As part of the ongoing work to enhance the skills and talent pipeline through the Digital Technologies Industry Transformation Plan, New Zealand now has a national Skills Framework for the Information Age (SFIA) licence so all business and government agencies can adopt and use the framework. This licence is jointly funded by the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment (MBIE) and the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA).
SFIA is a global technical competency and skills framework used in around 200 countries and extensively in New Zealand and Australia. The licence enables all government entities, all New Zealand businesses, and individuals to access and use the SFIA framework. It provides a shared and internationally recognised framework to identify digital skills and career pathways within the digital tech sector, including sub-sectors such as Software as a Service (SaaS) and cyber security.
The country-wide licence removes all other complication with SFIA licencing and will enable an eco‑system to develop where government and private sector organisations can discuss the framework, the application of it, share resources and new ideas. No specific log-in is needed; however, users need to be registered with an NZBN.
The New Zealand country licence will enable an agreed, common, and inclusive language for digital skills for organisations to use:
- as a national basis for skills assessment, development, and transfer across providers, pathways, courses and so forth (by government, industry, and providers),
- to map and support consistent career development pathways for digital tech workers,
- to ensure overseas skills supply is targeted where industry most needs, and
- to refine and reduce the number of job titles in the industry.
MBIE and DIA are working in partnership with industry to support and promote the use of the SFIA framework. More resources will be available for industry and government agencies on how to implement and utilise the SFIA framework in due course. In the meantime, there is more general information on the SFIA available on the SFIA foundation’s website.
