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Technological progress is driven by individual's self-interested attempts to make profit from their ingenuity. These innovations do not materialize from thin air, they are a result of costly investments often requiring extensive and much accumulated skills. People typically acquire skills enabling them to implement existing technologies and generate incentive for new technologies to be developed. It is therefore logical that so long as the frontiers of Science and Technology keep expanding globally there will be continuous need to acquire new skills while at the same time generate requisite skills in existing technologies / disciplines.

Scarce and Critical skills may be defined as "an absolute or relative demand: current or in future; or in the future; for skilled; qualified and experienced people to fill particular roles / professions, occupations or specializations in the labour market". Critical skills refers to particular set of capabilities needed within an occupation, for example, general management skills, communication and customer handling skills, teamwork skills, and communication technology skills. There is also a distinction between absolute and relative scarcity of skills. Absolute scarcity refers to suitably skilled people who are not available in the labour market and may include new or emerging occupation, lack of suitably qualified people of insufficient numbers of people enrolled in programmes to meet the new demands. Relative scarcity refers to suitably skilled people available in the labour market but who may not necessarily have a high level of work experience, may not be located within a specific geographical location and equity considerations.

It is within the context of these definitions that we must, as a country, begin to develop appropriate strategies to deal with specific problems. Importation of skills, as it is usually the case, may be an alternative but it is a temporary measure. It may sound attractive but is not sustainable in the long term if we are to be self dependent and progressive.

In view of the peculiar position of the Agency which places it at the fore front for national technology development, NASENI is constantly engaged in the development / acquisition / engagement of skills in new and emerging technologies as well as critical requisite skills for national development. Some of the areas considered by the agency as scarce critical skills has been put in a fora form to help in the dispersion, community integration and sharing of these skills to the public.

Thank You.

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