7 min.
Yesterday, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, was in Rome to meet clients, partners and collaborators and review the results reached and opportunities created in Italy by YouthSpark, a global initiative launched at the end of 2012 with the objective of promoting the employment of 300 million young individuals over a three-year period.
With more than 30 programmes and 186 partnerships with non-profits helping youth, in one year, Microsoft YouthSpark has created job opportunities for more than 103 million young people in over 100 countries.
This initiative has had a particularly significant impact in Italy where the youth unemployment rate is more than 40% with about 700,000 youths aged 15-24 looking for a job. It is in this framework, at the Building the Vision event – promoted by World Wide Rome together with InnovAction Lab and Codemotion and in collaboration with Microsoft YouthSpark and Fondazione Cariplo – that Steve Ballmer discussed Microsoft’s commitments in Italy, reviewing what the project achieved and its objectives for 2014, including the new programme with the Fondazione Mondo Digitale, Italian partner of Telecentre-Europe.
“We are happy to see some many young Italians stand up to claim their future and make a true impact on their local communities,” declares Steve Ballmer, Microsoft CEO. “We are enthusiastic of contributing to this success through YouthSpark and in particular by providing education and training to access the job market, even by creating enterprises. In Italy, we have trained over 25,000 youths and will continue to invest in thousands of other young men and women.”
From the beginning of 2013 to date, nearly 25.000 young Italians have been trained for free thanks to Microsoft and more than 500,000 have participated in YouthSpark, receiving specific competences to approach the working world and free technological tools to start new entrepreneurial projects.
In greater detail:
- 4300 young individuals looking for a job were trained by Project “Youth & Work. IT Key Factor” developed by Microsoft Italia in collaboration with CNCA (Coordinamento Nazionale Comunità di Accoglienza) and the Fondazione Adecco per le Pari Opportunità. The objective is to increase computer, relationship and working skills.
- Over 4500 young students received innovative tools and skills to approach the job market through social commitment and Meet No Neet, a programme developed in partnership by Microsoft Italia, Fondazione Mondo Digitale, Roma Capitale and Italian schools.
- Over 15,000 young Italian talents were given the opportunity to participate in technical and business training sessions to transform their entrepreneurial ideas into a start-up thanks to Startup Revolutionary Road, an initiative developed by the Fondazione Cariplo and Fondazione Filarete together with 5 NGOs: TechGarage, I3P, Polihub, InnovAction Lab and Fondazione Filarete.
- 100 young men and women participated in Innovate4Good, an initiative that uses technology to help youth develop their entrepreneurial ideas thanks to the non-profit Junior Achievement Italia Organisation.
- 400 young women were trained by Project Nuvola Rosa, developed in collaboration with the Municipality of Florence to bridge the gender gap in science, technology and research.
The meeting, moderated by Riccardo Luna, provided an opportunity to reflect on the opportunities provided by start-ups - how to start one, finance it and launch it – with institutional and business protagonists. In this context, the presence of a major international player like Microsoft shed light on the concrete opportunities available to start-ups through an overview of the activities and objectives of Programme YouthSpark.
“For two years, Asset-Camera, a special company of the Rome Chamber of Commerce responsible for local innovation, has been organizing initiatives and projects presenting Rome as a host for the culture of change. The new world, in fact, is foremost a new economy and new economic actors. Our objectives include: creating the conditions to promote a culture of innovation and creativity in Rome and make innovation synonymous with our city. We want to work together with other institutions to create an ecosystem that will welcome and raise the best Italian start-ups. The possibility of creating venture capital funds to support new start-ups and innovation in general are currently being evaluated,” explains Stefano Venditti, President of Asset-Camera.
The importance of Italy for YouthSpark clearly emerged with the announcement of the new programme that will kick off in 2014 with Telecentre-Europe through which Microsoft will donate 10.000 training vouchers for a total market value of over 300,000 euro to as many young men and women. One thousand of these vouchers or 10% of the total will be managed by the Fondazione Mondo Digitale, a Telecentre-Europe partner in Italy, to help young men and women looking for jobs to obtain the necessary ICT skills to apply for “digital” jobs.
This collaboration is an integral part of the YouthSpark initiative and represents the outcome of a long-term partnership between Microsoft and Telecentre-Europe to aid youth employment and improve the lack of digital and technological skills on the job market. Certifications will be provided to participants through the Microsoft IT Academy Programme, which in the last 12 months has provided 1.4 million certifications to as many students around the world.
“Through Telecentre-Europe we have been constantly committed to fight youth unemployment that is dramatically in many European countries. In particular, thanks to the ‘Local Coalitions for Digital Jobs’ initiative, we have been collaborating with institutions, private enterprises and associations to promote digital competences in 10 European countries. The 10,000 certifications that Microsoft has donated today through YouthSpark will provide us with even more power to reach our objectives,” points out Gabriel Rissola, Director General of Telecentre-Europe.
During the course of today’s event, Microsoft announced that it will continue to invest in Project YouthSpark in Italy in order to reach two main objectives: guarantee that all youth have the necessary competences to access the job market, through the Fondazione Mondo Digitale and support the creation of new youth enterprises with university students and in in partnership with the Fondazione Cariplo.
“In a country like ours with too much uncertainty on the improvement of the economic and productive context, technology continues to represent a unique lever for economic and occupational growth. The job opportunities provided by ICT tools and technology are enormous. We estimate that by 2015, 90% of all professions in all sectors will require these competences. Thus, it’s fundamental to provide a solution and train people to meet these market demands,” explains Carlo Purassanta, CEO, Microsoft Italy.
The gap in opportunities amongst young individuals is not only a personal problem, but also one for the national economy. According to Microsoft, only an efficient partnership between public and private actors can strive to create a new future. In this context, Microsoft and YouthSpark are focusing their action on social responsibility to provide training and new competences to the young that will help them access the job market and develop enterprises. The final objective of Project YouthSpark is to provide young men and women from around the world with the tools necessary to imagine and fulfil their full potential through technology.
Watch the Microsoft video celebrating the first year of activity of Programme YouthSpark in Italy.
For further information:
- Event photos
