BRIGHTskills project kicks off in Brussels

EIT Health leads a new Blueprint Alliance to strengthen the European health industry through skills development.

In the face of an unprecedented tailwind of rapid technological, economic, environmental, and societal changes, the European health industry requires a trained, talented, and committed workforce to meet these challenges head-on. Workers employed by Medtech, Personal Protective Equipment, biotechnology and digital health companies must have the technical proficiency, environmental acumen, and the strategic and leadership vision to thrive in the post-COVID health industry ecosystem as the green and digital transition gathers pace. Looking to the future, a skilled, competent, workforce is essential to guarantee the sustainable competitiveness, regulatory compliance and strategic autonomy of Europe’s health industrial ecosystem.

In a changing world with new challenges, third-level education providers, industry manufacturers, HR companies, small and medium enterprises and industry associations have joined forces to build a critical mass for the up- and re-skilling efforts of the health industry’s workforce under the aegis of the BRIGHTskills project.

Catering for pressing market demands requires mobilising relevant knowledge and investment capacity from industrial stakeholders, complemented with a modern need-driven upskilling and reskilling offer from education and training providers.

Lead by EIT Health, the four-year, BRIGHTskills project will solidify the ambitions of the Large-Scale Skills Partnership for the European Health Industry under the Pact for Skills to develop a Health Industry Skills Strategy for workforce development. The actionable strategy will set a clear roadmap for the extensive implementation of talent development efforts, driving the transformation of regional, national and European health industry ecosystems.

“At EIT Health, we understand that the challenges facing Europe’s healthcare ecosystem demand bold, collaborative action. The BRIGHTskills project is a testament to our commitment to equipping the workforce with the skills needed to navigate the green and digital transitions, ensuring the sector remains resilient, innovative, and globally competitive,” says Katja Nacesvski, BRIGHTskills project co-ordinator and programme manager at EIT Health. “By uniting industry leaders, education providers and policymakers, we aim to create a comprehensive strategy for talent development that addresses both current and future market needs. This initiative represents a vital step towards empowering the workforce to drive meaningful change right across our healthcare industry.”

The BRIGHTskills’ collaborative project officially kicked off on the 20th of January at EIT House, Brussels. Co-funded by the European Commission under the Erasmus+ programme (Alliances for Innovation – Lot 2: Alliances for Sectoral Cooperation on Skills), this Blueprint Alliance will enable the continuous development, innovation and competitiveness of three health industry subsectors (MedTech, PPE, BioTech and Digital Health) by creating a dedicated skills observatory, competences matrices, self-assessment skill development tools and curated, certified, accredited training programmes in line with educational and industry best practices and standards.

“We are extremely excited to work together with EIT Health and the other 25 BRIGHTskills partners in this newly launched Blueprint Alliance that promises to become a game changer in the European health industry by helping close the gap between current and future workers’ education and the fastly evolving market demands,” said Valentina Tageo, Wise Angle Founder and Partner.

To stay up to date on the latest BRIGHTskills news make sure to follow the project’s X and LinkedIn channels.