Abstract:

The ongoing digital revolution changes the job profiles of ICT (Information and Communication Technology) professionals radically. This paper presents the results of a study about the skills and competences ICT professionals need in order to respond to the new challenges. The main goal of the study was to provide the required customer input for the development of university level ICT education and especially find the right set of competence profiles.

60 companies and organisations representing both ICT suppliers and customers of all sizes were interviewed. The ICT suppliers represented well-established global companies as well as growth companies. The industry sectors ranged from ICT consultancy to digital game business. The organisations included publicly funded ones as well as non-profit organisations. It was important to select the interviewees diversely from different sectors of business since the digitalisation penetrates everywhere and brings new and agile players in the market. At the same time the job profiles of more established players, who traditionally have absorbed majority of the ICT graduates, are also changing. The interviews were conducted in a semi-structured form during face-to-face meetings. The interview covered the opportunities and challenges the digitalisation brings to the companies and organisations as well as the desired competence profile of the ICT graduate.

The interviews gave a good insight into the changing working environment of ICT professionals and the research method supported the systematic analysis of the results. The results of the study underline the need to broaden the skills beyond the sole technical capabilities. Seizing the opportunities of new digital technology and developing new business and enhancing the operations call for seamless cooperation skills between the business developers and ICT professionals. In this process the personal qualifications found in the study seem to become more and more important. At the same time the radical development of digital technology requires self-motivated passion for learning the new technology. The focus of teaching must support this process as presented in the study. Several technological trends stood out clearly in the analysis of the results concerning both the business opportunities of the digital technology and the implementation of the new services and products. Finally, several competence profiles of ICT professionals are concluded based on the findings of the study.

Keywords:

Digitalisation, competence profile, university education, field study.