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The objective of the QUALITY study issued by the European Commission is to develop quality labels for industry-based training and certification (IBTC) which at the same time are compatible with the European Commission 2009 Recommendation on a European Quality Assurance Reference Framework for Vocational Training and Education (EQAVET).

The focus is on the acquisition and the development of e-skills for ICT practitioners, i.e. the skills required to conceive, deploy and maintain ICT systems, rather than the skills needed by those using ICT tools only in their own work. A special interest will be put on recently emerged and important skills domains, these being cloud computing, green IT and cyber-security.

The term “e-skills” is understood, as in the CEN Workshop on eSkills (Link: ), to cover the following main categories:

• ICT practitioner skills
• ICT user skills and
• E-business skills

ICT practitioner skills, central to this Study, are the capabilities required for “researching, developing, designing, strategic planning, managing, producing, consulting, marketing, selling, integrating, installing, administering, maintaining, supporting and servicing ICT systems”.

ICT user skills are the capabilities required for the effective application of ICT systems and devices by the individual. Where ICT users apply systems as tools in support of their own work, ICT user skills cover the use of common software tools and of specialised tools supporting business functions within industry. More generally, ICT user skills cover "digital literacy", that is, the skills required for the confident and critical use of ICT for work, leisure, learning and communication. IBTC supporting development of these skills will not be at the centre of the study.

E-business skills and e-leadership comprise the capabilities needed to exploit opportunities provided by ICT, notably the Internet. E-business skills are needed to ensure more efficient and effective performance of different types of organisations, to explore possibilities for new ways of conducting business, for redesign of administrative and organisational processes and to establish new businesses. IBTC supporting development of these skills will not be at the centre of the study, however, project management and other skills which might be seen in this category are also of strong relevance to ICT practitioners, and feature in the European e-Competence Framework.

The target groups for the proposed study are:

• ICT practitioners working in the various sectors of the European economy
• Enterprises, especially small and medium sized enterprises.