Skills and territorial development at the heart of the event organised by ITS Umbria Smart Academy

Skills and territorial development at the heart of the event organised by ITS Umbria Smart Academy and the Fondazioni delle Casse di Risparmio Umbre

Skills as a strategic lever for the sustainable and digital development of the territory was the topic at a press conference on the theme "Umbria, a virtuous synthesis of environment, tradition and technology: a possible operation to be achieved with the right skills", organised by ITS Umbria Smart Academy and Consulta delle Fondazioni delle Casse di Risparmio Umbre at Sviluppumbria’s Foligno auditorium.

The event was attended by Stefano Zuccarini, mayor of Foligno, Giuseppe Cioffi, president of ITS Umbria Smart Academy, Libero Mario Mari and Umberto Nazzareno Tonti, president and past president of Consulta delle Fondazioni delle Casse di Risparmio Umbre, Michela Sciurpa, president of Sviluppumbria, Nicola Modugno and Oscar Proietti, general manager and head of education of ITS Umbria Smart Academy.

The ITS Umbria training offer was presented, along with its employment and training results obtained in over ten years of ITS Umbria Smart Academy operation.

About four hundred students are currently being trained in the 16 active courses. For the two-year period 2021-2023, nine paths will be activated in six areas: Mechatronics (3 paths), Digital Enterprise and IT systems (2 paths), Circular Economy, Agrifood, Marketing for the tourism and hospitality industry and Home System - Building Information Modelling (1 path for each address). In addition, the perspective is to further expand the digital area with the "mobile game" pathway.

ITS Umbria's two-year specialised education, aimed at high-school graduates, continues to offer very high employment opportunities as it responds to the demand for new and high-level technical and technological skills from businesses. This is confirmed by the data: on average, the level of employment one year after completion of the training course is 80%, with peaks of up to 100% for the mechatronics courses.

I am honoured to host in the territory an important reality as ITS, which ensures a real development and a future for our young people," said Stefano Zuccarini, mayor of Foligno. "We have always believed in this training project, which we have supported and continue to support because it offers an almost certain working future and gives support to the companies that characterise our industrial hub. It is a great challenge and a great opportunity that we must continue to substantiate, an asset that should not be devalued, thus avoiding duplications that would create a division of the territory in a region that is already small like ours. Finally, I would like to thank the Honourable Virginio Caparvi, who was one of the promoters and signatories of the law reforming the ITS system, now approved by the Chamber of Deputies, which aims to consolidate the ITS system by promoting the development of vocational tertiary education.

It is important to base the future of professions and skills on the strong values and ancient roots that stem from history and tradition and from the beauty of this territory," emphasised Giuseppe Cioffi, president of the ITS Umbria Smart Academy. "It is precisely from the strength and depth of these roots that we can look to the future of young people with reasonable confidence. A future that will be characterised by digital technology and ecological transition. The strength of ITS comes from the territory, from the trust placed in it by its stakeholders and from its close connection with businesses. It is this constant and deep connection with companies that feeds ITS and allows it to know what skills to offer young people in the present and especially in the future. ITS Umbria, therefore, strengthened by its roots and results, looks ahead in the direction of digitalisation and ecological transformation, providing theoretical, professional and practical skills to teach young people to think with their hands and produce with their heads. We will focus on this, in the knowledge that the more deeply rooted you are in your region, the further ahead you can look".

In order to plan a sustainable and digital development, which preserves the territory and its traditions and at the same time supports the development of enterprises, new and qualified skills are needed. Young people will play a leading role in this process, with the support of flexible and contemporary education systems and local stakeholders. ITS Umbria Smart Academy is committed to this front, with the support of the Consulta delle Fondazioni delle Casse di Risparmio Umbre, the collaboration of Sviluppumbria and the fundamental contribution of the Umbria Region and the Ministry of Education. The Consulta delle Fondazioni delle Casse di Risparmio Umbre contributed with an important grant in the start-up phase for the creation of the Mechatronic Laboratory in Foligno.

It also supported the Tourism Marketing course, enabling the ITS Foundation to provide training with national and international experts, to carry out an appropriate communication campaign and to be able to award scholarships to the students.

“The values that emerge from this project, in which Consulta delle Fondazioni has believed are education, young people and technological innovation," explained Libero Mario Mari, chairman of Consulta delle Fondazioni delle Casse di Risparmio Umbre. "Quality of education is a central aspect. We must also focus on young people and we must also support them, because they have ideas and creativity, they are not afraid to experiment and they are sensitive to sustainable development. We have to enable them to exploit all their skills and potential. Young people want to create something new and see the future as a great prospect. Technological innovation is a fundamental element, without which we cannot move forward.

Umberto Nazzareno Tonti, past president of the Consulta delle Fondazioni delle Casse di Risparmio Umbre, commented: "The Consulta delle Fondazioni has always been an exceptional place for analysing the needs of the regional context and has considered this training project a best practice in which to invest. ITS is following an important path, which puts Umbria at the top of the national rankings. This proves that what has been done and is being done is done well. ITS must become a model that we must certainly expand, including by identifying together the professions of the future. Young people must believe in it because in this reality there is the possibility of a rapid, very practical training process that offers immediate job opportunities".

“The institutions believe in young people, and ITS offers specialist training that our companies need," said Michela Sciurpa, president of Sviluppumbria. "We need to close the gap between training and businesses. The market trends are those of innovation, technology and sustainable development that encompasses economic, social and environmental sustainability. The training of young people is important for all of us and is possible without having to go elsewhere, but by studying in a healthy environment such as that represented by ITS and our region. The institutions are in synergistic dialogue and this conference is the result. Sviluppumbria encourages the creation of start-ups and welcomes new innovative companies to its Foligno headquarters. The young people trained by ITS will be able to work for Umbrian companies or become entrepreneurs themselves".

(press release issued by ITS UMBRIA Smart Accademy)