Future Skills in the ICT Industry: Qualitative and Quantitative Examination

Abstract

The operational environment of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) industry is in continuous change due to factors like rapid technological development, uncertain economic development and unpredictable consumer behaviour. Consequently, also the skills needed in the ICT industry are changing. Therefore, the quantitative and qualitative demand of ICT professionals in the future is difficult to forecast. However, anticipation and forecasting of the future ICT skills is very important. Issues related to the ICT skills are crucial for the positive development of the ICT industry as it is an extremely information and knowledge intensive industry. In this paper some of the change factors affecting the ICT industry are presented. In addition, quality and quantity of ICT professionals needed in the future is examined based on ICT company surveys and expert interviews. The future of the Finnish ICT industry is also outlined by using scenarios.