Skills Standards
The IT Skill Standards are developed by input from business, education and
government and establish agreed-upon industry-identified knowledge, skills, and
abilities required to succeed in the workplace. Further updates of the IT Skill
Standards will provide links with other national efforts, such as
school-to-work, vocation and technical education and job training.
The IT Skill Standards provide a means by which educators and business people
create curriculum to develop a competitive, highly-skilled and high-quality
workforce. These highly-skilled IT professionals will create a high-performance
workforce that will help the US compete globally.
The US Government has a vested interest in improving the competitiveness of
American workers. Information Technology plays a vital role in this objective.
Successful industrialized nations maintain their competitiveness, in part,
through well-established skill standards systems. Proper application of skill
standards helps ensure a workforce that is prepared to function effectively in
a technology-based future.
Government can use skill standards to:
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Help develop a highly skilled, competitive workforce
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Forecast educational resource requirements and allocate resources using a
bias-free and vendor-neutral set of criteria
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Forecast workforce demands
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Develop training requirements
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Develop roadmaps for professional development and advancement
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Develop educational, training, and workforce policies
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Increase opportunities for underrepresented populations
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Develop or enhance links among national efforts such as school-to-work,
technical and vocational education, and other programs for targeted populations
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Research skills characteristics of fast-moving technology-based industries
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Effectively communicate with other institutions and stakeholders
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