SUSTAINING THE DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION: AN EXPLORATORY APPROACH TO PRIORITIZE COMPETENCIES FOR THE FUTURE OF WORK

This study offers a contribution to inform the development of education and qualification strategies to meet the demands associated with the emerging work contexts that are increasingly supported by digital technologies. The study has been conducted under the scope of the project AVEIRO STEAM City, in Portugal and the project involved the conduction of a diagnosis about the priorities for the qualification of the human resources in the region building on qualitative data collection from local industry representatives. The data collected supported the importance of investing in qualification and requalification strategies for leveraging the technology adoption in industry. The industry participants in the study identified priorities for the development of competences both at technical and transversal level, and highlighted the importance of domains such as critical thinking, complex problem solving and ethical judgement. The study offers a timely and relevant contribution to support the actions of managers, education and qualification entities as well as policy makers in the domain of digital transformation of the production systems and economies.