When industry meets Education 4.0: What do Computer Science companies need from Higher Education?

Education 4.0 emphasises the development of skills and competences necessary in a modern workplace. In this paper, we explored what these Education 4.0 skills look like through exploring the opinions of industry professionals in the Computer Science (CS) sector. A series of focus groups involving CS companies from across Europe were used to identify the skills required and the current gaps in training for CS graduates. The two main gaps identified by companies were graduates’ lack of soft skills and challenges to applying theoretical knowledge to different practical contexts. Strengths identified included good knowledge of programming and interacting with clients and customers on a technical level. Amongst the suggested ways for addressing these gaps were a close collaboration between industry and academia through company placements and opportunities for project-based learning in higher education.