On the edge: Marking the impact of the CEI continuum on skills demands

The convergence of Cloud and IoT within a computing continuum results from advancements in enabling technologies, such as the development of more intelligent and capable devices, federated AI architectures, and intelligent and programmable networks. The resulting computing continuum is rapidly emerging and demonstrates the convergence and dependencies among different technologies. To this end, LEADS and the EU Cloud-Edge-IoT Initiative (through the UNLOCK-CEI project) joined forces to investigate the link between CEI use cases and the required digital skills for the exploitation of those use cases.  Europe is struggling to generate the skills demanded by different sectors of the EU economy. Advanced Digital Technologies are central to the success and growth of our economy and the functioning of society, but only if we have skilled people to use them. That is why addressing skills challenges and needs in exploitation plans beyond other technology and business elements is a crucial step to support the adoption of use cases developed by teams producing the next generation of advanced technologies. LEADS has analysed the demand for ADS skills and forecasted its growth over the next five years. This was done by projecting the future demand for ADS skills in three different scenarios, leading to a refinement/validation of the forecast model enriched by new primary research-based data. The resulting findings highlighted the critical need for investment in skills development to meet the demand for advanced digital skills, particularly in the areas of AI and Data Science.