Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Tatyana Golikova: “Personnel training is one of the key tasks for shaping the economy of the future”

Only about one month left before the start of the WorldSkills Conference 2019 on 23-24 August. This will be a unique platform for discussing economic, social, and technology trends, as well as developing solutions for the future of vocational training and transforming labour markets.

The conference will consist of more than 30 sessions with representatives of state, business, and educational institutions and global experts in the field of futurology, risk engineering, the green economy, digitalization, and automation.

Among other conference speakers are the researcher and risk specialist Nassim Taleb (author of the books “The black swan” and “Antifragile”), Special Representative of the President of the Russian Federation on Digital and Technological Development Dmitry Peskov, Co-director of the Programme on Technology and Employment at Oxford University Carl Benedict Frey, cosmonaut and Executive Director for Manned Space Programmes of ROSCOSMOS Sergey Krikalev, and WorldSkills International Official Delegate Russia Ekaterina Loshkareva.

“Our world is changing rapidly: new technologies are emerging with a faster pace of life. The new reality demands constant transformation, encouraging everyone, regardless of age, to develop their competencies and master technologies. We have to be a few steps ahead of the challenges that we face in the labour market,” comments Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Tatyana Golikova. “The participants of WorldSkills Conference 2019 will focus on one of our society’s key challenges: finding career design solutions and figuring out what the future of the professions will look like. It is clear that participation in the Conference will be useful for those regions, structures, and agencies that understand that quality education and training of local personnel is crucial for development of the regions and the country as a whole.”

The conference will serve as an efficient platform for discussing how to create a more productive, competitive and sustainable economy, and the necessary skills required to succeed in an increasingly uncertain future. The participants will speak about how the future of work could look like, what skills will be in demand in the next 5, 10, and 15 years, and what we can do about it today to remain competitive in labour markets.

The central focus of the Conference will be on the formation of a new labour market reality and the requirements for skills in the digital economy. Russia is already living in the digital age. It ranks first in Europe with the highest number of Internet users. In spring 2018, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a May decree, which transformed the Digital Economy programme into a national project, the goal being to provide digital spaces for all spheres of life in Russia by 2024. The improvement of the education system to train qualified personnel to work in the digital economy is one of the eight target areas of the program. All of this is fully consistent with the goals of the WorldSkills movement.

“I am glad that this year it will be the Russian Federation that is going to host the WorldSkills Competition. Russia is one of the most active members of WorldSkills. The level of digital development in the country and the pace of its modernization are obviously focused on building the economy of the future. WorldSkills and WorldSkills Russia have prepared an exciting Conference programme, which includes the participation of national and international experts. The Conference guests will undoubtedly gain great insights from the exchange of views with international experts. Overseas visitors will also have a great opportunity to get acquainted with the unique developments of Russian specialists in the field of skills of the future,” said Simon Bartley, WorldSkills International President.

The Conference will be of particular interest to representatives of governmental agencies, managers of international and Russian companies, and heads of the HR units of leading Russian corporations and industrial enterprises. It is also designed for representatives of developmental institutions, non-governmental organizations, professional associations, educational institutions (addressing the needs of the real economy sectors), leading market experts and analysts, and business media representatives.

“Today we understand the need to implement the concept of life-long learning and development of not only subject skills, but also the so-called soft skills – flexibility and adaptability, systemic thinking, and multiculturalism, to name a few,” said Ekaterina Loshkareva, WorldSkills International Official Delegate Russia. “Within the Conference, we will try to create vectors for the development of the education system, development and retraining of personnel in the coming years, taking into account the requirements that the economy of the future dictates to us.”

Registration is open until 22 July 2019, for more details, please click here: https://worldskillsconference.com/2019.

WorldSkills Kazan 2019

The 45th WorldSkills Competition – the main international event of 2019 in Russia – will take place in Kazan on 22-27 August 2019. More than 1,300 Competitors from 63 countries and regions will compete in 56 skills.

Kazan won the right to host the Competition in 2015 having been ahead of other WorldSkills International member countries after voting. The WorldSkills Russia movement embraces all 85 Russian regions and is one of priority vocational talent development projects.

Press Office of WorldSkills Kazan 2019 Competition Organizer