Digital Opportunity Scheme

Digitisation is transforming the economy

Digital skills in numbers Digital Skills of the Labour force Digital skills in numbers 37% or 93 million in the labour force do not have basic digital skills 44% or 169 million Europeans do not have basic digital skills ICT jobs now 3.7% of total employment Of these 77 million people have no digital skills at all Currently 300,000 vacancies for ICT specialists in the EU

The Digital Skills and Jobs Coalition Organisations (not individuals) can become members of the Digital Skills and Jobs Coalition by endorsing the Digital Skills and Jobs Coalition Members Charter and its objectives by completing the submission form A pledge is a concrete commitment to carry out an action reducing the digital skills gap in Europe, while addressing one of the identified challenges/actions mentioned in the Members Charter: Builds and scales up from Grand Coalition of Digital Jobs 2013-2015 13 National Coalitions formed 8 local Coalitions Impact of National Coalitions in Grand Coalition 450 000 trained 3.4 million reached, 5000 job placements 3500 events over 1000 stakeholders 8 Local Coalitions

Getting involved in the DSJC Members are encouraged to: Make a pledge by submitting this online form Get in touch with National Coalitions Share best practices Join the LinkedIn community to share ideas and propose action Use the member badge in their communications Members will: Receive information about activities and invitations to meetings related to the Coalition Be consulted when relevant to contribute to the shaping of the Coalition roadmap Submit pledges for action by completing the online form (only organisations, not individuals) Approval procedure: Secretariat + EC By pledging you automatically endorse the Charter and become a member Up to date there are 71 pledges submitted

National Coalitions and emerging initiatives Partnerships between digital skills actors in Member States who work together to improve digital skills at national, regional or local level

National Coalitions Role of the NC: Connecting public authorities, business, education, training and labour market stakeholders to develop a concrete action plan of measures that bridge the digital skills gap and raise competences for all levels of education and training. This can include but are not limited to: supporting teachers and educators and promoting active involvement of business and other organisations Support Member States in developing national digital skills strategies National Coalitions are still being formed in 18 countries Belgium        Luxembourg   Bulgaria Malta Cyprus Poland Czech Republic          Romania Estonia              Slovakia        Hungary            Slovenia Ireland             Spain          Latvia UK Lithuania More to come For more information visit this website or email: katarzyna.koziol@digitaleurope.org pia.groenewolt@all-digital.org

National coalitions and VET education and training Maltese coaltition Since 2001 VET reform has been at the heart of Malta’s response to socio-economic challenges Important pillars in VET reform: • Reforms in compulsory education and apprenticeship and work- based learning • Strategies to guide early leaving, active ageing, literacy, lifelong learning • Comprehensive qualifications framework • Expanding opportunities for validation Malta ICT skills audit Apprenticeships schemes blending work and education by MCAST 170% increase in Computer systems network specialists Internship schemes by schools ICT career’s week by coalition Visits from IT professionals resulting in a 30% update in students selecting STEM streams Guidelines to increase and retain women in ICT European competency framework workshops

National coalitions and VET education and training Irish digital skills and jobs coalition FIT is the coordinating provider of the new Tech Apprenticeships in Software Development and Systems & Networks. There will be 250 Tech Apprenticeships available in 2018 rising to 1000 by 2021. FIT will drive the implementation of this ground breaking programme by increasing the number of sponsoring employers and developing new Tech Apprenticeships, such as Cyber Security. Streamlining the European competency framework as a standard, including in vocational education and training Reforming education and developing talent pipelines so youth have skills and competences relevant for today’s jobs Luxembourgish coalition Would like to take up the European competency framework Chamber of commerce and house of training has schemes on upskilling and reskilling Portuguese coalition Axis in 30 year plan to focus on specialization (ICT professionalism and ecf): specialization , with a view to qualifying employment and creating added value in the economy, reinforcing the offer of Professional Technical Higher Education (TeSP) in this area, as well as graduate and postgraduate training of a professional nature; Recently announced the launch of a distance education platform with a focus on VET

EU initiatives on Digital Education The Digital Education Action plan Support the digital readiness of both general and vocational schools by strengthening their digital capacity and by making the SELFIE self-assessment tool reach one million teachers, trainers and learners by end of 2019 in all EU Member States. Provide a framework for issuing digitally-certified qualifications and validating digitally-acquired skills that are trusted, multilingual and can be stored in professional profiles (CVs) such as Europass. The framework will be fully aligned with the European, Qualifications Framework for Lifelong Learning (EQF) and the European Classification of Skills, Competences, Qualifications and Occupations (ESCO).  A new skills agenda for Europe The 10 key actions identified are  1. Establishing a Skills Guarantee  2. Launch a Key Competences Framework  3. Improving the attractiveness and visibility of VET  4. Launch the Digital Skills and Jobs Coalition  5. Revise the European Qualification Framework  6. Launch a Skills Profile Tool for Third Country Nationals  7. Revise the Europass Framework  8. Analyse the issue of brain drain  9. Launch a Blueprint for Sectoral Cooperation on Skills  10. Launch an initiative on tertiary graduate tracking 

