Skills and the new "knowledge economy"

by Antonis Zairis

Several other factors continue to perpetuate this gap. First, there is often a lack of structured internship programs and meaningful cooperation with academic institutions. Second, communication between the academic and business communities remains insufficient, particularly with regard to the participation of businesses in the co-design of university curricula. Third, there is still difficulty in recognizing that market demand increasingly concerns specific skills, such as project management and digital capabilities required to work with specialized applications. Finally, the broader framework of the labor market contributes to the problem, as it often results in an oversupply of graduates in the humanities and a shortage of graduates with technical skills.

More specifically, the skills currently in short supply are primarily technical, including digital competencies, specialized administrative support tools and applications, data analysis, collaboration platforms, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, big data, and automation systems. At the same time, there is also a growing need for soft skills, such as communication, leadership, time-management techniques, the ability to collaborate in multicultural environments, critical thinking, and resilience in the face of constant change.

From the perspective of business leadership, it is clear that companies bear significant responsibility for continuously studying the evolving environment and understanding the changes taking place within it. Their objective should not only be to identify specialized executives but also to ensure that these professionals possess the ability to work effectively in teams. Greek universities undoubtedly have a key role to play in this process, as the next phase of economic development will increasingly be based on knowledge and innovation. This requires strategies for smart specialization and the effective exploitation of new discoveries emerging from research, which in turn necessitates stronger interconnection and networking between the academic community and the business sector.

In practical terms, universities and research centers should be encouraged to prepare and participate in the creation of larger, more specialized research management schemes. Such structures would facilitate the dissemination of knowledge produced within universities throughout the wider productive system. But how can this be achieved? Through the promotion of open research, open data, open-source software, and the broader dissemination of know-how, as well as through the accumulation and sharing of knowledge across institutions and sectors. Importantly, many of these initiatives do not necessarily require significant additional resources. Rather, they require targeted institutional reforms within universities that would allow them to evolve into true reservoirs of knowledge and technological advancement. At the same time, practical training and internship programs remain among the most effective tools for bridging the gap between education and the practical needs of the labor market.