Skillnet Ireland Announces New Virtual Worlds Skills Academy Initiative

Skillnet Ireland has announced the launch of the Virtual Worlds Academy of Skills (ViWAS), a major new European initiative focused on developing skills in immersive and advanced digital technologies. Co-funded under the Digital Europe Programme, the project brings together 39 partners across 16 countries to build a coordinated training and competence ecosystem that supports the future workforce needs of Europe's digital economy.  

As Ireland's partner in the consortium, Skillnet Ireland will lead work on skills intelligence and market needs analysis, helping to identify emerging industry requirements and inform the development of future curricula, learning pathways, and micro-credentials. This work will ensure that training opportunities remain closely aligned with the evolving needs of businesses and learners. 

Commenting on the importance of the new European initiative, Ken Finnegan, Chief Strategy Officer, Skillnet Ireland, said: "The launch of ViWAS represents an exciting opportunity for Skillnet Ireland to contribute to the development of future-focused skills that will support innovation and competitiveness across Europe. As immersive technologies become increasingly important across a wide range of industries, it is essential that businesses and workers have access to relevant, industry-informed learning opportunities. Through our role in ViWAS, we look forward to helping shape skills frameworks and training pathways that support the adoption of these emerging technologies." 

ViWAS aims to strengthen Europe's immersive technology capabilities by advancing digital education and future-focused skills in areas such as virtual worlds, virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), extended reality (XR) and related technologies. The initiative seeks to address growing skills gaps by creating learner-centred, inclusive and industry-informed educational pathways that support digital transformation across sectors. 

The project reflects the increasing importance of virtual worlds technologies, including extended reality, simulation and digital twins, and their applications across industries such as manufacturing, education, healthcare, ICT and the creative sectors. Through collaboration with education providers, industry stakeholders and policymakers, ViWAS will contribute to the development of a stronger European skills ecosystem for immersive technologies. 

By contributing its expertise in workforce development and industry engagement, Skillnet Ireland will help ensure that the outputs of the ViWAS project support both current and future skills needs. The initiative will also foster greater collaboration between European partners to accelerate digital transformation and build workforce capability in emerging technologies. 

ViWAS is one of a number of pan-European consortia projects that Skillnet Ireland is a partner of, focused on digitalisation and the green transition in alignment with the foundations of the EU Recovery plan. For further information about Skillnet Ireland's work within Europe’s skills and innovation ecosystem, visit: www.skillnetireland.ie/about-us/eu-projects.