Cybersecurity today is a priority for everyone: it is the cornerstone of a connected and digital Europe. As the President of the European Commission Ursula Von der Leyen stressed in her 2021 State of the European Union speech, ‘We cannot talk about defence without talking about cyber. If everything is connected, everything can be hacked’.
Data by Eurostat and the 2021 Digital Economy and Skills Index (DESI), shows that 39% of EU citizens who used the internet in 2019 experienced security-related problems. Cyberattacks and digital threats, such as data breaches, online fraud, or data leaks also impact European businesses, and especially SMEs. At the same time, demand for skilled professionals in the field of cybersecurity is growing, with some estimates of the Joint Research Centre (JRC) pointing to a shortage of 1 million cybersecurity employees within the EU, and 3.5 million worldwide.
The European Union undertakes a variety of actions to address these challenges. Key agencies and partners of the European Commission (ENISA, ECSO) enhance cooperation between stakeholders and Member States. The EU Cybersecurity Strategy pools funding and investment from major EU financial instruments (the Digital Europe Programme, Horizon Europe, and the Recovery Plan for Europe to enhance cybersecurity resilience for SMEs, upskill EU workforce and reach the 2030 targets of the Digital Decade.
The Digital Europe Programme (DIGITAL) is investing in learning and training opportunities that will enhance the knowledge in cybersecurity in Europe. The new Work Programmes for 2021-2022 set out part of the actions to be implemented in the first two years, outlining the objectives and specific topic areas that will receive a total of €1.98 billion in funding. The new Work Programmes 2023-2024 include a specific work programme focusing on cybersecurity, with a budget of €375 million for the period of 2023-2024, to enhance the EU's collective resilience against cyber threats.
Specifically, as part of this work programme, a new Cybersecurity Skills Academy will be launched in April 2023 on the Digital Skills & Jobs Platform with the aim to develop cybersecurity skills through the implementation of new training opportunities or the scale-up of successful ones.
The Digital Skills and Jobs Platform keeps you up to date on cybersecurity-related information: check out the Platform to discover EU initiatives, national initiatives, training offers as well as resources, funding opportunities and many other. Scroll down the page to find out more!
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