EU initiatives on Digital Education The new priorities for the Education and Training 2020 strategic framework acknowledge that education is both about skills and employability, as well as a central tool for the social inclusion of young people.As such, the New Skills Agenda focuses on skills and employment as another crucial tool for social inclusion.  The aim of the Digital Skills and Jobs Coalition is to ensure everyone in the EU is equipped with the necessary skills not only to enter the labour market but also to participate in society at large.  The Agenda thus highlights that “almost half the EU population lacks basic digital skills; with around 20% of people having none at all…”. A new skills agenda for Europe The 10 key actions identified are  1. Establishing a Skills Guarantee  2. Launch a Key Competences Framework  3. Improving the attractiveness and visibility of VET  4. Launch the Digital Skills and Jobs Coalition  5. Revise the European Qualification Framework  6. Launch a Skills Profile Tool for Third Country Nationals  7. Revise the Europass Framework  8. Analyse the issue of brain drain  9. Launch a Blueprint for Sectoral Cooperation on Skills  10. Launch an initiative on tertiary graduate tracking 

EU trends on VET education Despite relatively good labour market outcomes for VET, the number of students enrolling in initial VET has been falling in most countries since 2013, only in five EU Member States their number increased, notably in Spain and the Netherlands. The employment success of the people completing VET with their field of study with the highest employment ratio being in engineering, manufacturing and construction (79.4 %). Initial VET may be less attractive compared to the tertiary education due to a less positive image of occupations it leads to.

EU trends on VET education Only “10-15% of higher education graduates spend a proportion of their studies abroad” and “only about 3% of graduates from initial VET do so”*

Digital Skills and Jobs Coalition - Secretariat Encouraging members and pledgers Value Proposition Toolkit for National Coalitions EU funding alerts for NCs Webinars Webinar for NCs on using EU funds for development of digital skills - 19 October Visits to NCs

Follow/join digital skills community Twitter @DigitalSkillsEU #DigitalSkills #DSJCoalition Facebook page Online community LinkedIn European Commission website

Digital Opportunity Internships

Boosting digital skills for young people Despite high levels of youth unemployment, there are two million job vacancies in Europe Skills mismatch 90% of jobs requires digital skills

Digital Opportunity scheme Pilot project to provide cross-border traineeships for up to 6,000 students and recent graduates in 2018-2020

Digital Opportunity scheme Main features On-the-job training Students and recent graduates from all faculties Cross-border traineeships Implemented through Erasmus + Budget EUR 10M Horizon 2020 Participants will receive EUR 500 per month

Focus of Digital Opportunity traineeship ICT specialist skills Those necessary to programme, develop applications and manage networks Digital skills for business Skills to use ICT technologies for professional purposes, necessary to perform new tasks associated to the use of ICTs at work

Role for companies: How to get involved: Host students for a period from 2 to 12 months Help train the workforce of tomorrow Help you address important skills gaps and get valuable insights from young workers. Businesses can publish their offers on the platforms Drop'pin@EURES or ErasmusIntern Advertise the offers through direct contacts with university international relations or career offices. Companies willing to host trainees should publish their offers on ErasmusIntern and Drop'pin, selecting the ‘Digital Opportunity’ category on both platforms.

Digital Opportunity scheme in practice Students and recent graduates apply to their Universities for Erasmus+ contribution Companies publish traineeship offers (through Universities, online platforms etc.) Universities select future trainees on the basis of strict selection criteria Trainees eligible to the Erasmus+ contribution look for traineeships Learning Agreement is signed

How to find the right profile? Publish traineeship offers with the tag "digital opportunity" Search for trainees Check the applications Drop'pin University career offices ErasmusIntern

Digital Opportunity traineeships scheme Rules of Erasmus+ programme, the traineeship must be abroad. Erasmus + foresee generally that the traineeship should have a duration of 2-12 months. The grant however covers generally 5-6 months. Open for students and recent graduates (max 1 year after graduation) of all study levels: bachelors, masters, PhD. Finance and accounting tolls are excluded from the scope of these traineeships. For EU Member States and Horizon 2020 associated countries (Iceland, Norway, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Turkey, Israel, Moldova, Switzerland, Faroe Islands, Ukraine, Tunisia, Georgia, Armenia). Interested companies can publish their traineeship offers! on ErasmusIntern and Drop’pin. List of Q&As can be downloaded here, more information in this article.

Thank you ! ALL DIGITAL (formerly Telecentre-Europe) pia.groenewolt@all-digital.org http://all-digital.org/ Digital Skills and Jobs Coalition #DSJCoalition #DigitalSkills