Description
Country
Focus area
The "Excelsior Employment and Training Information System" is a permanent project set up in 1997 by the Chambers of Commerce, Unioncamere, the Ministry of Labour and Social Policies and the European Union, with the aim of monitoring the prospects of labour demand and professional and training needs expressed by enterprises. Since 2004, the project has also been supported by ANPAL.
Link
Reference/weblink
Implementation level
At what level is the initiative implemented?
National
Regional
Legal base
Legal base (E.g. Law, regulation, implementing provision, other)
Law
Starting period
TIMESPAN: In what year did the initiative commence?
The instrument has been operational since 1997. However, important updates have been made since 2017.
Perspective
PERSPECTIVE: is the initiative based on evidence derived from skill forecasts or foresight activities?
Not applicable
Policy area
To which POLICY AREAS(s) does the initiative apply?
Funding
How it is funded?
Funded by national government
Funded by the EU
European Social Fund
Skill mismatch
Skill mismatch target
What type(s) of skills MISMATCH does the initiative aim to addresses?
Overqualification (individuals' qualifications/credentials are above their job's needs)
Underqualification (individuals' qualifications/credentials are below their job's needs)
Skill shortages (employers cannot fill their vacancies due to a lack of skills in the labour market)
Skill gaps (worker's skills are below the level of proficiency required by their employers and jobs)
Skills obsolescence (some or all of an individual's skills are no longer relevant to the current employer or in the labour market generally)
Skills matching focus
How does the initiative address skills mismatches?
Analysis of professional needs of enterprises. The system is a reference point for analysing the training needs of enterprises and for following the quantitative dynamics of labour demand, at national, regional and local level.
Skills delivered
What types of skill does the initiative deliver?
General employability skills (team working, communication, etc.)
Methods
Methods
What methods of undertaking skills assessments and / or skills anticipation does the policy instrument utilise?
Skills forecasting
The data collected allow the construction of long-term forecasting models (up to 5 years).
Employer surveys
The analysis of the country's training needs and the changes in labour market demand takes place through a monthly questionnaire addressed to enterprises (continuous survey) with CAWI method.
Other
Surveys are complemented by administrative data (Register of Enterprises of the Chambers of Commerce), which integrates data from INPS (Istituto Nazionale Previdenza Sociale) and ISTAT data on "business trust". On the basis of these sources, it is possible to construct short, medium and long-term forecasts.
Use of skills intelligence
How is labour market information / skills intelligence used within the initiative?
The administrative information on which the excelsior system is based is used to promote all those active labour policies capable of responding to the country's employment needs. The system has been updated since 2017 to include an integration of data extrapolated through enterprise surveys and administrative data from INPS, in order to obtain more precise results for the implementation of short-term policies.
Stakeholders
Main responsible body
Main body or organisation with overall responsibility for the initiative.
National agency
Unioncamere
Other involved organisations
Which other organisations have a role in the initiative?
National agency
The National Agency for Active Labour Policies (ANPAL) is in charge of ensuring the functioning and updating of the site. INPS provides useful data to allow the construction of more accurate and precise forecasts.
Chambers of Commerce
The project was launched jointly by Unioncamere and the Ministry of Labour and Social Policies in 1997.
Research centres, universities
ISTAT (National Institute of Statistics) provides expert support through studies and research.
Beneficiaries
Who are the intended beneficiaries?
Other
In general, the beneficiaries of the measure are all those who are interested in labour market trends and changes in professional needs at national, regional and local level: from students to policy makers, from training providers to consultants and job-matching operators, from workers (including unemployed) to employers.
Sustainability
Success factors
SUCCESS FACTORS in the implementation
The main success factor of the project is the integration of information addressed to enterprises through sample surveys and data obtained from administrative sources as a result of the use of the "Registro delle Imprese delle Camere di Commercio" (Chambers of Commerce Business Register), which has been integrating information from INPS sources for a few years now. This provides data on labour demand on a monthly, quarterly and annual basis.
Monitoring and evaluation
MONITORING and EVALUATION: Is progress measured regularly? What are the indicators used to measure progress of the policy instrument? Have any evaluations been conducted?
Analyses conducted by the Excelsior system provide monthly, quarterly and annual information on the employment and training needs of businesses at national, regional and local level. The studies carried out ensure the dissemination of labour market information through statistical volumes (or reports), bulletins and the updating of the web platform.
Updates
UPDATES: whether there have been any major updates of the initiative since it has been implemented?
As of 2017, the Excelsior system has been updated, introducing a series of changes that have affected the survey techniques, the organisation of the statistical survey and the data processing methodology. For example, there has been a shift to a monthly survey (and no longer quarterly/annually), the CAWI technique has been implemented, greater involvement of the chamber system has been adopted and the questionnaire to companies has been simplified
Yes
Effectiveness
EVIDENCE ON EFFECTIVENESS: How effective is the policy instrument?
As the project is used to support active labour market policy implementation processes by providing information on training and employment needs, it is not evaluated for effectiveness. In any case, the analyses carried out are the basis of any active training and employment policy launched in Italy since 1997.
Sustainability
SUSTAINABILITY: How sustainable is the policy instrument? Do you expect the instrument to continue over the next few years and why?
Unless there are interruptions in the financial flows for the development and updating of the excelsior system, it will continue to fulfil its mandate for the coming years. Currently, forecasts for the years 2021-2025 have already been constructed and surveys for the June-August quarter are in progress.
Other instruments in Italy
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