Why we exist
How we pursue our mission
What we do
….. 1) Trend research on challenges for educational management
….. 2) Capacity building and development projects
….. 3) Competency development for learning professionals
Why we exist
Our mission is to promote – in a sustainable way – learning and development through the application of current research, technologies and methods.
How we pursue our mission
We focus on digital transformation of learning and development in a range of educational contexts: schools, higher education, vocational education and corporate L&D. Specifically, we are looking at the opportunities and challenges for both education service providers as well as learning professionals that result from the „second wave of digital“, i.e. the application of artificial intelligence and robotics.
Digital transformation manifests itself in changed educational markets, altered ways of relating with customers and clients, new process designs, new products and changed demands for skills / competences on the part of learning professionals.
We look at / work on these changes by roving the fields of education, technological innovation and management. And we take care to integrate our three primary areas of service: competency development for learning professionals; support and capacity buildung for educational / training organizations; and, finally, applied research. It is our ambition to create synergistic interplay between these:
scil was initially established through a grant from Gebert Rüf Stiftung in 2003. Meanwhile, scil is attached to the Institute of Business Education and Educational Management at the University of St.Gallen (HSG). scil is financially independent; we derive our funding from the services we provide to our partners and customers.
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What we do
1) Trend research on challenges for educational management
Our current research looks at the implications of the „second wave of digital“ (AI and machine learning) for learning organizations. In particular, we conduct survey research on digital competences of learning professionals.
- Research Report 2019: Digital Competences of learning professionals
- Research Report 2018: Digital Competences of learning professionals
Prior to this, we have been conducting survey research on current challenges in corporate learning and development. Five research reports emerged from this (2006-2015) – these can be accessed via this page.
2) Capacity building and development projects
For us, our most important development activities are so-called „Innovationskreise“ (innovation circles) that we conduct together with partners. Circles can comprise up to ten partners (two persons each) and usually are active for 9-12 months. Over the last decade, we have conducted innovation circles on the following topics:
- Augmentation strategies as a framework for people development in the age of smart machines (2018-19) – Final report
- Digital transformation: Implications for people development and need for action (2017-18) – Final report
- Future-oriented leadership development: Design principles (2015-16) – Final report
- Future-oriented competence development / Learning culture (2011-12)
- From controlling to learning value management (2010-11) – Final report
In addition to these innovation circles we support our partners via custom projects ranging from learning culture analysis and competency modeling to determining the ROI of performance support solutions.
3) Competency development for learning professionals
scil has been providing competency development for learning professionals for more than a decade. The programs we offer evolve continually – both with regard to the topics covered as well as the didactic design / mode of delivery.
Currently, we offer two certificate programs of advanced study (CAS):
A complete list of all modules offered in 2020 can be found on this page:
All our modules follow a blended design integrating a variety of forms of teaching and learning. The scil expert facilitators are joined by numerous expert guest. „CAS Corporated Learning / Bildungsmanagement“ is facilitated entirely online (interactive webinars).
English speaking participants are welcome and may submit their assignments / project work in English language. Facilitation and discussions will be in German language, however (open programmes). We also conduct custom / inhouse programs in English language.