v1 launch conference Since the last MAI meeting in December 2016, the Commission services have prepared a briefing note to be presented to the Cabinet of the Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs, Skills and Labour Mobility- Marianne Thyssen. This internal document informs the Commissioner about the concept for the ESCO conference 2017, it outlines a draft conference programme, and seeks to invite the Commissioner to open the main high level event. The annex containing the draft programme is presented below. Participating speakers and organisations still need to be confirmed. Draft programme of the ESCO conference 2017 Day 1: Technical workshops These working sessions on day 1 will include short explanations on ESCO features and/or presentations of concrete show cases/pilot projects illustrating how ESCO works in applications. Their focus is on purpose, functionality, added-value and technical implementation aspects of ESCO. The selected showcases are indicative and can be subject to change. 09.00 09.15 - Registration and welcome coffee - 09.15 09.30 Welcome 09.30 09.45 Main features of ESCO v1 09.50 11.10 LABOUR MARKET WORKSHOP Boosting job search & matching with ESCO DG EMPL (ESCO) DG EMPL (EURES) SME specialised in job matching EDUCATION WORKSHOP Building the qualifications pillar DG EMPL (ESCO) Member State representative responsible for national qualification database 1 or 2 private companies delivering qualifications BIG DATA WORKSHOP ESCO supporting big data analyses Cedefop Eurostat 11.10 11.30 - Coffee break - March 2017 9

11.30 12.00 LABOUR MARKET SHOWCASE Semantic job search SME specialised in HR software EDUCATION SHOWCASE Study on comparison of VET curricula Cedefop MISC. SHOWCASE Talent management in the media sector European Broadcasting Union (TBC) Additional session TBC 12.10 12.45 LABOUR MARKET SHOWCASE ESCO supporting job search engines SME specialised in job searching. EDUCATION SHOWCASE Transparent qualifications Academic case show MISC. SHOWCASE The challenge of recording refugee skills DG EMPL BIG DATA ACADEMIC Big data analyses of the labour market Speaker TBC 12.45 13.45 - Lunch - 13.45 14.30 LABOUR MARKET WORKSHOP The common EURES IT platform & the mapping process DG EMPL (ESCO) DG EMPL (EURES) EDUCATION WORKSHOP E-profiles in the new Europass DG (Europass²) EMPL MISC. ACADEMIC Machine learning in knowledge engineering Speaker TBC Additional session TBC 14.30 15.15 LABOUR MARKET SHOWCASE A presentation on innovative approaches in PES A PES of a Member State (TBC) EDUCATION SHOWCASE OPENSKIMR: A map to employability(tbc) Show case MISC. SHOWCASE Continuous improvement ESCO: of ESCO MAI member (TBC) Show case (TBC) Additional session TBC 15.15 15.45 - Coffee break - 15.45 16.15 QUIZ Guess my occupation 16.15 17.00 LABOUR MARKET ACADEMIC Digitisation of the labour market and the role of online platforms Speaker TBC EDUCATION WORKSHOP E-profiles in the new Europass DG (Europass²) EMPL Additional session TBC BIG DATA SHOWCASE Insights from social media big data Show case social media Day 2: High-level event March 2017 10

09.30 10.00 - Registration and welcome coffee - 10.00 10.30 Official opening of the main event Marianne Thyssen, European Commissioner, Employment, Social affairs, Skills and Labour Mobility (tbc) 10.30 11.15 Changing labour market and education paradigms: citizenship and employability Keynote address Speaker tbc 11.15 11.45 - Coffee break - 11.45 12.15 Vision and added value of ESCO Presentation by DG EMPL 12.15 12.45 Results of the ESCO hackathon (tbc) 12.45 14.15 - Lunch - 14.15 15.30 Digitisation of the labour market - changing trends and implications Panel discussion - DG EMPL - ILO representative (tbc) - Presidency representative (tbc) - Cedefop (tbc) - MNC or SME representative (tbc) - OECD (tbc) - ESCO Board representative (tbc) 15.30 16.00 Closing of the ESCO conference Speaker tbc 16.00 16.30 - Farewell coffee - While the feedback from the Cabinet is still pending, the MAI members are invited to express any further feedback they might have on this topic. March 2017 11

Feedback from the DGT translators on the ESCO content Since September 2016, an exchange of questions and answers concerning the translation of the ESCO classification between DG EMPL (ESCO) and DGT has taken place via emails as well as the dedicated ESCO forum. The forum has been maintained by DGT with access limited to DGT translators, selected ESCO team members and national experts. Over time, the exchange of emails evolved into reporting that uses a standard template through which technical issues have been submitted by the single point of contact (DGT lead translator). Content-related queries as well as more general questions concerning methodologies, terminological guidelines etc. are published on the ESCO forum. Since its launch until 6 March 2017, 1064 posts were published on the forum encompassing as many as 289 topics. ESCO team members intervened more than 200 times on the forum, either by publishing posts or, more often, by replying to queries coming from individual translators or from the lead translator, who collected common observations from colleagues or referred to a general issue. Concerning the content related feedback on ESCO submitted by our DGT colleagues, it falls into the following categories: A. Requests for a clarification regarding formulations of occupation titles or descriptions in the case of either lexical doubts or the alleged lack of consistency between the two. This includes the cases when the occupation title implied a broader (or narrower) translation than the description itself, which occurred for the surface treatment operator. Its description stated that the person applies paint to the surfaces of the vessel. After analysis, we agreed that the description should not be narrowed down to vessels only but it should encompass all types of surfaces in general. We advised the translator accordingly and adapted the description. B. Queries regarding potential duplicates among OCC. In this category, translators informed us about pairs of occupations that seemed to overlap partly or in full as in the case media scholar and editorial scientist. We analysed each case carefully especially in terms of how similar the descriptions, non-preferred terms and related skills were. As a result, we merged several pairs of occupations as in the example given whenever they turned out to be very similar to each other at the three levels. After the merge, the surviving preferred terms inherited the skills of the two original occupations. C. Suggestions concerning ISCO groups as shown in the ESCO tree, with the proposed reclassification of some occupations. We have consulted the submitted cases with an ISCO expert. As a result, some shifts in ISCO groups have occurred, whereas the majority of the occupations in question have remained within their original ISCO groups. We have noted that a relevant ISCO group identification helped the translators to better understand, and consequently to translate, a given occupation. D. The relation between non-preferred terms and their respective preferred terms. We have received questions concerning the type of relation between the two and the influence of existing non-preferred terms on the preferred term. We have also been asked about the need to translate non-preferred terms into target languages. In reply, we explained that - as the translation of a preferred term is based on its description it should reflect in the most concise but precise way and as closely as possible the content conveyed by its description. March 2017 12

We also underlined that that we do not translate non-preferred terms, which could be both synonyms and non-synonyms of their preferred term, including gender forms of occupation titles, but as a rule narrower or equal in their scope than the respective preferred term. We emphasised that in a given target language, non-preferred terms may exist or not depending on the local labour market, and they should be formulated in a given language accordingly. E. Concepts that have no denotations in the target language. Here we have received queries concerning the need to translate a concept into a specific target language. The doubts arose from the fact that not all ESCO occupations seem to exist on individual labour markets due to their specificity or owing to the fact that e.g. an industry has closed down. We have always advised the translators to translate the concepts into their respective languages based on the assumption that all the ESCO concepts in the reference language should be rendered in all target languages. We also believe that such translations might still be relevant and used for scientific or historical reasons. March 2017 13