Top > Economic Affairs > The Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) > ASEM Seminar on the Digital Opportunity > Session 3: Human Capital--Awareness, Knowledge and Education > Danish Strategies on Retaining and Developing a Skilled Workforce (Presentation)

Presentation
Danish Strategies on Retaining and Developing a Skilled Workforce

Mr. Kare Nordahl Jacobsen
Head of Division for IT Policy, Denmark

IT policy is no longer such a novelty. In Denmark, the Ministry for IT Policy was established in 1994, and the ministry has been working to secure the Danish Welfare State in a society in which the rules are changing all the time. Denmark was originally focused on hardware and the telecommunications sector, but recently there has been a growing focus on people and knowledge.

Denmark is a small country with 5.3 million citizens. Seventy percent of households in Denmark own a PC and the current unemployment rate is the lowest for 30 years, at 6.7%. Denmark also hosts 12,860 IT businesses, employing a total of 87,800 personnel. In addition, over 50% of households in Denmark have Internet access. However, despite this apparent success in moving to a network society, a question arises as to whether the network society is truly a society for all, with some groups lagging behind in the digital opportunity. For every change in technology, the divide grows between those who are inside the new economy and those who are not.

In Denmark, it is clear that up to the age of 50, Internet use is evenly distributed among all users; but the over-60's are not utilizing the Internet very much at all. Indeed, there are other sectors, such as the self-employed and the unemployed, which are not utilizing the Internet.

There is a reference to the "Network Citizen" in the news at the moment in Denmark. The possibility is focusing on accessibility, life-long learning, IT-integration throughout the educational system, particularly for the disabled and the elderly. The Network Citizen should enjoy free access to IT regardless of age or physical abilities. In order to overcome the digital divide, it is important to establish a lifelong chain of skills, regardless of gender, income or position, and access for all, which in Denmark is aided by cheap telecommunications charges.

In Denmark, all unemployed persons are offered free supplementary education in order to acquire the skills necessary to join the network society, and about one-third of the courses being offered are in the area of IT. The reemployment rate for those completing such courses ranges from 15-50%.

IT is a high priority throughout the educational sector in Denmark, with supplementary training being provided for teachers who may have had no formal IT training in the past, and trials ongoing with virtual schools. It is also important to develop digital teaching materials in the Danish language in particular, and a "Learning Lab" has been established to conduct experiments in new approaches to learning using the possibilities presented by the Network Society.

Almost all schools are now connected to the Internet, and IT is integrated in university teaching and examinations. There is a virtual university in Denmark, although not on the same scale as Korea, which functions as a portal or "one-stop shop," offering supplementary education to those who require it for further career or life development.

Human resources should be recognized as the dominant asset in the Network Society. There is a recognized need for IT-skilled manpower in Denmark, but there are also many different IT skills, some of which are not in demand, and training has to be provided in the sectors where manpower is required. The Danish government has committed itself to provide flexible IT courses for all those people who need new, specialized IT skills. All information pertaining to IT and the Network Society in Denmark is available on the Internet.

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