Italy

This track came through a cooperation and partnership agreement between the IGate institute in the Kingdom of Morocco and CIFA Italia, the Italian Confederation of Independent Trade Unions, to develop vocational training and qualification programmes and pathways that prepare people with the skills needed in the sectors and specialisations European job markets require.

The partnership between IGate Morocco and CIFA Italia

The cooperation is built on an institutional framework that brings together IGate’s training and qualification expertise and the network, professional experience and institutional know-how of the Italian partner, CIFA Italia.

It aims to develop professional programmes suited to the needs of the job market, with a focus on preparing and qualifying people in a practical, organised way before they move into suitable job opportunities.

This model moves from traditional training to a more integrated approach based on:

Studying job-market needs → identifying the specialisations in demand → designing the training → qualifying people → developing pathways linked to the job market.

Training and qualification for the Italian and European job market

The project focuses on developing vocational training and qualification programmes linked to real demand for skills and workers in the European market, with particular attention to the Italian market.

The idea is that a training programme is not designed in general terms, but based on a set of factors, including:

• The country and its target job market
• The professional specialisations in demand
• The level of skill expected from the worker or trainee
• The technical requirements of each profession
• Work and communication skills
• The professional-readiness requirements before entering the job market
• Training thus becomes part of an integrated career pathway, not just a separate course or certificate

My role

My role in this project is mainly on the executive and development side of the initiative.

It has included drawing up the implementation plans needed to turn the institutional cooperation framework into programmes and projects that can be delivered, and defining the phases, responsibilities and implementation mechanisms.

It also includes developing concepts for training and qualification pathways suited to the needs of each country and each professional sector.

Designing and developing training kits

Developing training kits and programmes is one of the main pillars of my role in the Italian cooperation.

The training content is designed to fit:

• The target job market
• The country the workers will go to
• The sector and professional specialisation
• The level of the trainees
• The technical skills required
• Personal and professional skills
• The needs of the future employer
• This approach aims to narrow the gap between the skills trainees have and the skills employers need

Building training programmes linked to market needs

A core principle of the project is not to offer a single standard programme for all specialisations and markets.

Each programme is developed according to the profession, the sector and the target country: the required skills are identified first, and then the right training programme is built for them.

This is a model of demand-driven training — training based on the real demand of the job market.

It helps training institutions offer programmes more closely tied to real job opportunities, and helps trainees acquire the skills most in demand.

Preparing skilled workers

The cooperation is not limited to delivering training; it aims to prepare professionally and technically qualified people who can better match the requirements of employers and target markets.

This combines technical training, professional skills and job-market readiness, contributing to a more integrated model for qualifying workers and specialists.

Cooperation with Egyptian and Moroccan bodies

Work on the model extended to developing and implementing cooperation agreements with Egyptian and Moroccan bodies, to build a network of institutions able to take part in vocational training and qualification programmes.

These partnerships help build a system of training and qualification providers in the Arab region alongside the Italian partner, making it possible to develop programmes for different specialisations and sectors.

This is where the project’s importance shows: it is an international cooperation network for vocational training and qualification, not just a bilateral agreement between two institutions.

Linking North Africa with the European job market

The project is a model of cooperation between Europe and North Africa in skills and workforce development.

With partners from Italy, Morocco and Egypt, it becomes possible to develop career pathways that combine local training with the professional standards and needs of the target market.

The value of the model lies in building a bridge between:

• Arab training institutions + European needs + vocational training + skilled talent and workers

Developing a scalable model

One of the main strengths of this track is that it can be developed in the future to cover multiple specialisations, countries and European markets.

Rather than building a single programme, it develops a model that can be adapted to each sector’s needs — technical, vocational, service and other sectors that need qualified workers.

This is an important part of my experience in developing operating models and building cross-border programmes and partnerships.

Italy in my international experience

The Italian experience is a distinct and important part of my international career, bringing together:

• International cooperation + vocational training + programme development + workforce preparation + job-market needs + European partnerships