National Coalitions meet at a workshop to shape future digital skills actions

Representatives of National Coalitions for Digital Skills & Jobs came together for the first time in more than 3 years to look towards the future of digital skills in Europe. This half-day workshop made up of several interactive sessions marked 1 year of collaboration under the Digital Skills and Jobs Platform project. More than 40 participants from all around Europe took part in the workshop and discussed how to take the results and achievements so far to the next level. 

During the sanitary crisis, National coalitions collaborated remotely via virtual meetings and webinars. During the first face-to-face meeting they got the opportunity establish new partnerships and share good practices, trends and updates in digital skills and jobs from all over Europe. The participants also touched upon the successful Digital Skills and Jobs Platform Anniversary Campaign and outlined the future for the Platform.

The meeting kicked off with the opening remarks of Fabrizia Benini, Deputy Director from DG CONNECT, in charge of the project. Ms Benini underlined the urgent need to improve digital skills everywhere in Europe, the advantages of upskilling initiatives on a local and regional level and took stock of challenges and opportunities. She described ongoing EU activities in digital skills, in particular the Structured dialogue for digital education and skills. Ms Benini also reminded the importance of digital skills actions for the EU reflected in significant investments via the DIGITAL Europe programme or the Recovery and Resilience Facility including the national recovery plans.

National coalition representatives shared their thoughts on the biggest challenges and opportunities enabling positive change ahead, drawing on specific examples from local, regional and national level. The participants appreciated the collaborative environment of the workshop. The breakout and networking sessions offered the opportunity to shape perspectives, exchange knowledge and learn from one another. Workshop participants brainstormed on a number of topics related to engagement, content and visibility, including: 

• Ways to enrich content on the Digital Skills & Jobs Platform and National Coalition websites
• Growing the Digital Skills & Jobs Community and increasing engagement
• Reaching more stakeholders across different levels and improving communication flows 
• Themes and topics to conduct campaigns around

Interactive sessions also dove into several policy areas at the crossroads of digital skills and jobs and aimed to tackle challenges and propose solutions. Under moderators' guidance, participants discussed the state of play of increasing the role and number of women in ICT, opening up careers in tech for more young people, national strategic plans, member engagement, increasing the availability and access to in-house digital training, upskilling of different groups, and many more.

Thanks to this workshop, more Europeans will be able to learn about and participate in successful digital skills initiatives and opportunities from other EU countries. The workshop will contribute as stakeholder consultation to the European Commission’s Structured dialogue for digital education and skills.

Want to know more? Stay tuned for further updates from the workshop and visit the Digital Skills & Jobs Community to know more about national upskilling initiatives and actions. 

© Digital Skills and Jobs Platform, European Commission