Croatia - National Development Strategy 2030
The National Development Strategy of the Republic of Croatia is the national strategic action plan for the period 2018 to 2030, which aims to support the twin digital and green transition of the Croatian society and economy. The National Strategy outlines 4 strategic priority clusters: Sustainable economy and society, Strengthening resilience to crises, Green and digital transition, and Balanced regional development.
The Chapter on the Green and digital transition of the Strategy offers further insight into the specific actions, planned with regards to supporting the development of digital skills and jobs for all citizens, the labour force, education sector - including more advanced skills for digital experts. Its first strategic objective is to enhance the digital transition of society and economy, and a key focus under this objective is to reach the EU average Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) rating by 2030. Croatia ranked on 20th place within the EU according to the 2020 DESI (scoring 47.6). The EU average for 2020 is 52,57. Another focus is the creation of initiatives to develop digital competencies and promote the availability of digital jobs for all.
Activities and actions launched by the National Development Strategy 2030 for Croatia aim to support the 4 pillars of the Digital Skills and Jobs Coalition in Europe through strategic initiatives targeting Croatian society at all levels. Priorities include:
Digital skills for all citizens
- Improve and facilitate access to quality adult education programmes (for digital competencies) for all.
- Raise the level of basic and advanced digital skills of citizens and enable their active participation in the digital society and economy.
Digital skills for the labour force
- Ensure the skills match of employees with appropriate digital competencies and recruitment needs, promote the development of digital jobs, and create the necessary conditions to enhance individuals' career prospects.
- Raise the digital competencies of professionals from non-technical professions and industries outside of the information and communication technology (ICT) sector.
- Retrain and reskill existing workforce and support the acquisition of digital competences throughout economy sectors.
Digital skills for ICT professionals
- Adapt and develop further human resources for traditional industries and occupation so that they respond to the needs of the digital environment, society and economy.
- Increase the number of competent, highly-educated young ICT professionals and support their entry into the job market.
- Upskill existing ICT competences, retaining and attracting digital talent through incentives for employed professionals and opening up research and innovation to foreign students and dedicated professionals from all over the world.
Digital skills in education
- Encourage an increase in the number of professionals with higher and secondary education and the development of advanced digital competencies from an early age.
- Support initiatives and actions launched by secondary schools and higher education institutions for jobs to raise awareness of digital jobs.
Strategy Details
The Strategy is financed by national funding and co-financed by technical assistance from the Operational Program Competitiveness and Cohesion, from the European Regional Development Fund.
The strategy is the result of an inclusive and constructive dialogue of a significant number of stakeholders, involved in the work of the Interdepartmental Working Group, as well as seven thematic and five working groups for horizontal policies. With the involvement of all relevant institutions participatory workshops, meetings with the business sector, development forums in several Croatian cities, and numerous other events were held, in which citizens across ages had the opportunity to contribute through various experiences and views. Following the consultation process with the interested public, the Government will prepare the final proposal of the National Development Strategy and send it to the Croatian Parliament for adoption.
