Skip to main content
EnglishEnglish
Digital Skills and Jobs Platform

Digital Skills and Jobs Platform

Why a Cyber Skills Academy

Cyber Skills Academy

Welcome to the Cyber Skills Academy!

The Cyber Skills Academy is an EU initiative aiming at addressing the growing cybersecurity skills and talent shortage in Europe. 

Why a Cyber Skills Academy? 

In an era of increasingly fast digitalisation, the shortage of qualified cybersecurity professionals is not anymore only an issue of human resources. For a company, a public administration, or an operator of critical infrastructure, having the necessary skilled workforce is about being able to ensure the protection and resilience of its systems against rising cyberattacks. Ultimately, it is about the security of the EU. 

“Cybersecurity is a top priority for the European Union, and bridging the skills gap is crucial to ensuring our digital economy remains secure and competitive."
Henna Virkkunen, Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy

In 2024, there was an estimated shortage of 299,000 cybersecurity professionals in the European Union, representing a 9%-increase from 2023 – a gap that is likely to increase as most organisations will require more cybersecurity staff to comply with recent EU cybersecurity legislation such as the NIS2 Directive, the Cyber Resilience Act, or the Digital Operational Resilience Act. 

Despite the growing demand, 81% of companies surveyed in the 2024 Eurobarometer on cyber skills viewed difficulties in hiring cybersecurity staff as a key risk for potential cyberattacks. In addition, 76% of employees in cybersecurity-related roles do not have any formal qualifications or certified trainings. In the education, health, and social work sectors, 66% of cybersecurity roles are filled by employees transitioning from non-cybersecurity positions – highlighting the urgent need for reskilling and upskilling.

This is why the European Commission presented in April 2023 a Communication on a Cybersecurity Skills Academy.

 

The Cyber Skills Academy in a nutshell

The Cyber Skills Academy aims at bridging the cybersecurity skills and talent gap in Europe, by bringing together and improving the coordination of existing training, upskilling and reskilling initiatives for cybersecurity professionals. 

Governance

The Academy will take the shape of a European digital infrastructure consortium (EDIC).  

On 30 June 2026, the European Commission and participating Member States launched the Cybersecurity Skills Coalition European Digital Infrastructure Consortium (CSC-EDIC). The CSC-EDIC will support the implementation of the EU Cybersecurity Skills Academy. Its headquarters will be in Athens, with Greece, Cyprus, Austria, Croatia and Slovenia as founding members, and Czechia and Poland as observers.  

The CSC/EDIC will develop tailored cybersecurity training programmes, measure cybersecurity skills gaps, support the Industry-Academia Network, and work with ENISA to strengthen cyber resilience in critical sectors. It will also contribute to EU-wide skills attestation, career pathways, micro-credentials, and industry training pledges.  

Discover more on the CSC-EDIC! 

 

Four main areas of action

The Cyber Skills Academy builds on the four following areas of action: 

Four areas of action

CyberSkills Academy pillar_1 Knowledge and training

Knowledge generation & trainings

Fostering knowledge generation through education and training by establishing a common EU approach to cybersecurity training.
CyberSkills Academy pillar_3. Fundng & projects

Funding & projects

Ensuring a better channelling and visibility over available funding opportunities and existing projects for skills-related activities to maximise their impact.
CyberSkills Academy pillar_2. Involving Stakeholders and Academia

Involving stakeholders and academia

Calling on stakeholders and academia to make pledges, improve gender balance in cybersecurity and include specific measures to address the cybersecurity skills gap in national cybersecurity strategies.
CyberSkills Academy pillar_4. Measuring progress

Measuring progress

Developing a methodology to monitor the evolution of the market and measure the progress achieved towards closing the cybersecurity skills gap.

Measuring progress

Cyber Skills Academy - Measuring progress

Measuring progress: built-in accountability

Under this area the Cyber Skills Academy addresses two main aspects: 

  • Data available on the status and progress of cyber skills.
  • Indicators (existing or to be developed) for measuring the status and progress of cyber skills.

Data on cyber skills

The last Eurobarometer survey on cyber skills (May 2024) highlights a significant awareness of the importance of cybersecurity among companies, with 71% recognizing it as a high priority. However, the survey reveals a gap in action, with 74% of companies not providing any training or awareness programs for their employees. Among the key findings of the survey, the challenge of recruiting people with the right cyber skills stands out, with 45% of the companies surveyed reporting hiring difficulties in finding qualified candidates. Do you want to know more? Check the full report here!

Infographic showing percentages of EU average for several factors: 45% difficulties finding qualified candidates, 44% lack of applicants, 22% lack of awareness about cyber threats, 19% need for continuous training and rapidly changing technologies, 16% budget constraints an security clearance requirements, 13% struggle to keep up with turnover and competition with other companies

 

According to the recent Fortinet’s 2026 Cybersecurity Skills Gap Global Research Report, 50% of organisations report that board members or executives have faced fines, jail time, loss of position or loss of employment following a cyberattack, while 56% of respondents say that one of the top causes of security breaches is a lack of cybersecurity skills and trained IT or security staff. 

Also, looking at the World Economic Forum’s Global Cybersecurity Outlook 2026 report, published in January 2026, the impact the skills gap has on businesses remains significant. In the 2026 survey, 45% of respondents identified cybersecurity skills and expertise shortages as one of their organisation’s greatest challenges to becoming cyber resilient. 

Indicators on cyber skills

The Cyber Skills Academy will develop a methodology to monitor the evolution of the market and the progress achieved in closing the cybersecurity skills gap. For this, it will define indicators to address better the needs on one hand, and on the other, the offer of trainings, as well as to better direct funds towards the needs.

Relevant EU measurement frameworks in this regard include: 

  • The Report on the State of the Digital Decade (2023 onwards) is the first of a series of annual reports - and a call to Member States for collective actions to address the current investment gaps, accelerate digital transformation in Europe and intensify efforts to reach the objectives of the Digital Decade Policy Programme (DDPP).
  • The Digital Economy and Skills Index (DESI) (until 2022) summarises indicators on Europe’s digital performance and tracks the progress of EU countries. The European Commission has been monitoring Member States’ digital progress through the Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) reports since 2014, including on digital skills.
  • Eurostat also conducts periodical workforce statistics on ICT specialists in employment. For example, in 2021, 80.9 % of men were employed as ICT specialists in the EU against 19.1 % of women. Furthermore, in 2021, about two thirds (64.5 %) of ICT specialists in the EU had completed a tertiary level of education. The cybersecurity sector could benefit from specific statistics that would demonstrate the gaps in cyber skills across the EU.

if you want to propose any relevant information on indicators related to cyber skills, send us your proposal here.

Submit your information