Digital Skills and Jobs Coalition

The Commission is launching the Digital Skills and Jobs Coalition to develop a large digital talent pool and ensure that individuals and the labour force in Europe are equipped with adequate digital skills.

Building on the positive results of the Grand Coalition for Digital Jobs 2013-2016 and the EU e-skills strategy, and in coordination with the work under Education and Training 2020, The Commission will bring together Member States and stakeholders, including social partners, to pledge action and to identify and share best practices, so that they can be more easily replicated and scaled up. It will improve the dissemination of information about available EU funds (European Structural and Investment Funds, Youth Employment Initiative, Erasmus+ etc.) and explore possible funding opportunities for example through voucher mechanisms. The Commission will monitor progress annually through its Europe's Digital Progress Report (EDPR).

Member States are invited to develop comprehensive national digital skills strategies by mid-2017 on the basis of targets set by end-2016. This includes:

• Establishing national digital skills coalitions connecting public authorities, business, education, training and labour market stakeholders.
• Developing concrete measures to bring digital skills and competences to all levels of education and training, supporting teachers and educators and promoting active involvement of business and other organisations.

We encourage all interested stakeholders to join the Digital Skills and Jobs Coalition and make pledges for concrete short-term actions, forming or joining National or Local Coalitions for Digital Jobs, or participating in our events workshops and meetings to share success lessons and best practices.

Grand Coalition for Digital Skills and Jobs 2013-2016

In March 2013 the Commission launched the Grand Coalition for Digital Jobs: a multi-stakeholder partnership that endeavours to facilitate collaboration among business and education providers, public and private actors to take action attracting young people into ICT education, and to retrain unemployed people.

More than 80 stakeholders, representing large and smaller companies, education providers and NGOs made pledges, i.e. concrete commitments to act to reduce digital skills gaps. Likewise, National Coalitions for Digital Jobs aimed to facilitate high-impact actions at local level have already been launched in 13 countries and others are under formation. Furthermore, the Grand Coalition has gained large political support, including by the European Council, as well as high-level stakeholder support, such as by CEOs of global companies.