Digital Skills and Jobs Coalition Conference: Industry, women and education, keywords for success

This is the main outcome from the Digital Skills and Jobs Coalition Conference which took place in Brussels on 7 December 2017, both to assess the current situation and to set the objectives for the future, in order to increase the rate of computer literacy and digital skills in Europe.

“The coalition has clearly demonstrated its effectiveness – declared Mariya Gabriel, Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society – but if we really want to be competitive we need to foster investment in technological development, involve more women and promote training through the education system”.

In the framework of this ambitious aim, the Commission has officially launched the Digital Opportunity Traineeship initiative, starting in June 2018 and lasting until the end of 2020. This will allow young graduated to have a first work experience in the in digital fields demanded by the market such as cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, coding or digital marketing.

“The mismatch between skills and jobs is a serious issue for Europe – stated Martina Dlabajova, MEP and Member of the Committee on Employment – and the main challenge is working on communication and cooperation. For this reason, we need first to count on reliable information, and then to create a bridge between university, employers and policy makers”.

Nevertheless, education is not only something addressed to young people, in fact, as pointed out by Olivia-Kelly Lonkeu, Economic development & innovation Advisor at PwC: “In Europe 99% of businesses are SMEs and if we want these companies to be in line with current times, everybody needs to be upskilled from top to bottom. SMEs are suffering the digital transformation, but if we show them the results they will be more interested in investing”.

As highlighted throughout the debate “The future investment needed in digital skills”, Europe is light-years away from India, but global initiatives such as the Digital Skills and Jobs Coalition, which involves 300 members coming from industry, institutions and educational establishment, can really make the difference in redefining Europe’s competitiveness.