SFIA, the Skills Framework for the Information Age, describes the Skills and Competencies required by professionals in roles involved in the booming data economy.

 

SFIA EU is an easy-to-use reference model and designed to be completely flexible and to fit seamlessly with a user’s established ways of working. A real thing for people who manage or work in or around information and communication technologies, digital transformation, cyber security, software engineering, and other technology-dependent specialisms.

 

 

SFIA EU views provide a quick-start list of skills that are most relevant to a selection of professional disciplines, industry topics, and complementary frameworks. SFIA EU has become the internationally known common language for the skills and competencies related to information and communication technologies, digital transformation, cyber security, and software engineering. It remains a collaboration, regularly updated through a global open consultation process.

 

It basically provides clear descriptions of skills and levels of responsibility. A framework consisting of professional skills on one axis and seven levels of responsibility on the other describes the professional skills at various levels of competence, and describes the levels of responsibility, in terms of generic attributes of Autonomy, Influence, Complexity, Knowledge, and Business Skills.

 

 

SFIA can be used across multiple industries and organizational types. It’s an ideal basis for individuals, small and large teams, whole departments, or entire organizations with thousands of employees.

 

These are followed by more detailed descriptions of what it means to practice the skill at each relevant level of responsibility. SFIA provides detailed descriptions for more than 120 professional skills and even with over 120 skills, the SFIA Framework is a straightforward framework to use. This simplicity is achieved by consistent use of a rigorous structure - once you know the structure you can navigate all skills easily.

 

People with real practical experience in developing and managing skills and competencies in the corporate, public sector, and educational environments from all around the world, contribute to ensuring it remains relevant and true.  It is built by industry and business for industry and business.

 

 

SFIA has become the globally recognized common language for the skills and competencies of the digital world.

 

SFIA can be traced back to the 1980s and a number of collaborative skills and competency projects but was officially launched in 2000. These directed to the SFIA Framework and the formation of the not-for-profit SFIA Foundation, which ensures SFIA is available to the international user base. The SFIA Foundation brings together the global community to develop and maintain the Framework for the benefit of all.

 

SFIA gives individuals and organizations a common language to define skills and expertise in a consistent way. The use of clear language, avoiding technical jargon and acronyms, makes SFIA accessible to all involved in the work as well as people in supporting roles such as human resources, learning and development, organization design, and procurement. It can solve the common translation issues that hinder communication and effective partnerships within organizations and multi-disciplinary teams.

 

SFIA works well for both large and small organizations.

 

They share an approach, a vocabulary, and a focus on skills and capability.

SFIA works well across large multinational organizations and throughout the supply chain to establish a common language for skills and competency management. SFIA is especially beneficial for small and medium-sized enterprises that simply do not have the resources to develop and maintain their own skills and competency framework and yet want to benefit from one.