The global skills and competency framework for the digital world
March 2023 - SFIA update

March 2023 - SFIA update

Opportunities for you to share your ideas, providing updates on SFIA 9, and reminding you about the resources available in the User Forum section.

Estimated reading time - 2 min, 10 secs.

Join the collaborative conversation on the future developments of SFIA

SFIA is built by real industry and business users - your input is essential. So we want to hear your thoughts on the future direction and priorities for SFIA. We've received several interesting suggestions, such as

  • incorporating FinOps
  • linking SFIA skills to specific technologies (e.g. for devops, cloud computing, security)
  • updating the behavioural factors, and
  • reviewing the significant changes made in SFIA 8 for data, cybersecurity, machine learning, and AI.

We know that the SFIA community is diverse, with different preferences and levels of expertise.

  • While we have designed a Change Request web page for users who are very familiar with SFIA and who wish to make specific suggestions, we recognize that many people and organizations prefer a more informal approach to explore their challenges and opportunities where SFIA may help.

To accommodate these varying needs, we have introduced a simple form that allows for more general comments on the future direction of SFIA. This approach fosters a collaborative and welcoming environment where everyone can contribute to the ongoing development of SFIA.

Ways to take part

  1. For those with specific suggestions, please continue to use our Change Request web page.
  2. If you prefer a conversation or have some ideas to share via email, please contact us.
  3. To provide more general feedback on the future direction of SFIA, please use our new feedback form.

We appreciate your involvement in shaping the future of SFIA and value your diverse perspectives. Our aim is to create an open, collaborative, and welcoming environment where everyone's voice is heard. Let's work together to ensure SFIA continues to develop and serve the needs of our dynamic global community.

SFIA 9: Tentative Publication Date

  • We published the current version of SFIA (SFIA 8) in September 2021.
  • We typically operate on a 3-year update cycle, so we expect SFIA 9 to be published around Q3 2024 to Q1 2025.
  • You can find more details, including a link to add change requests, here.

Reminder: User Forum Section of Website

In February, we announced the opening of the User Forum section on our website. this offers a platform for sharing ideas, approaches, and useful practices. It complements the formal guidance provided elsewhere on the website.

Resources available in the User Forum include:

  • SFIA Fundamentals slides: Introduction to SFIA concepts, principles, and terminology through PowerPoint slides
  • Skills-based job analysis: Aligning SFIA skills and skill levels to jobs/roles
  • Job architecture: Purpose, components, and benefits of a job/role architecture
  • Behavioural frameworks: General overview and SFIA's behavioural factors with use cases
  • Learning and development catalogues: General description and guidelines for mapping training courses and certifications to SFIA skills and levels
  • Mapping learning products to SFIA: Determining which SFIA skill(s) a training course or learning product would help develop
  • 70-20-10 model: Using the model to support employee development
  • SFIA 8 - Illustrative skills profiles: Generic mappings of SFIA 8 skills to recognized role families or career families
  • SFIA User stories: A collection of real-world experiences of SFIA users

We encourage you to visit the User Forum and contribute to the growing community of SFIA users.


Peter Leather

SFIA Updates Manager