Interview

STC International holds a special position: we are a commercial organisation with a public role

Albert Bos

Director of STC International

Albert Bos, director of STC International, discusses the special position STC International holds in building new economies, the productive collaboration between governments, the business sector, education, and about human capital development in a rapidly innovating world.

‘Distributing knowledge to people who need it, is the amazing task we carry out on several continents. In the build-up of countries and the private sector, training and education plays a key role.

Unfortunately, this insight is missing. We are keen on informing people and organisations about the importance of this. Machines are important, but the people who can operate the machines may be even more important.

STC International holds a special position: we are a commercial organisation with a public role

I consider it our mission to create awareness about the importance of education and training. Even though we are a commercial organisation, we have a vital public position. Healthcare, governmental structures, and education are basic principles for the stable development of countries. We at STC play an essential role with regard to education and training. It is great when you can contribute to capacity building and profiling people in order to stimulate the further development of a company or organisation.

If our education only makes one person happy, then we have achieved something.

We are present in locations around the world which have been subscribed by the Dutch government as ‘Hot Spots’. This means that we are active in the right areas to contribute – through education – to the development of people and companies in those specific areas.

In one of the countries that we have been active in for quite some years, we have created a significant impact. Here, we provided education in a marginalized area where, for example, the quality of the houses and other living conditions were very poor. In this region, lecturers provided education and training to local students who were ultimately guaranteed internships in the private sector in the Netherlands. That is a fantastic opportunity to gain experience and with this new knowledge the students were able to further develop their own region and economy independently. This is also evident on the microeconomic level: houses made of stone were built in this area and the product range available in supermarkets increased over time.

What you see is what you get

Mainport Rotterdam is where our head office is located. Citizens from the Rotterdam region have a reputation for being hard workers and getting things done – and that is exactly what we do. We stand by our training courses and our consultancy services: what you see is what you get! We look for partnerships and investigate where we can develop people through education, the right supervision and, guidance.

The (international) network, our range of all-round training courses, and – in particular – our personal drive make a difference in people’s lives. This can be described as the core business of our company and activities involved.

Innovation is about always being one step ahead

As a partner in education, we need to look ahead and stay up to date with latest developments in our sectors. Innovation is taking place at a rapid pace; examples include digitization and automation resulting in (for example) autonomous operating terminals. Companies and governments ask STC for advice on these kind of developments. After all, employees who previously worked on the terminal may not be able to be retrained to control systems or processes remotely. This is because remote operations might require different skills from the employees.

The big question in this context is when should a new occupational group be created? Will an innovation persist and when should an educational partner capitalize on such an innovation? This is a difficult subject that we are increasingly confronted with. If the Netherlands wants to be a frontrunner, a constant dialogue between the private sector, the government, and education is needed. While focusing on future developments, we are constantly in dialogue with stakeholders – such as the Dutch Ministry of Education and the private sector – to guarantee that we can develop appropriate and highly qualified education in time. This is the only way to preserve our position as frontrunner.

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