The Growing Need for Advanced Digital Skills: Why the EU Must Monitor the Digital Landscape

Help Shape Europe’s Digital Future – Survey Deadline Extended!
The Mini-Survey (https://ec.europa.eu/eusurvey/runner/DigitalEurope2024Digitalskills) will take only 5-10 minutes and it will be open until 25th of November.

In today’s fast-evolving digital economy, advanced digital skills are not just an advantage but a necessity. As technology reshapes industries and redefines the labour market, there is a growing demand for highly skilled professionals who can harness the potential of digital tools and innovations. The European Union recognizes this need and is taking steps to ensure that its workforce is prepared for the challenges and opportunities ahead.

One key initiative driving this transformation is the Digital Europe Programme (DEP), which seeks to boost Europe’s digital capabilities by funding projects that aim to develop advanced digital skills and infrastructure. The DEP is working to position Europe as a global leader in the digital economy.

The Digital Europe Programme is at the heart of the EU’s digital transformation strategy. With a budget of €7.5 billion for 2021-2027, the programme focuses on strengthening Europe’s digital infrastructure and advancing key areas like high-performance computing, AI, and digital skills development. One of the core missions of DEP is to ensure that EU citizens and businesses can access the advanced digital skills necessary to thrive in the digital economy.

MERIT project is one of DEP co-funded projects, which mainly concentrates on master student education, but together reaches a wider society and provide training for different target groups on selected topics of advanced digital skills (artificial intelligence, cybersecurity).

The European Commission’s Commitment to Monitoring Digital Skills

To ensure the success of the Digital Europe Programme, it is crucial that the European Commission regularly assesses its impact and adapts to the needs of the market. Monitoring digital skill levels across the EU and gathering feedback from those directly involved in DEP-funded projects is an essential part of this process.

This is where the involvement of trained individuals—those who have undergone or are undergoing digital training programmes—becomes vital. The European Commission, along with the study team from Technopolis Group and Ramboll, is currently seeking feedback from participants to understand the real-world impact of DEP-funded initiatives and to gather insights.

MERIT project reached more than 2,000 persons during the last 2 years, providing them different duration training – from short presentations in dedicated events, individual lectures, several day trainings, one month long intensive courses to students’ education in 1,5-2 year long master studies that just started. To understand which type of training had higher value and to see the potential impact of appropriate initiatives, we and EC are inviting everyone to participate in the survey and provide your feedback on the obtained training. 

Contribute to Shaping Europe’s Digital Future

SHARE YOUR FEEDBACK AND PARTICIPATE IN THE DIGITAL EUROPE PROGRAMME AND MERIT PROJECT SURVEYS!

If you have participated in a Digital Europe Programme initiative, such as MERIT project training actions, or are benefiting from a DEP-funded digital training programme, the European Commission wants to hear from you. Your voice matters. Dedicate some time and help us grow, providing the society future training opportunities. By sharing your experience, you can help shape future policies, improve training programmes, and ensure that the next generation of digital professionals has access to the skills and resources they need to succeed.

As part of DEP ongoing commitment to enhance and support the services provided, EC invites you to take part in a short survey (https://ec.europa.eu/eusurvey/runner/DigitalEurope2024Digitalskills) to help EU better understand your digital needs and benefits experienced from participating in our services. The survey will take only 5-10 minutes and it will be open until 25 November 2024.

Close to the more general DEP impact, MERIT project also would like everyone who participated in a MERIT training activity to dedicate several more minutes and take part in another survey (https://forms.gle/W7SQcUDY5tcPNkjRA) that would help us to estimate MERIT project activities efficiency and possible impact.

Both of the surveys are completely anonymous. Therefore, we would appreciate your honest answers, which would help us to understand what worked the best, what could be improved and what additional actions could be promoted to increase the speed of advanced digital skills growth in Europe.