Re-skilling Europe for the new global knowledge economy

Europe today is suffering from a skills shortage, made even worse by the economic crisis. Over the past decade, many business leaders have stressed that Europe is simply not producing, attracting, or retaining sufficient numbers of scientists, engineers and IT specialists to meet the requirements of its industries, and the ambition of its Lisbon Agenda - that is, to lead the global knowledge economy. Focusing on this critical issue, INSEAD wrote the background report for the recent European Business Summit. The report, entitled Who Cares? Who Dares? Providing the Skills for an Innovative and Sustainable Europe, calls for Europes government and business leaders to turn their attention to the importance of strengthening skills, and recommends a set of practical actions to help Europe face its most urgent challenges in this area.