Annex 8 - UK Survey

The following is a summary of the findings of a survey of ITS training needs recently carried out in the United Kingdom by the Education Interest Group of ITS UK, the body responsible for the promotion of ITS in Britain.

Despite the limited scope of this survey and some shortcomings the method employed (questionnaire distributed to ITS UK members only), it does gives some indications of the type of needs which appears to exist (at least in the UK). It could possibly be used as a basis for a more rigorous survey to be undertaken at European level.

Source of demand

It would appear that the greatest demand for training is from recent graduates, although there is also considerable demand from middle management and technicians. There is less need (or perhaps less awareness of need) for ITS training on the part of senior management.

Staff requiring training:
new graduates - 63%
middle management - 32%
senior management - 16%
others (e.g. technicians) - 32%

Current forms of training

A very low percentage of ITS training is carried out through formal courses. The vast majority seems to be either "picked up" through work or gained through attendance at seminars and congresses. It means that the resulting knowledge is likely to be unstructured and partial.

Knowledge currently acquired: in-house (on the job) 59%, seminars/congresses 41%, external courses 24%, books/journals 18%, no training 18%, formal courses 12%.

AREA	% REPLIES
Project management	53
Scheme design	53
System design	47
Business management	41
Scheme assessment	41
Others	41
Software engineering	35
System maintenance	35
Planning	29
System testing	29
Status refresh	29
Economics	12
Electrical engineering	12
Mathematics	12
Civil engineering	6
Mechanical engineering	0

Figure 4: Major skills sought through training

Figure 5: Desired attributes of ITS training courses
(Key to colours: blue = first option listed, brown = second, yellow = third)

Skills sought

According to the survey, the skills felt to be necessary include a wide range of different types of expertise (see Fig. 4). High on the list are system design and scheme design (both requiring a high level of technical knowledge and a good 'overall view' of ITS); project management, scheme assessment and business management (requiring analytical business skills); and software engineering and system testing (requiring specialised technical know how).

One conclusion is that the areas of knowledge needed involve specialised ITS skills, as opposed to traditional areas of know how, such as mathematics, economics and engineering. In relation to such skills, the knowledge required needs to cover not only technical aspects, but also project management, maintenance, planning, maintenance and testing.

As would be expected with a field with fast changing technology, there is also a strong need felt for renewal of skills in the form of refresher courses.

Form of training

It appears from the UK survey that the greatest demand in relation to the form of training (see Fig. 5) is for external training (as opposed to in house), part time (rather than full time) with an 'intensity' of one day a week, and organised through universities or industry.

One of the main shortcomings identified was the ability to see the "big picture" and the "lack of "integration skills". Since current trends in ITS deployment are making both increasingly necessary, this supports the demand for a more structured and wide-ranging approach to ITS education.

ITS qualifications

A further significant outcome of the UK survey is the desirability of creating a specific ITS qualification. It was felt that this would add status and interest, since existing forms of accreditation are not well suited to the purpose.