Skills
Training

Human capital and training: building the capability behind Digital Algeria 2030

The second axis treats people and training as part of the foundation of digital transformation. Page 16 of the English edition sets two objectives: a pool of 500,000 active ICT specialists and a 40% reduction in skilled departures abroad. The underlying concern is sustained capability in public and private organizations. This article examines what those objectives cover, what their measurement would require, and how a business can turn a training need into observable workplace performance.

The main findings

Objective 7 targets 500,000 active ICT specialists supporting both public and private sectors.
The specialist target is not described as a count of course registrations, qualifications or graduates.
Objective 8 targets a 40% reduction in departures abroad through a sustainable, competitive digital ecosystem.
Workplace digital competence includes knowledge, skills and responsible judgment, alongside specialist technical expertise.
Task-based assessment helps an organization distinguish participation in learning from the ability to perform its work.

National ambitions and business evidence

The strategy supplies the national targets. Somu Raqami proposes the operational questions and evidence in the other columns; these are not additional official indicators.

Area	Strategy target	Business question	Evidence to check
Specialist workforce	500,000 active specialists	What capabilities keep the service running?	A task performed with appropriate independence
Retention	40% fewer departures abroad	What prevents professional development?	Exit reasons and development opportunities
Continuing training	Skills remain relevant	Which work has changed?	Assessment before and after learning
Knowledge transfer	Our operational recommendation	Can another person take over?	A demonstrated handover and usable documentation

Why capability belongs beside infrastructure

The strategy’s introductory statement and diagram place human capital, training and research and development alongside basic infrastructure. This is a practical relationship: technology needs people who can implement, operate, question and maintain it. A system cannot sustain its own business rules or decide what a record should mean.

The dedicated axis page sets two objectives rather than a catalogue of research projects or a curriculum by occupation. The broader presence of research and development does not establish a particular funded programme. We therefore keep the national goals separate from the training structures and organizational practices we propose below.

Objective 7: active ICT specialists in both sectors

Objective 7 calls for 500,000 active ICT specialists to provide qualified workforce support to public and private sectors. The source highlights training and continued skills renewal in an evolving technological environment, linked to implementing and managing innovative digital solutions. The focus is a workforce capable of doing the work.

Counting training places would not establish that outcome. Page 16 does not provide a statistical definition of active specialist, an occupational distribution or a counting methodology. An implementation assessment needs those definitions and a way to distinguish people from multiple course registrations. We do not invent a present headcount or allocate the target among professions.

Digital competence extends beyond knowing an interface

A worker may navigate an application and still lack the judgment to assess a source, share data responsibly or resolve a mistake. The European Commission’s Joint Research Centre organizes these issues through DigComp: information, communication and collaboration, content creation, safety and responsible use, and problem identification and solving.

We use that reference to structure learning questions, not to claim it is an Algerian obligation. An employee handling a customer record, for example, needs to recognize the authoritative version, understand who can receive it and know how to correct an error. Specialist programming or administration skills may be additional requirements for another role.

Start a learning plan with the task

A learning outcome should name what a person will be able to do. “Learn the system” does not explain the expected result; “record a request correctly and pass it to the authorized reviewer” does. Somu Raqami recommends defining the task, its conditions, the help allowed and the evidence of completion before choosing the lesson format.

Consider an illustrative stock-control exercise: the learner records a movement and explains why it differs from the receiving document. This is a hypothetical teaching example, not a claimed customer project. It tests judgment and error handling as well as normal navigation, which makes the assessment more useful for real operations.

Identify a work task for each role.
Observe current performance before assigning training.
Use safe practice data, including a known exception.
Keep evidence of completion and the support still required.

When a learning platform becomes useful

A learning platform is useful when an organization needs repeated pathways, controlled access, content updates and a record of progress. It can support onboarding and assessment, while the organization retains responsibility for its professional content and the meaning of a successful result. The platform is part of delivery, not proof of competence.

Objective 7 does not require every organization to purchase an LMS. A small scope may be served by a workshop and usable documentation; repeated training across roles may need a more structured environment. Establish who owns the content and evaluates the tasks, then select the system that supports that process.

