Advances in vocational training and information technology to improve the lack of IT experts

In order to solve the acute shortage of qualified personnel in the information and telecommunications sector over the medium-term, the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research (Ger: BMBF) has ordered the set-up of a Regulation Procedure for structuring the further education system. Parallel to this Procedure a project has been set up to develop and elaborate an innovative concept for further IT training. The fundament of the project s concept is formed by so-called reference projects, which are derived from real practice projects (e.g. networking the German Reichstag). They are the basis for finding higher qualifications, which are then gathered and specified during the course of actual jobs carried out in the participant s business. By using web-based educational materials that can be adapted to the learner s individual needs on demand a large amount of learning can be carried out almost entirely at the work place and in the real working environment.