Slovakia - National Digital Decade strategic roadmap

The Slovak strategic roadmap for the Digital Decade developed by the The Government of the Slovak Republic sets out the strategic goals to be achieved by 2030, monitoring their achievement, and the target paths and key measures have been developed.  

The report uses the data in the Digital Decade Report 2023 on the National Base Value of the Digital Decade Targets, the EU baseline value for Digital Decade Targets in 2023 and the EU target value for 2030. 

55% of individuals are reported to have at least basic digital skills in Slovakia, which is slightly above the EU average of 54%. In terms of individuals having at least basic digital content creation skills, Slovakia is at 72%, significantly above the EU average of 66%. However, the percentage of individuals with above basic digital skills is lower than the EU average (21% vs 26%). The percentage of enterprises providing ICT training (15%) is also significantly below the EU average (22%). While the percentage of internet users has slightly increased, up from 87% in 2021 to 88% in 2022, Slovakia remains below the EU average of 89%.  

The Roadmap for Slovakia consists of 4 chapters:

• Digital skills and ICT experts

• Digital infrastructure

• Digital transformation of businesses 

• Digitalisation of public services 

Priorities for the development of digital skills

The National Digital Skills Strategy of the Slovak Republic and the Action Plan for 2023-2026 aims at increasing at least the basic digital skills of individuals and increasing the number of ICT specialists. 

The national Action Plan seeks to:

• develop the digital skills of young people and teachers; 

• develop the digital skills of the active labour market participants, by promoting upskilling or reskilling;

• reduce the digital skill gap and minimise the impact of digital exclusion.

The Action Plan sets out measures with clear and measurable targets for each of these areas: 

• supporting and strengthening the Slovak National Coalition for Digital Skills and Jobs; 
• establishing an effective model for managing and coordinating activities in the field of digital skills between relevant public administration bodies; 
• creating a National Centre for the Digital Transformation of Education and developing a curriculum for Digital for primary and secondary schools, offering trainings specifically for older people and disadvantaged groups via a dedicated IT platform; 
• increasing digital skills and competences of women and girls to improve their position on the Slovak labour market by creating a platform for women in the digital age, by developing a career centre and programme for female STEM graduates who do not have sufficient experience and for women who have taken a career break. 

Measures contributing to the achievement of the target

The "Digital skills and ICT experts" direction of the Roadmap includes 27 measures covering the following main topics:

• Institutional framework and coordination

   

• Digital skills development for workforce

   

• Digital transformation in formal and non-formal education

   

• Digital Inclusion

Key challenges to overcome

• Knowledge, skills and capabilities of students is insufficient to be properly trained for the current and future labour market needs.
• Mathematics education, particularly in terms of critical, logical and creative thinking, is necessary not only for STEM subjects but also for social science programmes, not least because the level of mathematical knowledge, skills and abilities predetermines an individual's ability in all areas of life.
• Emigration can have a serious societal impact causing Slovakia's underperformance in science and research, shortages of skilled labour in several sectors of the economy and income shortfalls in the social system.
• The development of digital skills in Slovakia is not managed by a single responsible authority, but is divided between three central government bodies: MESRS SR, MLSAF SR and MIRDI SR.
• In order to enhance digital skills, further involvement in international network platforms dedicated to the development of digital competences in the whole population is important.