The Association of Professional Engineers, Scientists & Managers, Australia (APESMA) convened a National Engineering, Science and Technology Skills Summit at Parliament House Canberra on Tuesday 19 June 2007.

Participation in the skills summit was limited to 50 representatives from relevant industry and professional associations, academia, government and industry.

The summit provided an opportunity for participants to focus on the contemporary and future skills issues relevant to the supply of professionals qualified in engineering, science and technology to meet Australia’s needs going forward.

In this respect, the summit was structured to provide the maximum opportunity for participants to contribute to the development of a strategic framework for addressing the skills issue.

This included discussions relating to the following stages of the “lifecycle” of professionals:

• increasing demand from school leavers for university places in engineering, science and technology courses;

• encouraging greater collaboration between business, industry and the university sector to support both undergraduate/post graduate programs;

• reducing the attrition rate from the professional disciplines in both the university courses and in the workforce; and

• enhancing workforce skills development and retention of such skills in transition to retirement.

The skills summit provided a unique opportunity for the key players in the engineering, science and technology sector to work together to identify an appropriate strategic framework to seek to address the skills issues.

The format for the summit provided the maximum opportunity for participant contribution through a series of moderated sessions. These sessions were designed for participants to propose solutions for addressing the skills shortage as it impacts on their particular sector.