CHAISE releases its Blockchain Skills Strategy to position the EU at the forefront of blockchain innovation & uptake

The Sector Skills Alliance ‘CHAISE’ has released its European Blockchain Skills Strategy & Action Plan. This strategy is a key achievement of the CHAISE project, which has received funding under the Erasmus+ Programme to deliver Blockchain Skills for Europe, uphold the EU at the forefront of blockchain innovation and to further increase the attractiveness of the sector.

The strategy builds on more than one year of extensive research on the blockchain labour market and on a skills needs and supply analysis, carried out by the CHAISE partnership. The previous CHAISE publications point out the mismatch between the demand for blockchain skilled employees and the current supply. This is mostly due to a disconnection between the labour market and blockchain educational and training activities, as well as to a low awareness of this emerging technology.

Against this background, the CHAISE European Blockchain Skills Strategy aims to provide a coordinated and practicable approach to respond to the current and future blockchain skills needs and deliver training solutions that meet the needs of the 21^st century.

The strategy, which has been refined following a consultation with EU and national sectoral stakeholders, is articulated around five strategic objectives:

1. Launching a consistent message of blockchain educational needs and monitoring of the labour market;
2. Creating a common European blockchain learning and knowledge-building platform;
3. Enhancing collaboration and knowledge transfer from business to academia;
4. Bringing blockchain to everyone;
5. Creating a decentralised blockchain training and marketplace platform.

Further, the strategy introduces an innovative tool: a decentralised (blockchain-based) training & job marketplace, bringing about a new approach to education and training. This platform will merge the blockchain job market, where companies are seeking candidates with a specific skills set, and blockchain training institutions, which provide these skills via courses and curricula.

The CHAISE blockchain skills strategy will be a living document that will be revised annually, based on evolving skill needs/mismatches and sectoral development priorities. As a next step, the CHAISE project will develop a blockchain curriculum and MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) and establish a “European Blockchain Skill Cooperation Network” to oversee the implementation of the strategy after the project’s completion.