European Commission
illustration showing a car connected to a computer and a mechanic
Günther H. Oettinger, Commissioner for the Digital Economy and Society said: Today's winners show what great results you can achieve when different actors work together. I hope that these initiatives, and the best practices being recognised today, will encourage and inspire others to increase Europeans ' digital skills."
The four winning projects were selected by a jury from among 16 finalists, who all illustrate the many great initiatives taking place to boost digital skills in Europe. Winning projects were selected because they have achieved a significant and measureable impact and are replicable and scalable in other regions or sectors.
The award ceremony took place at the launch conference of the Digital Skills and Jobs Coalition in Brussels, which aims to boost digital skills for life and jobs amongst Europeans.
The winners are:
Digital skills for all: #SuperCoders, Belgium, France, Italy, Poland, Romania and Spain
#SuperCoders is a programme organized by Orange Group to introduce coding to children aged 9 to 13. By the end of 2016, the programme, which has been running since 2014, will have reached more than 6.000 children in 17 European and African countries. Free coding workshops are taking place in different countries throughout the year, facilitated by volunteer Orange coaches and partner associations.
Digital skills for the labour force: Growth Engine for Europe, all 28 EU Member States
Growth Engine for Europe is Google's program designed to help individuals and businesses succeed online. The digital skills training program is delivered through both online and offline training in all 28 Member States. Digital Workshop, an online learning platform, provides each visitor with a plan that is specifically tailored to the gaps in their knowledge and desired learning pace. The Growth Engine skills offline programs address local economical and societal challenges through the development of partnerships within local ecosystems and with multiple levels of government.
More and better trained ICT professionals in Europe: PROMPT – Professional Master in Software Engineering, Sweden
PROMPT is an educational initiative in cooperation with several academic parties and leading industrial companies and organizations. Together the parties develop advanced level courses in web-based format, tailored to fit professional engineers and software developers who need to be able to combine work and studies. The courses combine conventional studies with distance, web-based learning and seminars at campus or at the participating companies. The long-term goal of PROMPT is to guarantee the supply of advanced software competencies and innovativeness in industry.
Digital skills in education : Coding camp for economically disadvantaged children, Hungary
Elisabeth camps are organised yearly during the summer vacation for economically disadvantaged children in three different premises in Hungary: at lake Balaton in Zánka and Fonyód and in Transsylvania, in Ivó. The camps are financed by the Elisabeth programme of the Hungarian government. The parents of the participating children contribute to the camp only with a symbolic fee. As part of the Elisabeth programme, the ICT Association of Hungary (IVSZ) organised a one-week coding camp in July 2016 for 75 8-12 year olds. A further 150 children took part in this coding camp during a day visit. For all summer camps IVSZ organised a one-day digital skills workshops.