INFORMATIQUE : MICROSOFT RECOMMENDS ITS TRAINING SERVICES TO PEOPLE IN EUROPE.

Microsoft is certainly in the limelight. On the eve of the launch of Vista, which since 30 January, is the operating system installed in most computers sold worldwide, the software giant delivered its analysis of European's mastering of information and communication technologies (ICT). A study (1) conducted among 600 employers in 10 EU countries, illustrates the link between the current debate on the competitiveness of the EU and 'social inclusion through innovation and training'. The study was also an opportunity for Microsoft to announce, at its Edinburgh Forum on 30 and 31 January, that it had given 800 million Europeans training in new technologies.

Although the situation is not yet disastrous, given that investments in ITC over the past few decades have given the European labour force the possibility of acquiring good bases, Microsoft warned that nearly 80% of jobs require these skills. It alos stressed that European bosses are not satisfied with the level of training provided by former...