Objective 8: reduce skilled departures abroad

Objective 8 sets a 40% reduction in departures abroad. It describes ICT professionals seeking better opportunities overseas and links retention to a sustainable, competitive national digital ecosystem. The goal is an environment that keeps and develops specialized capability, not a prohibition on professional mobility.

The axis does not identify a baseline year, a detailed incentive package or a quota for each employer. Without a defined reference period and population, the percentage cannot be converted into a supported number of retained people. Assessing progress requires implementation evidence about who is counted, what constitutes departure and which periods can be compared.

Retention and continuity are related but different

Retention concerns the conditions under which people choose to stay and develop. Continuity concerns whether the organization can keep operating when a person changes role or leaves. A business can examine both without claiming to solve the national migration objective by itself. Role clarity, development opportunities and tools that support work are useful subjects for an evidence-based conversation.

For continuity, document operational decisions and procedures and practise a handover. Saving files is not the same as transferring understanding. Another authorized person should be able to explain the process and carry it out. These are our recommendations; the strategy does not specify wage figures or a universal retention scheme.

Measure learning through performance and independence

Attendance establishes participation; completion establishes that someone finished a course sequence. Neither alone establishes capability in the workplace. DigComp describes proficiency through task complexity, cognitive demand and autonomy. That distinction helps shape an assessment without prescribing a European qualification for an Algerian business.

Record performance before learning, after the exercise and during actual use. Review the errors that recur, the assistance needed and whether the person can explain the next action. These internal indicators can reveal learning effectiveness. They are not substitutes for the national specialist headcount or evidence that Objective 7 has been achieved.

Do not combine the 40% and 20% targets

The skills axis concerns departures abroad under Objective 8. The governance axis separately contains Objective 11, which concerns public-sector attractiveness and a 20% reduction in skill departures. Their scope is different. Adding them together, or applying both to the same employee population, would create a measure the document does not define.

The distinction also explains the connection between axes: the country needs a broad specialist workforce, while public institutions need the capacity to manage their own transformation. When quoting a target, include its objective and population. Similar wording does not make two indicators interchangeable.

What to request from a training project

Request a role and task map, relevant content, realistic practice and an assessment record. The expected output is usable capability and knowledge that the organization can maintain. Those are Somu Raqami’s project recommendations, rather than a national syllabus or a list of officially accredited courses found in these pages.

Begin where a skill gap has a clear operational consequence and check the result before expanding. The human-capital axis supplies the direction: qualified people who can develop and manage solutions. Your assessment supplies local evidence of capability, while a separate national monitoring source is needed to evaluate the two headline targets.

Frequently asked questions

Is the 500,000 figure a target for graduates?

The English source describes 500,000 active ICT specialists supporting public and private sectors. It does not label the figure as graduates or training certificates. A valid progress report needs a definition of active specialist and a counting method, rather than treating enrolment as equivalent to workforce capability.

Does the 40% target prohibit specialists from leaving?

Objective 8 describes reducing departures abroad by creating a sustainable and competitive digital ecosystem. It does not state a prohibition on movement or establish an individual employer quota. The percentage is an intended national outcome and requires a defined baseline to assess.

Does every business need an LMS?

The axis does not impose a learning-platform purchase. A platform is useful when repeated pathways, assessment and content management justify it. First define the tasks, the learning content and who evaluates the result, then choose the smallest delivery arrangement that can support those needs.

Does using an AI tool demonstrate digital competence?

Using one tool does not establish the ability to evaluate information, protect data or solve problems responsibly. DigComp treats digital competence more broadly. For workplace assessment, examine the task, the learner’s reasoning and their checks on the output, rather than equating generated material with professional capability.

How can an organization verify that training worked?

Define the task before training, observe its current performance and reassess it after learning and during real use. Record errors, assistance and independence. Attendance and course completion remain useful records, but demonstrated workplace performance provides stronger evidence of an operational improvement.

Explore the strategy and your next step

Custom learning platformsManage learning paths, assessment and evidence of progress in your own platform.The practical strategy overviewConnect the five axes to a focused first project for your organization.The next axis in the seriesExamine how this axis depends on the other parts of the strategy.Digital Algeria 2030A reference overview of the five national axes.