The European Commission is determined to tackle the digital divide and improve the level of digital skills for all Europeans, ensuring that they can fully engage in work and society.
Today, basic digital skills are a precondition for inclusion and participation in the labour market and society. They are necessary to study, work, communicate, access online public services, find trustworthy information and protect one's digital identity. However, many Europeans lack those fundamental digital skills. The Digital Economy and Society Index 2024 (DESI) shows that 4 out of 10 adults lack basic digital skills, and even among the younger generation (16-24 years old) it is 3 in 10 people.
Basic Digital Skills are central to European Policy
Basic digital skills of course don't just play an important role in the Commission's digital strategy, but are tackled from many different sides. The Digital Decade target of at least 80% of individuals aged 16-74 having at least basic digital skills is mirrored in the European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan and reinforced in the 2020 Skills Agenda, aiming at a share of 70% by 2025 already. Furthermore, it is important to address digital skills already in schools, which is why the Strategic framework for European cooperation in education and training towards the European Education Area and beyond (2021-2030) sets out a target to reduce the share of 8th graders who underperform in computing and digital literacy to less than 15% by 2030.
Actions to support basic digital skills in schools and for up- and reskilling
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EU Code Week is a grassroots initiative whose main goal is to encourage children and young people to discover and master the basics of coding and computational thinking; and to make them interested in taking up science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects at school, and eventually study and pursue careers in the digital field. In 2023, 71,655 events were registered, reaching over 3 million participants.
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The European Digital Skills Awards aim to give visibility to and reward regional, national and EU projects and initiatives that are helping to bridge the digital skills gap in the EU. On 28 June 2023, six winners were chosen across five categories: empowering youth; digital skills for education; inclusion; women in ICT; and digital upskilling at work. Giving these initiatives – which are supporting digital skills for everyone – the attention they deserve also inspires new initiatives and the upscaling of existing initiatives
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Priority 2 of the Digital Education Action Plan focusses on enhancing digital skills and competences for the digital transformation, including providing common guidelines for teachers and educators to foster digital literacy and tackle disinformation through education and training, creating a European Digital Skills Certificate (EDSC), supporting digital opportunity traineeships and publishing the Council recommendation on improving the provision of digital skills in education and training.
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The Digital Competence Framework for Citizens (DigComp) identifies the key components of digital competence in five areas and 21 specific competences. It also describes eight proficiency levels, examples of knowledge, skills and attitudes, and use cases in education and employment contexts. It serves multiple purposes, including designing competence assessment tools, creating training courses and materials, and identifying professional digital profiles within the realms of employment, education and training, and social inclusion
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As part of the European Skills Agenda, the Pact for Skills aims to get public and private organisations together and encourage them to make concrete commitments to upskill and reskill adults. Within the frame of the pact, the Digital Skills Partnership, composed of European and national associations, clusters and digital innovation hubs, universities, research centres, companies, and VET providers, are developoing a joint strategy to design and implement an ecosystem-wide upskilling and reskilling framework, improving the competitiveness of all the actors involved as well as enhancing job retention and job attractiveness of the digital ecosystem.
For more details on the sate of basic digital skills in the EU, see the Commission Staff Working Document Digital Decade in 2024: Implementation and perspective.
Background
Over 70% of businesses have said that the lack of staff with adequate digital skills is an obstacle to investment.
Something from eurobarometer maybe.
To follow the development of the digital transition and the digital skills gap the Commission publishes DESI annually. It tracks Member States’ digital performance in different areas to monitor progress and pinpoint where further efforts are necessary.
In 2023, it was reported that slightly more than 55.6% of EU citizens aged 16-74 possessed at least basic digital skills ( 260). Possessing at least basic digital skills means knowing how to do at least one activity related to each of the following five areas: information and data literacy skills; communication and collaboration skills; digital content creation skills; safety skills; and problem-solving skills.
