In line with SAP’s vision of helping the world run better and improving people’s lives, the global technology company delivered an informative panel on “Yesterday’s skills won’t do tomorrow’s jobs: Closing the Digital Skills Gap with Public-Private Partnerships.” The panel was held at the SAP House during Expo 2020 Dubai theme week of Knowledge and Learning, attended by professionals from the education sector along with SAP executives.
The panel highlighted SAP’s position as the world’s leading provider in Enterprise Application Software and focused on its mission to support developing leaders of the future, namely today’s youth. With its Ecosystem and academic institutions, SAP drives to close the digital skills gap, enabling youth and organizations to overcome the challenges of digital skills in today’s emerging digital economy.
SAP continues to host various initiatives to further drive this goal, in addition to its corporate social responsibility signature programs, including Digital Skills for Today.
The themed week will also see Dr. Karina Edmonds, SVP and Global Head of Academies and University Alliances, at SAP, speak at a high-level panel on the Future of Learning for All: EdTech and Learning Equity. Additionally, SAP University Alliances and SAP Next-Gen will host the second edition of SAP Academic Community Conference MENA in collaboration with Zayed University and the University Competence Center Magdeburg, where faculty members, instructors and SAP Next-Gen academic and innovation community members will discuss the future of education, work, technology and sustainability, along with workshops on SAP’s latest technologies including SAP S/4HANA, SAP Analytics, and Industry 4.0.
Commenting on the panel session during RewirEd Summit 2021, Dr. Karina Edmonds said: “SAP is committed to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with a focus on Quality Education and Gender Equality in collaboration with academic communities to build digital skills. Our global University Alliances Program and Next-Gen fosters a community enabling youth to learn, share and be inspired to address the digital needs to improve people’s lives”.
Part of SAP’s educational programs active in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is the SAP Dual Study Program, which leverages partnerships with leading universities to allow students to enlist within their curriculum 6–12-month courses that combine university theoretical studies with the opportunity for students to obtain SAP certification. This ongoing initiative is supported by 22 SAP Dual Study Program partner universities across the region, which has so far resulted in a total of 1,850 students trained in MENA.
Another initiative is the SAP Young Professionals Program, a comprehensive digital skills training for the industry which is spread across 2-3 months and is offered to top talented graduates from universities, to provide them with functional and technical knowledge of SAP’s latest software with certifications accepted by companies (on the globe/in the region) respectively. Participants graduate as SAP Associate Consultants, giving them a much-needed competitive edge in the job market. In the MENA region, this program created more than 1,700 sustainable work opportunities with over 95% placement rate.
Commenting on these programs for students, Dr. Safwat Altal, Assistant Professor – Business, Faculty of Business, Higher Colleges of Technology, said: “These initiatives not only push students further but open more doors in their future and give them a competitive edge in the job market. I applaud the private sector’s contribution such as SAP initiatives and appreciate the effort taken today toward building a better future and educating our youth with the skills they will need for tomorrow.”
In addition, SAP Digital Literacy and Workforce Readiness programs have impacted more than 77,000 lives across the MENA region and Turkey, while the Ecosystem Builder program has boosted the capacity of the Change-maker community to grow in the digital world, especially after the pandemic, reaching 135,000 beneficiaries.
Commenting on these initiatives, Alexandra van der Ploeg, Head of Global Corporate Social Responsibility at SAP said: “Preparing for the digital future is a global collective action that needs to be a shared responsibility to inspire and empower the younger generation. By fostering an ecosystem of youth communities and non-profits across the region, our Ecosystem Builder is another program that aims to boost the capacity of young entrepreneurial change-makers to thrive in the increasingly digital economy and collaborate towards a more resilient MENA ecosystem”.
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