Brussels, 16/03/2015 (Agence Europe) - Action must absolutely be taken and policies adopted that encourage the development of digital skills in order to respond to the needs of the digital single market gradually being put in place, stressed participants at a conference in Riga on 13 March.
The high-level conference, e-Skills for jobs 2015, was organised by the Latvian Presidency of the Council and brought together representatives of the European Commission responsible for industrial policies, experts from industry and education and representatives of NGOs active in the promotion of digital skills. Together they launched the e-Skills for jobs communication campaign that will run through 2015 and 2016. A common statement, “the Riga Declaration” was adopted. It comprises ten key principles to guide efforts to be made this year to release the potential of digital skills in order to boost growth and create jobs.
High-ranking officials of the European institutions and conference participants discussed the European initiatives in the area of digital skills and considered progress in the “Grand Coalition for Digital Jobs”. This initiative, which was launched in March 2013, was set the goal of common action to train additional ICT professionals (see EUROPE 10773). It is forecast that, by 2020, the new technologies will be short of 900,000 professionals at a time when youth (15-24 years old) unemployment has rocketed (24% on average across the EU at the end of 2013). The new campaign will focus on education and jobs in the digital sector. It will be coordinated by DigitalEurope and European Schoolnet, under the patronage of the European Commission, and will provide a new pan-European platform bringing together the public and private organisations concerned, with a view to encouraging cooperation in digital skills. Activities will be developed by public authorities in cooperation with industry and other stakeholders.
The Riga Declaration contains ten core principles calling on the players concerned to: - 1) make a commitment to more and better investment in digital technologies and skills; 2) address youth unemployment in Europe through digital skills; 3) prioritise e-Skills for the 21st Century policy and scale-up implementation; 4) endorse the continued work of the Grand Coalition for Digital Jobs and the implementation of National Coalitions, and public funding investment; 5) promote European e-leadership; 6) foster digital transformation and entrepreneurship; 7) make a commitment to life-long education and training; 8) encourage European leadership of global standards; 9) foster ICT professionalism and mature the ICT profession in Europe; 10) make a commitment to cooperate, pool expertise and efforts. (Isabelle Lamberty)