The skills revolution Europe needs this decade critically relies on sound and trusted skills intelligence, i.e. information on labour market trends and skill needs. Such intelligence can support data-driven decision-making, which is essential for policymakers and educators to align skill development with industry needs, support competitiveness, and mainstream and upscale skilling for the twin digital and green transition. Analysing the content of online job advertisements (OJAs) and education and training programme descriptions offers a valuable source of skills intelligence. It opens up opportunities for real-time insights into the mismatch between the skills employers need and the skills education and training systems provide.

In this policy conference, we explore how skills intelligence based on online sources can be used to inform labour market, education, training, skills and related policies. We demonstrate how such sources assist data-driven decision-making and strengthen labour market, and education and training policy and its implementation. We bring together experts, policymakers, educators, and industry leaders to discuss what it takes to tap the full potential of OJAs and other online sources, and how such data can be used to make skills ecosystems more effective, responsive, and inclusive, to benefit people and economies.

We will discuss best practices and methodologies for extracting meaningful insights from OJAs and from information on training programmes and offers. To promote policy learning, we will also demonstrate practices from countries or organisations that have successfully integrated big-data methods in their skills intelligence systems or approaches. The conference will also be an opportunity for policymakers, educators, researchers, and industry stakeholders to meet and discuss practical ways to leverage OJAs, and other types of big data to guide policymaking in employment, education and training, skills, and related policy areas.

REGISTER

Please note that due to limited space, registrations will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis. 

Draft programme

WEDNESDAY 2 APRIL 2025 (all times are CET) 
9.30 – 10.00 Participant arrival and security check 
10.00 – 11.00 

Event Opening 

  • Jürgen Siebel, Executive Director, Cedefop 
  • Cinzia Del Rio, President SOC Section, EESC
  • Mariana Kotzeva, Director-General, Eurostat
  • Mario Nava, Director-General, European Commission, DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion 
11.00 – 11.30 Comfort break
11.30 – 12.15  Skills intelligence and the role of online job advertisement analysis  
12.15 – 13.15 Lunch break
13.15 – 14.15  Online job advertisements analysis in action: Opportunities, challenges and lessons learned   
14.15 – 14.30 Comfort break 
14.30 – 15.30 "What next?" – A round table discussion on future use of online job advertisement data  
15.30 – 15.45 Conclusions and closing 
15.45 End of event

Contacts

Contact
Jasper Van Loo
Department Coordinator
Contact
Vladimir Kvetan
Expert in VET and skills statistics and indicators
Contact
Béatrice Herpin
Assistant
Contact
Zografia Theoharidou
Assistant