A meeting took place between the UIC Expertise Development Unit and Newrail Education Group on 6 August at Newcastle University, to discuss possible areas of cooperation within the frame of the TALENT project.

Supported by the UIC General Assembly in December 2012, the “TALENT” project deals with the need for the rail sector to find solutions on how to better attract and retain the best talents in the job market.

The overall objectives of the project are:

• The development of a powerful management development programme aiming to prepare a new generation of talented railway youth working on domestic and international challenges, with a deep understanding of business approaches, multi-language skills, well known and recognised by the international railway community.
• The creation of a strong and sustainable foundation for fostering international cooperation amongst the young talents in the railway sector.

The approach to conduct this project is based on three main pillars:

• The Network of Railway talents (including a dedicated platform to support the set-up and self-management of the network).
• The revamped version of the SIAFInternational training programme (first session 27 – 31 January 2014 and second session 22 – 26 September 2014)
• The UIC Innovation Awards providing two special award categories promoting individual promising talents from the academic domain and international cooperation projects.

In view of the above-mentioned development areas and objectives, academia represents an important stakeholder in the project.

The fruitful and constructive discussion which took place concluded as follows:

• A global network of universities offering rail education courses (preliminary contacts have already been made in different UIC regions: Europe, North America, Latin America, Asia, Middle-East) will be set up and enhanced. The academic network will be led by Newrail, under the aegis of the TALENT project managed by the UIC Expertise Development Unit.
• Newrail is already cooperating with UIC in the IRRB (International Railway Research Board), thus guaranteeing potential synergies with research activities.
• Close cooperation will take place in the different activities of the project (SIAFI training, Special Innovation Awards,..), as well as the international railway training programme initiatives for students (such as RailNewcastle)
• A work programme will be developed, so as to ensure the sustainability of the academic network and its active and complementary role in the TALENT project.

For further information on Newrail/Newrailcastle, please consult:
www.newrail.org / http://www.ncl.ac.uk/newrail/news/item/railnewcastle-huge-success

For further information on Expertise Development activity at UIC: www.railtraining.org

Further information about SIAFI 2014 will follow in September 2013