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including interview with Ulrich Dohmen, contact partner for the IQ advice portal at the NRW-West Regional Integration Network.

Further development of the virtual IQ advice on recognition and job training provided on our advice portal at www.anerkennungsberatung-iq.de

Starting point/challenge

In 2017, the North Rhine-Westphalia IQ Network Coordination Office developed the IQ NRW Web-App, a digital instrument for advice on recognition and job training. This app was able to carry out much preliminary work independently of the advisory session, such as recording a person’s name and career progression and capturing any necessary certificates and documents. It was reserved for use by advisers. An additional service offering broad coverage was thus created for skilled workers who were less mobile. Those seeking advice no longer needed to spend time attending a face-to-face appointment. It also became possible to offer advice more widely, even if no local advisers were in place.

The Web-App took on greater significance during the time of the pandemic and for this reason was comprehensively revised by the IT and advice teams in 2020. The app was now able to manage and map an advisory process in full, although its design was mainly tailored to advice on recognition and job training in North Rhine-Westphalia. In the wake of the Online Access Act (Onlinezugangsgesetz, OZG), the aim was for professional recognition within the IQ Funding Programme to become “more digital”. Immigration and new regulations relating to the migration of skilled workers to Germany have brought about a huge increase in the advice figures and in the requirement for advice. Eight federal states and 34 of the country’s 60 IQ advice centres now wished to use the platform. This meant that the relevant capacities needed to be established within a short period of time.

Implementation of the concept

In 2023, the IQ advice portal underwent further development within the IQ Funding Programme on the basis of the previous IQ NRW Web-App. Transfer took place via training and information events. The Coordination Office of the NRW-West Regional Integration Network designed the portal itself using Open Source CMS (Typo3). The platform is available free of charge to both those seeking advice and to advisers. It offers individual advice on recognition and job training from IQ experts. The system is secure, transparent, multilingual and intuitive to use. Users enter their own professional background information and can upload documents and certificates. An IQ advisory session is allocated by postcode. An IQ adviser will then make contact with the person seeking advice. They will respond to questions by email, or else a personal advisory session will be arranged. All advice cases are securely archived and documented so that monitoring and knowledge management can be developed at the same time.

More than 26,000 advice enquiries were registered across Germany in the IQ Funding Programme in 2023. By the start of December 2023, 188 advisers had already received access to the platform. Training courses are held regularly in order to familiarise new advisers with the possibilities and use of the IQ advice tool. Other providers may also use the platform alongside the IQ advice service. These advisory sessions are evaluated separately. A constantly growing FAQ section assists advisers, who form a community via the platform to offer one another mutual support in their advice activities. The IQ advice portal is highlighted by active public relations work carried out by the Federal Employment Agency (BA), by competent bodies, by various social media, by local government consultation services and by many others besides.

Regular networking meetings occur between advisers, the IQ Recognition and Qualification Competence Centre and programmers in order to develop the contents and functionality of the platform further.

Conclusion

Because persons seeking advice record their own data, advice is much more direct, more individual and more efficient. Above all, it can take place nationwide via an Internet browser. By the beginning of December 2023, 18,000 advisory sessions had been completed via the digital platform in its first year of operation. All advisory sessions are documented and can be evaluated in accordance with the respective target groups and contents in a way which enables policy making and labour market recommendations to be derived. It has been possible to further develop the advisory sessions themselves in qualitative terms and to achieve significant acceleration. This has increased availability of IQ advice and improved cooperation with the regulatory institutions. The IQ advice portal currently represents the optimum digital advisory standard for professional recognition.