The Skills Framework for the Information Age (SFIA) is a
management tool designed to help decision-makers understand and develop the
skills required in the information and technology industry. SFIA's seven
generic levels of responsibility provide a background against which specific
professional skills can be judged. SFIA defines almost 100 fundamental
professional IT skills, with behavioural skills and knowledge required for the
IT industry. Experience and qualifications validate an individual's capability.
The management cycle presented by SFIA includes recruitment, deployment,
assessment, analysis, development, reward, and overall resource management.
The stages of skills
Level 1 - Follow: At this level, an individual is expected
to follow predefined processes and procedures under close supervision. They
usually have limited autonomy, work on basic tasks and are still developing
their skills. Examples of roles at this level include Help Desk Analyst, Data
Entry Clerk, and Junior Developer.
Level 2 - Assist: An individual at this level is expected to
take on more responsibility and work under general supervision. They are
required to apply their knowledge and skills to a range of tasks and may be
involved in problem-solving. Examples of roles at this level include Technical
Support Analyst, Junior Project Manager, and Junior Network Engineer.
Level 3 - Apply: At this level, an individual is expected to
use their skills and knowledge to complete tasks and solve problems. They are
required to work independently and apply their expertise to a range of
situations. Examples of roles at this level include Business Analyst, Software
Developer, and Senior Network Engineer.
Level 4 - Enable: An individual at this level is expected to
take on more significant responsibilities and lead small teams. They are
required to manage resources, plan and prioritize work, and deliver results.
Examples of roles at this level include Project Manager, Technical Architect,
and IT Security Manager.
Level 5 - Ensure/Advise: At this level, an individual is
expected to manage complex projects and provide advice to senior management.
They are responsible for ensuring that their area of expertise is aligned with
the organization's strategic objectives. Examples of roles at this level
include IT Consultant, Enterprise Architect, and IT Service Manager.
Level 6 - Initiate/Influence: An individual at this level is
expected to initiate and lead projects and influence senior management
decisions. They are required to work at a strategic level and have a
significant impact on the organization's direction. Examples of roles at this
level include IT Director, Chief Technology Officer (CTO), and Senior
Enterprise Architect.
Level 7 - Set Strategy/Inspire: At this level, an individual
is expected to set the strategic direction of the organization and inspire
others to achieve it. They are responsible for creating a vision for the future
and ensuring that the organization is positioned to achieve its goals. Examples
of roles at this level include Chief Information Officer (CIO), Chief Digital
Officer (CDO), and Chief Innovation Officer (CIO).
Each of the topics linked with the skills
Emerging technology monitoring:
Information content authoring: research and develop content
about emerging technologies
Business analysis: analyze the impact of emerging
technologies on the business
Solution architecture: design solutions that incorporate
emerging technologies
Emerging technology monitoring: monitor emerging
technologies and assess their potential impact on the business
Innovation:
Business analysis: identify opportunities for innovation
within the business
Solution development and implementation: develop and
implement innovative solutions
Emerging technology monitoring: keep track of new
technologies and assess their potential for innovation
Creativity: generate new ideas for products, services, or
processes
Artificial intelligence:
Data analysis: analyze data to develop machine learning
models
Solution development and implementation: develop and
implement AI-based solutions
Solution architecture: design AI-based solutions
Emerging technology monitoring: keep track of AI
advancements and assess their potential for business use
Ethics:
Compliance: ensure that IT practices and solutions align
with ethical and legal standards
Business analysis: identify ethical considerations in IT
decision-making
Relationship management: communicate ethical considerations
to stakeholders
Governance: establish policies and guidelines that address
ethical issues in IT
Virtual environments:
Infrastructure management: manage virtual environments and
cloud-based services
Solution architecture: design virtualized solutions
Emerging technology monitoring: keep track of advancements
in virtualization technology
Problem management: troubleshoot issues with virtual environments
Input and output systems:
Solution development and implementation: develop and
implement input/output systems
Solution architecture: design input/output systems
Emerging technology monitoring: keep track of advancements
in input/output technology
Testing: test and evaluate input/output systems
Recommendation systems:
Data analysis: analyze user data to develop personalized
recommendations
Solution development and implementation: develop and
implement recommendation systems
Solution architecture: design recommendation systems
Emerging technology monitoring: keep track of advancements
in recommendation technology
Media literacy:
Learning and development: train users on media literacy
skills
Relationship management: communicate media literacy needs to
stakeholders
Business analysis: identify media literacy needs in the
business
Information content authoring: develop media literacy
content for users
Skills of the information age:
Learning and development: train users on essential IT skills
Information content authoring: develop content on essential
IT skills
Relationship management: communicate the importance of IT
skills to stakeholders
Business analysis: identify IT skills needed for the
business
Sensors and embedded systems:
Solution development and implementation: develop and
implement solutions that incorporate sensors and embedded systems
Solution architecture: design solutions that incorporate
sensors and embedded systems
Emerging technology monitoring: keep track of advancements
in sensor and embedded system technology
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Checklist of CBI employability skills for students |
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Competency |
When might you use these skills?
|
How do you rate
your skills? |
|
Self-management Accept responsibility, flexibility,
resilience, self-starting, appropriate assertiveness, time management,
readiness to improve own performance based on feedback/reflective learning. |
I
used this skill to finish my blogs and other coursework’s are submitted on
time. So that I can get effective marks. |
3 |
|
Team working Respecting others, co-operating, negotiating,
persuading, contributing to discussions, awareness of interdependence with
others. |
I
used this skill in the group project
to navigate the suitable roles foreach member in the group to produce the best
Arduino in addition get the components working together as a group. |
3 |
|
Business & customer awareness Basic understanding of key drivers for
business success – including importance of innovation, taking calculated
risks and profit – and the need to provide customer satisfaction and build
customer loyalty. |
I
used this skill especially from the topic recommender systems to understand
that before any suggestion to a user I must pay attention to their previous content
consumption and patterns to suggest the most suitable content. |
2 |
|
Problem solving Analysing facts and situations and applying
creative thinking to develop appropriate solutions. |
I
used this skill together with research to solve problems with the Arduino components work especially when
components failed to work. |
4 |
|
Communication & literacy Application of literacy, ability to produce
clear, structured written work and oral literacy, including listening and
questioning. |
I
used this to present my blogs in a summarized but comprehensible manner to
the reader and to fully show how I understood each topic in the module. |
4 |
|
Application of numeracy Manipulation of numbers, general mathematical
awareness and its application in practical contexts
(e.g. measuring,
weighing, estimating and applying
formulae). |
I
used this skill to understand how to convert binary to decimal, hexadecimal, octal
and understand the capacity of hard drive using Moore’s law. |
4 |
|
Application of IT Basic IT skills, including familiarity with
word processing, spreadsheets, file management and use of internet search
engines. |
I
learnt how to use different apps for example the tinker card that helped me
for my Arduino project ,photoshop for changing eye color and most importantly
blogger.com to effectively show my blogs. |
3 |
References
SFIA5ref_en (2).pdfAcessed on 20th March 2023
Mapping SFIA levels of responsibilities to behavioural factors — English (sfia-online.org)
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