Page 7 - Annual Report 2016-2017

Secretary General, Dirk BOCHAR
We will therefore in the next years be focusing our efforts on cross-stakeholder communication and further develop our image as a professional Organisation. Working together on developing a credible and compelling story that addresses stakeholder expectations and aligns with the corporate purpose is the intention of what the “Engineers Europe Advisory Group” (EEAG) will pursue. We hope to get this “External Stakeholder Forum” established and started in the course of 2018. To do this successfully we will take the initiative to participate in various consultation activities with representatives from industry, employer organiza- tions, academia and policy makers. Their inputs will be taken into account and contribute to the legitimation of what will become “Engineers Europe”. While aiming for a more coherent narrative, the external input from other stakeholders will enrich our re ections on policy-making. These external stakeholders will be encouraged to take part in (or even lead) Working Groups on particular subject matters and through the EEAG interact with the decision-making system, not by limiting the initiatives or by proposing unambitious projects, but by the establishment of the EEAG as a mechanism for information exchange, consultation and recommendation.
Through this interaction with other stakeholders of our profession, we will nurture the real sense and value of communication, of cooperation and of understanding which are also the authentic values of Europe. Participation in the Engineers Europe Advisory Group will ensure we bene t from looking at problems from different angles and assist us and other participants in developing an international vision and position, indispensable today in every job or business activity. In doing so, the engineering profession in Europe will be in a better and more harmonized position to advise the EU Institutions (Commission, Parliamentary Committees) on the “future of work” (robotics and arti cial intelligence) and policy issues related to apprenticeships, non-formal
education, future training needs of engineers around digitali- sation, media literacy and other emerging and enabling technologies.
We will be able to recommend actions to promote STEM (e.g. dissemination, awareness-raising) to support future European industrial competitiveness, also in view of the challenges of an ageing workforce. Through conducting surveys, panel discus- sions and academic sessions with the stakeholders concerned, we can assist European policy makers in identifying the main challenges, opportunities and possible solutions for industry about the engineering profession in Europe (labour market developments, employer’s needs, etc.). The EEAG should become a pan-European forum, starting with exclusively the involved stakeholder management to network, discuss, meet and exchange at a twice-per-year think-thank gathering of the EEAG, which – as time goes by - will establish and maintain relations with international/global/worldwide engineering organizations and represent the European engineers vis a vis those organizations.
Our intentions and plans are ambitious, but the General Assembly in Vienna last October 2017 has demonstrated that FEANI National Members can speak with one unanimous voice. Their involvement, participation and devotion are paramount to make our plans a reality in the years to come. We thank them for their support and dedication. 
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