Future Skills Requirements of the International Digital Media Industry: Implications for Ireland To the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment and the Minister for Education and Science Future Skills Requirements of the International Digital Media Industry: Implications for Ireland To the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment and the Minister for Education and Science July 2006 Future Skills Requirements of the International Digital Media Industr y Future Skills Requirements of the International Digital Media Industry: Implications for Ireland A study for the Expert Group on Future Skills Needs and Forfás undertaken by Strategy Advisory Services Division PricewaterhouseCoopers Ireland July 2006 ii Future Skills Requirements of the International Digital Media Industry Foreword by Ms. Anne Heraty Chairperson, Expert Group on Future Skills Needs As high bandwidth digital technologies, ranging from portable devices to wireless and broadband connectivity, become increasingly pervasive around the globe, they will fuel an insatiable demand for high quality content that can be delivered to users over these channels. This content will span entertainment, information, education and business applications, as well as novel applications that we cannot even envisage at present. Consequently there are huge opportunities for a country which can position itself at the nexus of the creative arts and digital technology. This study was undertaken in response to a request from IDA Ireland to the Expert Group for an assessment to be carried out of the future skills requirements of the leading multinationals in the digital content sector, not currently operating in Ireland. IDA Ireland wished to ascertain what skills would be required in the future in order to make Ireland an attractive location for these multinationals to carry out high value­added activities. Naturally, any success in this regard would provide significant, and immediate, auxiliary benefits for the indigenous industry. By virtue of the mandate of the Expert Group, this study confined itself to consideration of skills issues for the digital content sector and did not address broader enterprise development issues for the sector. This report fulfils three roles. Firstly, it provides a deep insight into the occupational composition and associated skills requirements of the leading international firms in the digital content sector. Secondly, it will inform the indigenous sector of the skills­related developments in the international industry and thereby help them to compete more effectively in the global market. Thirdly, the detailed findings of this report should facilitate education and training providers in keeping their curricula and programmes up to date with developments in the industry and thereby maximise the employability of their graduates. For the first time those involved in digital media education have a detailed occupational breakdown by sector with the associated skills identified in great detail. The minimum or prevalent level of education is also identified for many occupations. This report should also serve as a resource for Irish industry. By identifying the skills employed by the leading international companies in the digital media industry, the Expert Group is flagging for Irish digital media companies the skills trajectory they are likely to have to follow. On behalf of the Expert Group I would like to thank the numerous individuals in the firms and colleges, in the US, in the UK and here in Ireland, who so generously contributed their time and expertise to this study and without whose willing participation the study would not have been possible. I would also like to express my appreciation to IDA Ireland for their support and cooperation during the course of this study and to the members of the Steering Committee for their numerous and valuable contributions. Finally, I would like to thank Forfás for comissioning this study and to commend PricewaterhouseCoopers for their excellent work. Ms. Anne Heraty Chairperson, Expert Group on Future Skills Needs July 2006 iii Future Skills Requirements of the International Digital Media Industry Acknowledgement This report, “Future Skills Requirements of the International Digital Media Industry”, has been prepared by the Strategy Advisory Services Division of PricewaterhouseCoopers Ireland on behalf of the Expert Group on Future Skills Needs and Forfás. PwC would like to thank both the companies and the universities and colleges that agreed to participate in the research for the study. PwC would also like to thank the study Steering Committee and the Forfás Secretariat of the Expert Group on Future Skills Needs for their help in carrying out the study. iv Future Skills Requirements of the International Digital Media Industry Table of Contents Foreword by Ms Anne Heraty, Chairperson, Expert Group on Future Skills Needs ......................................(iii) Table of Contents ............................................................................................................................(v) List of Tables and Figures ................................................................................................................(viii) Executive Summary ..............................................................................................................................1 1. Background ......................................................................................................................1 2. Terms of Reference ............................................................................................................1 3. Methodology ....................................................................................................................2 4. Report Structure................................................................................................................2 5. The Global Digital Media Environment ..................................................................................3 6. Digital Media Skills: International Demand ............................................................................4 7. Review of US Providers of Digital Media Skills ........................................................................5 8. Review of Irish Providers of Digital Media Skills ....................................................................5 9. Digital Media Skills and Enterprise Clustering ........................................................................6 10. Conclusions and Recommendations ......................................................................................7 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................12 1.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................12 1.2 Phase I Study – Skills Requirements of the Digital Content Industry in Ireland ........................12 1.3 Terms of Reference ..........................................................................................................13 1.4 Approach and Method ......................................................................................................14 1.5 Target Companies ............................................................................................................15 1.6 Report Structure ..............................................................................................................16 2. The Global Digital Media Environment ......................................................................................17 2.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................17 2.2 Overview of the Global Digital Media Market ........................................................................17 2.3 Industry Trends and Key Drivers of Change ..........................................................................20 2.4 The Global Digital Media “Value Chain” ..............................................................................27 2.5 Summary of Chapter Findings ............................................................................................30 3. Digital Media Skills – International Demand ..............................................................................31 3.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................31 3.2 Skills Profile in the Games Sector ......................................................................................31 3.3 Skills Profile in Computer Generated Animation and Special Effects ........................................37 3.4 Skills Profile in the Digital Film Sector................................................................................42 3.5 Skills Profile in the Digital Television Sector ........................................................................46 3.6 Skills Profile in the e­Music Sector ....................................................................................50 3.7 Skills Profile in the Wireless and Mobile Services Sector ........................................................54 3.8 Skills Profile in the e­Learning Sector ................................................................................57 3.9 Source of Skills ..............................................................................................................60