Specialised education programmes in key capacity areas - Advanced digital skills analysis: Join the discussion and find project partners!

Objective: The action aims to address the shortage of advanced digital skills and ICT specialists in the European Union, with the objective of reaching 20 million ICT specialists in the economy by 2030. It focuses on enhancing education programs in AI, cybersecurity, high-performance computing, and data science. It fosters partnerships between academia, businesses, and research across the EU to meet the increasing demand for professionals with sectoral knowledge and digital skills.

Scope: The proposed projects are required to include the following activities:

• Annually analyze evolving needs for advanced digital skills in companies and the public sector, comparing them with existing education initiatives, especially those funded by DIGITAL-SO4. Identify gaps and recommend priority areas and sectors for future Digital Europe Programme work. Collaborate closely with the European Commission.
• Regularly provide insights and best practices for improving the alignment of education programs with industry needs, enhancing learning content, fostering collaboration between institutions and industry, increasing diversity in ICT, and optimizing the efficiency of digital solutions in education.\
• Survey with DIGITAL-SO4 consortia for key support needs, implement relevant measures and suggest activities to enhance collaboration between higher education institutions and industry partners, especially SMEs and start-ups.
• Facilitate coordination among DIGITAL-SO4 consortia through regular meetings, expert databases, and additional structures to encourage collaboration.
• Implement awareness-raising campaigns for educational programs and training under DIGITAL-SO4 calls. This involves contributing to a dedicated webpage on the Digital Skills and Jobs Platform and establishing a brand of excellence.
• Promote dialogue between DIGITAL-SO4 consortia and key stakeholders by mapping relevant initiatives, projects, and funding opportunities at both EU and national levels.
• Analyze data from DIGITAL-SO4 actions, focusing on indicators of advanced digital skills training and improved employment outcomes. Additionally, conduct a representative survey with students and learners to gather comparable data on employment situations after training.

Funding: € 2.000.000
Deadline: The application deadline is 21 March 2024 17:00, Brussels time.
Call Text: The call for proposal text can be viewed here.  
Call Information: Available on the Funding & Tender Portal.
Info session: On 12 December 2023, the European Commission will present the fifth round of the DIGITAL Europe Programme call for proposals in a dedicated Info Day and Pitching Event.

Find Project Partners & Prepare Proposals  

Do you want to find consortia partners and participate in this call?  

Simply use the Comments feature at the bottom of this tread to introduce your organisation, express your interest in creating or joining a consortia, indicate your desired role in the project, and provide a link to your Member Profile on the platform or your personal email address. You can see some organisations have already added their profiles below, so feel free to follow their lead! 

You can also message Community Members directly using the new Private Messages feature, just click the Messages button on the top right of the screen when you are logged in as shown in the screen grab below. This is an excellent way to contact potential partners in a secure and discrete manner. 

If you want to receive email notifications with the latest comments and posts by potential partners just click the Subscribe button beside the title of this thread: 

If you have questions or comments our Community Team are ready and waiting to help.  

Best of luck with your proposals!