Building Pathways to Success through German-American Partnerships for Innovative Solutions in Workforce Training NAWB Forum 2006 Washington D.C., 27 February 2006

Content Global Challenges for Economies and Workforce Development Challenges for Workforce Development in the U.S. Current and Future Requirements Workforce Development in Germany Benefits of American-German Partnerships iMOVE – Bringing People Together

Global Challenges for Economies and Workforce Development Globalisation Developments in ICT Increasing international competition Structural change from industrial to knowledge society Changing industries: Proliferation of products, accelerating product cycles, fast change in production technologies, growing consumer interest in quality Changing of jobs and workplaces (less lower skilled jobs) Demand for higher, more complex skills Increasing demand for continuing training

Challenges for Workforce Development in the U.S. End of babyboom generation Focus on academic education Low esteem of vocational/technical education and training (low income, minority students/ blue collar jobs) No national “school-to-work” system Insufficient cooperation between industry and education system Skills shortage (labor) in high growth industries Traditional mass production system (narrowly defined jobs) Lack of comprehensive skills

Current and Future Requirements Demand driven solutions characterised by flexibility, fast responsiveness to market shifts and continuous innovation Increased cooperation between industry and education system Shift from narrowly defined jobs to a broad/conceptual understanding of work place and environment No separation between learning and working More work-based learning/training Delivering complex, higher skills

Workforce Development in Germany Focus on vocational/technical education and training (65%) National VET system with national standards Industry demand driven Cooperation between industry, education system Cooperative training Focus on practical experience Workbased learning and training Comprehensive range of knowledge and skills (technical, problem-solving, ability to transfer/apply skills, teamwork, communication, IT)

Benefits of American-German Partnerships Exchange of knowledge, experience, ideas and solutions Learn and benefit from eachother Putting complimentary strengths together Develop joint programs and solutions Overcome shortcomings in both systems Establish strategic/business relationships Enter eachother’s market Enter international markets together

iMOVE – Bringing People Together An initiative of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research Our goals: Support internationalisation of German training providers Promote international cooperation between German training providers and partners abroad Inform about training and workforce development in Germany Build bridges between those who need and those who provide training or those looking for partners

Our Services Seminars and workshops to network and get information on issues related to internationalisation Trade missions abroad with visits to ministries, companies and education/training organisations Cooperation exchanges abroad with B2B talks with potential business partners Common booths at trade fairs abroad Online information- and communication platform Multilingual training database Market reports

Our Online Service Profiles of more than 180 training providers Information available in 7 languages: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, German, Russian, Spanish Co-operation exchange Link collection Information on iMOVE activities worldwide

International Activities and Cooperation in... China Egypt Estonia India Latvia Lithuania Oman Poland Russia Thailand Turkey United Arab Emirates

Examples Cooperation exchanges in China and Russia

Thank you for listening! Any questions??? Come and talk to us at booth 15-17

Contact: Sabine Gummersbach-Majoroh Director iMOVE at the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training Robert-Schuman-Platz 3 D Bonn Tel.: +49 (0)228/ Fax: +49 (0)0228/ Website: