Brussels, 18/06/2015 (Agence Europe) - Another four member states are now participating in the EU's “Grand Coalition for Digital Jobs”: Belgium; Cyprus; the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. They join Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Malta, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Romania, which are already taking part in the initiative. Other organisations and companies, including the BBC and Google, have also announced that they will be taking part in the Grand Coalition. Launched in March 2013, the coalition seeks to develop joint action for training more professionals in the digital sector (see EUROPE 10773). This news had already been announced during the Digital Assembly on Wednesday 17 and Thursday 18 June in Riga.
Jointly organised by the European Commission and the Latvian Presidency, it brought together senior officials from member states and the Commission, political decision-makers, representatives from NGOs and developers and users of digital technology. Commissioner Günther Oettinger took part in the event because Commission Vice-President, Andrus Ansip, was unable to attend due to health reasons.
The plenary sessions and workshops tackled certain key aspects of the digital single market strategy, such as digital skills, trust, creative content, access and connectivity, the development of the digital economy for enterprise and consumers, the promotion of cyber society and the digitalisation of European industry and business. (Isabelle Lamberty)