A target of delivering more than 47,000 graduates with high level ICT skills by 2022 has been set by the Government to meet Ireland's need for graduates in computing, electronic and electrical engineering.
Technology Skills 2022, Ireland's third ICT Skills Action Plan will be launched in Letterkenny this afternoon by Minister for Education and Skills Joe McHugh and Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation Heather Humphreys.
Informed by research conducted by the Expert Group on Future Skills Needs, the plan sets out priority actions to increase the total number of graduates in these areas by more than 5,000 every year to 2022.
Among the measures included to grow graduate numbers are an expansion of graduates from mainstream computing and electrical and electronic engineering courses in higher education and expanding the number of relevant Skillnet Ireland programmes; new options to embed high-level ICT apprenticeships within the education and training sector and a high-level ICT reskilling pathway.
Minister McHugh said that "our ability to produce, attract and retain graduates with high-level ICT skills is vital to our future economic performance".
Mr McHugh also said: "The number of job openings for high-level ICT professionals is set to reach 18,000 a year by 2022 and he said that additionally the recruitment of ICT professionals from overseas will contribute to the supply of needed skills and to support the rapid pace of technological change expected over the coming years."
