CyberSkills - training for citizens in the digital economy
CyberSkills Association
"The best way to predict the future is to invent it"
Nicholas Negroponte, MIT Media Lab
Background
The CyberSkills Association is a not for private profit company, limited
by guarantee, established as an international membership organisation to
promote, support and develop the delivery of the CyberSkills programme.
CyberSkills is an international Information Society development initiative,
creating a programme for citizens to develop the essential awareness and
skills to remain competitive in the emerging global digital economy.
Based in Bristol, England, the CyberSkills Association was founded in 1996
to support a network of locally owned, licensed and quality assured CyberSkills
Development Agencies.
The CyberSkills Association is working with its members to create a sustainable
model of Information Society programmes for access, awareness raising, training,
content production, research, partnership and planning. The mission of the
CyberSkills Association is to ensure that every citizen is equipped throughout
life with the essential values, skills and opportunities to fully participate
in creating the Information Society.
The CyberSkills programme developed from funding provided by the UK Government
Department of Employment TEC challenge in 1993. The CyberSkills model was
created and developed by the South Bristol Learning Network in partnership
with ICL.
CyberSkills Core Values and Programme
CyberSkills Core Values:
- People First, Technology Second
- Skills Focus and Life Long Learning
- Bottom up and Top down
- Partnership and Growing the Market
- Sustainable Activities and Competitive Advantage
- Change Management
The CyberSkills programme includes:
- Progression from continuous awareness raising to training and content
production
- Creative applications of a range of leading edge technologies
- Practical, experiential hands-on
- Information Society action planning from individuals to organisations
and sectors
- Research and development framework
The CyberSkills model is now recognised and supported by various levels
of government and the private sector. In the past year, the CyberSkills
Association has grown to become a genuine development network of CyberSkills
Development Agencies, creating a platform of integrated Information Society
activities at a local, regional, national and international level.
The organisations managing, supporting, and funding CyberSkills programmes
include local authorities, government ministries, TECs and LECs, FE colleges,
universities, community technology centres, community regeneration partnerships,
city councils and private sector companies.
Services
The CyberSkills Association is the main engine driving CyberSkills development
and provides the following services to its members:
Promotion
- Advocacy
- Policy formation
- Information dissemination
- Networking
- Publicity
- Marketing
- Gateway Services
Support
- CSA Xchange - an online information and communication facility
- Quality Framework
- Partnership brokerage
- Training and skills transfer
- Funding Forum
- Research
- Consultancy
Development
- Constituency Building
- Materials Production
- Accreditation
- Implementation of new technologies
- Process development
- Network Integration
- Pilot project management
The CyberSkills Association has a clear set of strong core values and principles,
a recognised, quality assured, global training brand and a successful track
record of innovation and leadership in meeting the Information Society needs
of individuals and communities.
Member sites
As of November 1996, the CyberSkills Association has 10 member sites in
4 countries, with 12 more planned for the first quarter 1997.
CyberSkills Development Agencies will be operational throughout the UK,
Europe, North America, Africa, Australia and Asia.
Over 8,000 individuals and 1000 organisations have so far participated in
CyberSkills workshops, presentations and roadshows, with participation from
the following sectors:
- SMEs
- Local, regional and national government
- TECs and LECs
- Utilities
- Voluntary/community/NGOs
- IT and Telecomms
- Industrial, commercial, financia
- Education and training
- Media and Information providers
- Retail
- Health and environment
- Job training/unemployed
" The best way to learn virtual and global networking skills
is by working on a project that requires them." Ives and Jarenpaa
Current CyberSkills Development Agencies
- Ayrshire
- Cardiff (Cardiff City Council)
- Manchester - Manchester College of Art and Technology (MANCAT)
- Manchester - Manchester Technology Management Centre
- Northern Informatics Applications Agency (NiAA)
- Old North End Community Technology Centre, Burlington, Vermont
- Reading Learning Network
- South Bristol Learning Network
- Stockport - Ridge Danyers College and KMP Internet Solutions
Johanna Nicholls
CyberSkills Association
Success stories
from South Bristol Learning Network
The importance of lifelong learning