Competence supply through lifelong learning

The project stems from the regional business community’s need for professional engineers with advanced IT skills who can come out to employers and quickly familiarise themselves with the business.

The aim of the project is to develop a model for work-integrated learning at Mid Sweden University to meet the digital skills needs of the business sector, as well as to strengthen the students’ contact with and experience of the business world.

The project will be carried out together with the IT cluster Bron Innovation as a network partner and the project intends to start with the already launched project DRIVEN, which aims to strengthen the regional business community by developing IT courses for professionals.

Existing courses will be developed with respect to AIL (Work Integrated Learning) to strengthen students’ contact with and experience of business and to contribute to the sustainable growth of regional employers and society. The courses will be developed together with regional employers to ensure that their needs meet and that students are trained with the right skills.

Background

In autumn 2021, the region’s clustering for the IT sector, Bron Innovation, asked its members and it showed that the availability of new skills (more employees with the right skills) as well as methods for skills assurance and upskilling (of existing employees) are the biggest obstacle to continued sustainable growth and development. Work-integrated lifelong learning in the Master of Science programmes aimed at computer and electrical engineering at Mid Sweden University is seen as a solution to this problem as it increases students’ operational skills when they come into contact with regional employers during the education.