Education reaches out for the future

What does working life look like in the 2020s? How will expertise demands change? How will the politics of education meet the needs of economic life? What kinds of experts are needed in the future? Answers to these questions are urgently sought after.

‘Oivallus’, or ‘Competence Needs of Learning Networks’ is a three-year project aiming to foresee future competence and workforce needs in Finland. It is coordinated by the Confederation of Finnish Industries EK. The baseline of the initiative is in the vision that business life of the future will be increasingly based on networks consisting of global operators.

Answers to future challenges are sought also by student driven Aalto Entrepreneurship Society (Aaltoes), which serves a purpose of assisting researchers and students of the Aalto University to create world-changing businesses.
 
– We want to increase the understanding of and competence in high-growth entrepreneurship among the Aaltoes and help rapidly emerging and growth-driven companies to take their first steps, emphasizes the founder Kristo Ovaska from Aaltoes.
 
Employees change

Aaltoes promotes high-growth entrepreneurship which creates added value and new jobs, with potential to grow in its area of expertise to become a world-leader. The aim is to find products and services, which change the way people operate – like Youtube, Google and Skype have already done.

But how are future employees going to change?

– They will want to have their say in what, how and where they want to work. They will put importance on doing meaningful things in a convenient operational environment, says Ovaska.
 
The constant increase in the amount of information available, development of mobile devices and social medias challenge expertise.

– Employees own initiative; quick ability to react to and adopt information, as well as branding oneself and the importance of finding one’s own path will become increasingly important, while possibilities and choices also increase.

Everything is possible

When expertise demands change, politics of education has to reach out to the future. Oivallus project strives to meet these changes.

– The multidisciplinary Aalto University and the Finnish innovation system offer great a starting point for change and development, sees Ovaska.

– Finnish people have to be encouraged to develop their interaction and communication skills, and to think big. What are needed is ambitiousness, courage and healthy optimism, as well as “everything is possible” outlook.

In the future social leadership, management of media and public images, applying new technologies and their effective utilization and the ability to perceive the bigger picture will become emphasized. Ovaska adds also networking and mentors to the list.

– It is important that the best resources are summoned for each project. From the viewpoint of high-growth companies it is essential that assistance is received from bodies, which have proven to function in practice and have already achieved good results.

www.ek.fi/oivallus

http://aaltoes.com