EMERGENCE : Activities Around the Project

 
   
   
 Events  Home Page
  
   

International Workshop: WZB : 30-31 March 2001


Purpose

This workshop is concerned with UK and Germany’s information and telecommunications sector, which in Germany is estimated as having a shortfall of around 75,000 people. The shortfall is a world-wide issue but is particularly acute in Germany, IT sector federation BITKOM suggest that the gap between supply and demand will continue to grow. Countries like the United States and Canada when facing a similar skills gap have attempted different solutions like liberalising visas and global software outsourcing.

However, there are concerns from some quarters about immigration strategies as developing countries like India potentially lose out in the high technology brain drain. Considerable experience has been accumulated with particular regard to global software outsourcing, which appears to overcome several of the problems associated with other schemes. The workshop in particular will discuss the nature and evolution of such arrangements, and lessons learnt. It will be of benefit to both UK and German participants in terms of public policy and practice assessing the feasibility of global software outsourcing as a strategy to help to alleviate skills shortages.
 

 Session 1    Session 2
 
Session 1: Friday 30 March 2001: Understanding the IT skills Gap
11.45 - 12.45 Registration
12.45 - 1.00 Introduction - Programme committee
1.00 - 1.30 Setting the scene on the IT skills gap
Raphael L’Hoest, Bundeskanzleramt
1.30 - 2.40 Global software work arrangements
Wendy Currie, University of Brunel, UK
2.40 - 3.50 An American view: offshore sourcing by America’s largest firms
Erran Carmel Kogod, School of Business, American University, Washington DC, USA
3.50 - 4.10 Refreshments
4.10 - 5.00 Perspectives from the Indian Software Industry, British and German companies (presentations)

Mastek (software outsourcing company based in UK, India and Germany)
NN

PSI (products and systems of information technology) Company Experience with IT Skills Shortage and Software Outsourcing
 
Alizadeh-Saghati, Germany

gedas (outsourcing, ERP systems, e-business and e-mobility)
Company Experience with IT outsourcing
Frank Knauer (to be confirmed)

Mascot Systems
V Chandrasekaran, Managing Director, India

Speakers from ‘end user’ organisations (to be arranged)
5.00 - 5.10 Break
5.10 - 6.20 The end user experience of GSO: lessons from North America and Japan
S Krishna and Sundeep Sahay
7.30 onwards Dinner

 top of page

Session 2: Saturday 31 March 2001: 
Practical Strategies in Global Software Outsourcing
8.30 - 8.40 Introduction to day 2 - Programme committee
8.40 - 9.40 German software development scene: Labor shortage and outsourcing trends
Dieter Rombach, Fraunhofer Institute Sauer-wiesen, Germany
9.40 - 10.00 Break
10.00 - 11.00 Qualification needs and the development of training and retraining systems
Klaus Schömann, WZB
11.00 - 11.15 Break
11.15 - 12.15 Issues Facing a UK company setting up a software development subsidiary in India
Brian Nicholson, University of Manchester, UK
12.15 - 1.00 Buffet lunch
1.00 - 1.40 A case of global collaboration in a telecommunications company
Leo Renneke, WZB
1.40 - 2.15 IT Skills Gap, Green Cards and the Unions
Johann Welsch, Fachhochschule Wiesbaden

The Unions’ and works council’s perspective IT skills
Rolf Schmidt, project telecommunication, information technology and new media (T.I.M.) of five ver.di unions
2.15 - 3.30 Presentation of research perspectives by current projects on the issue of IT skills shortage and outsourcing
moderated by Ulrich Jürgens, WZB
 
Summary of the workshop: The relevance of the workshop for British-German IT skills shortages
Brian Nicholson, University of Manchester, UK


Queries, Information and Registration:

Christina Teipen
TAU/RA
Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin
Reichpietschufer 50
D-10785 Berlin

Tel: +49-30-25 49 12 31
Fax: +49-30-25 49 12 55
E-mail: teipen@medez.wz-berlin.de
 

  
   

 top of page