In October 2023 LEADS jointly organised the Digital Europe Programme Projects Meeting together with the European Commission and the European Health and Digital Executive Agency.
The event featured a diverse array of projects funded through the Digital Europe Programme:
- SPECIALISED projects (Call 1 & Call 2), designing and delivering a tertiary education programme in Data, IoT, AI, Blockchain, cybersecurity, HPC and quantum.
- DS4Health, MERIT, CyberSecPro, AI and Health, ManagiDITH, DIGITAL4Business, DIGITWIN4CIUE, DigiQ, EMAI4EU, SPECTRO, GreenChips-EDU, CYBERACTIONING, Edu4Chip, Digital4Security, AI4CI, DigiWind, AGRITECH EU
- Short-term training courses, designing and delivering courses in advanced technologies for both people already in employment and jobseekers
- Master’s in AI, focusing on human-centric AI, AI for the public sector and explainable AI for healthcare, all funded by the Connecting Europe Facility Telecom
Other linked initiatives participating were:
- Digital Skills and Jobs Platform, serving as the primary repository of information and services pertaining to digital skills in Europe, EmpowerED, and the Data Space for Skills.
The purpose of this meeting was to reflect on the progress of the ongoing projects funded by the Digital Europe Programme in the field of advanced digital skills, exchanging lessons learned and identifying recommendations. In addition to this, the meeting served as an opportunity to contribute to the work on future policy actions and funding needs, all to reach the overarching goal of 20 million ICT specialists employed by 2030.
Key topics discussed included:
- The current state of the digital decade and outlook.
- Meeting the demands of the digital decade: Insights into the market analyses which informed the design of the courses.
- Current challenges related to bridging the gap between supply and demand in advanced digital skills, their impact on stakeholders and which policy actions can address them:
- The rate for tech development and convergence
- Accessing the expertise for skilling
- Addressing SMEs
- Finding candidates at the right level
- The need for domain expertise and sectoral divergence in demands
- The leaky pipeline of women
- Strategies and opportunities to enhance the sustainability of actions including accreditation and forging partnerships with the industry.
- Best practices and collaboration opportunities between the projects.
An outcome report of this event will be published in the next weeks and will also be available on this website.