WorldSkills Chinese Taipei embraces the spirit of sharing

Teams who train together, train better. That was certainly the intention behind two Skills Cooperation Workshops hosted by WorldSkills Chinese Taipei earlier this year.

In June and July, the WorldSkills Chinese Taipei invited over 50 Competitors and Experts from European, Asian, and African countries and regions to join them in exchanging knowledge and trying out their skills in friendly training events.

The Skills Cooperation Workshops were designed to allow Experts to discuss technical requirements for the 47th WorldSkills Competition, to swap ideas, and to try out new technologies. For Competitors, the workshops were a chance to put their training into practice alongside other teams, before competing in Lyon.

Workshops were held in 13 skills over two months: Automobile Technology, Bricklaying, Cabinetmaking, CNC Turning, Cooking, Cyber Security, Electrical Installation, IT Network Systems Administration, Joinery, Patisserie and Confectionery, Plumbing and Heating, Web Technologies, and Welding.

Experts and Competitors from 13 Member countries and regions joined the workshops, including the United Kingdom, Mongolia, Japan, Ethiopia, and India. Several Members who sent teams to take part had never competed in a WorldSkills Competition before and so the Skills Cooperation Workshops held particular significance for them.

Thanks to the spirit of sharing, all Member countries and regions were able to learn from the experience of Chief Experts who helped them better understand the scoring system used at WorldSkills Lyon 2024.

Shih Kuang Hu, Expert in Cabinetmaking for WorldSkills Chinese Taipei, reflected that, for him, a key part of the workshops was to have the chance to “review the important parts of the WorldSkills Occupational Standards and the Competition documents again.”

Andrew Pengally, WorldSkills Chief Expert for Joinery, attended one of the first Skills Cooperation Workshops and was impressed by the quality of the event and how it reflected key industry needs.

He said, “It is great to see a lot of teams come together, to share this space and have the chance to work collaboratively. There is also a lot of opportunity [here] to integrate new technologies and machinery. Certainly in the UK we are starting to use a lot more CNC technology and CNC operators is a big shortage area in the wood trades.”

Christian Notley is the WorldSkills Chief Expert for Cabinetmaking. He valued the knowledge exchange saying, “The Skills Cooperation Workshop is an amazing opportunity for Experts and Competitors to join together, to share best practice, and to learn from each other so they can achieve their full potential.”

The Skills Cooperation Workshops were visited by San-Quei Lin, WorldSkills Board member, who came to see the training for himself. He admired the initiative saying, “The spirit of sharing is a fundamental part of our WorldSkills community – it drives our movement forward.

He continued, “WorldSkills Chinese Taipei and all the teams who have taken part in the Skills Cooperation Workshops understand that we will only be successful in our mission if we exchange knowledge and share our experience with one another. To see such great collaboration just weeks before the 47th WorldSkills Competition has been incredible and the experience has value for these countries and regions beyond WorldSkills Lyon 2024.”

Learn more about WorldSkills Chinese Taipei’s Capacity Building Centre.