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IT Human Resources Development
Creating Standards to Measure IT Engineer Expertise
The ITEE is the preeminent national examination in Japan for IT, and is trusted as the most extensive test of an individual' IT-related knowledge and skills. ITEE and three other skill standards are used to nurture human resources in the IT field. These tests are just another way in which IPA supports the development of Japan's IT workforce.
- ■IPA Provides Standards to Measure IT Engineer Expertise
- ■Information Technology Engineers Examination (ITEE)
■IPA Provides Standards to Measure IT Engineer Expertise
IPA supports the improvement in individual knowledge and skills, and contributes to the development of the IT workforce through the implementation of the ITEE, and the promotion and spread of the Skills Standards.
■Information Technology Engineers Examination (ITEE)
The ITEE is the largest national IT examination with over 570,000 examinees annually, and is used by a wide spectrum of people. Over 16.8 million people have sat the examination since its introduction in 1969, and approximately 2.0 million examinees have passed.* As an objective assessment criteria for IT human resources, the ITEE is widely used by individuals as an indicator for studying and brushing up their skills, and by companies and schools as an employment and educational standard.
The ITEE is organized to assist skill improvement
and is divided into four levels from introductory to
advanced across 12 categories.
*Number of applicants: Up to 2012 spring examination
Number of successful applicants: Up to 2012 March
•Skill Standards for IT Professionals
Skill Standards for IT Professionals fundamentally indicate,
arrange and organize the skills required to provide IT services.
The ITSS classifies the information services industry into 11
job categories and 35 specialty fields, with seven levels in
each field. The standards help engineers to decide their
future career objectives and what skills they need to improve
to achieve them. Approximately 80% of large companies and
70% of SMEs have introduced or are considering using the
ITSS. Both management and engineers widely use the ITSS to
forecast their individual and corporate prospects.
| Job Categories | Specialty Fields |
|---|---|
| Marketing | Marketing management, Sales channel strategy, Market communication |
| Sales | Consulting sales by visiting customers, Product sales by visiting customers, Sales via media |
| Consultant | Industry, Business function |
| IT architect | Application architecture, Integration architecture, Infrastructure architecture |
| Project management | Systems development, IT outsourcing, Network service, Software product development |
| IT specialist | Platform, Network, Database, Common application infrastructure, Systems management, Security |
| Application specialist | Business application system, Business application package |
| Software development | Operating system, Middleware, Application software |
| Customer service | Hardware, Software, Facility management |
| IT service management | Operations management, System management, Operations, Service desk |
| Education | Training planning, Instruction |
•Users' Information Systems Skill Standards (UISS)
The Users' Information Systems Skill Standards (UISS)
seek to increase visibility of the functions and roles required
in an information system from a management perspective
to strengthen an enterprise’s competitiveness. The UISS
comprehensively arranges and organizes the skills
and knowledge necessary for the optimal placement of
corporate information systems, human resource placement
and effective human resource training.
•Embedded Technology Skill Standards (ETSS)
The Embedded Technology Skill Standards (ETSS) is
aimed at realizing effective development and use of human
resource to strengthen the development capabilities of
embedded software (see p.8). ETSS is divided into “skill
standards,” “career standards,” and “training standards” and
the contents are interlocked with the ITSS and the UISS.