With a dynamic landscape of digital skills initiatives across Europe, the European Digital Skills Awards celebrate the outstanding contributions of projects and organisations dedicated to empowering individuals with essential digital competencies. From private-public partnerships to grassroots endeavours, each finalist and winning project will showcase innovative approaches to fostering digital literacy and inclusion.

Meet the 25 finalists of the European Digital Skills Awards! 

The 2026 European Digital Skills Awards (EDSA) awards ceremony took place on 30 June 2026 in Brussels. Henna Virkkunen, Executive Vice-President of Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy, presented the awards to these inspiring initiatives helping Europeans gain the fundamental and advanced digital skills they need.

This year’s winners reflect the incredible diversity of digital skills efforts across Europe, from public-private partnerships and consortia of leading EU technical universities to local schools, citizen groups, and grassroots community projects. Their achievements demonstrate how vibrant and innovative Europe’s digital skills landscape has become.

“These awards celebrate more than excellence in digital skills — they celebrate Europe’s capacity to innovate, lead and shape its own technological future. The awarded initiatives are helping people across Europe gain the skills needed to drive progress in critical technologies, strengthen our competitiveness, and reinforce our digital sovereignty. By investing in talent, digital ambition and innovation, we are building a more resilient, future-ready Europe that can thrive and lead in the digital age.”

 

“These awards celebrate more than excellence in digital skills — they celebrate Europe’s capacity to innovate, lead and shape its own technological future. The awarded initiatives are helping people across Europe gain the skills needed to drive progress in critical technologies, strengthen our competitiveness, and reinforce our digital sovereignty. By investing in talent, digital ambition and innovation, we are building a more resilient, future-ready Europe that can thrive and lead in the digital age.” 

- Henna Virkkunen, EVP, Tech Sovereignty, Security, and Democracy

 “Behind every digital skill is a person gaining confidence, new opportunities and a stronger place in society. The European Digital Skills Awards 2026 honour projects that open doors for people of all ages and backgrounds, helping them learn, adapt and thrive. This is what a fair and inclusive digital transition looks like: everyone empowered to shape their own as well as our common European future.” 

- Roxana Mînzatu, EVP, Social Rights and Skills, Quality Jobs and Preparedness 

The European Digital Skills Awards were organised for the first time in 2016 and were followed by two more editions, in 2017 and 2018. The National Coalition for Skills and Jobs organised the prestigious event until the 2023 edition when the Digital Skills and Jobs Platform started running the awards, always in collaboration with the European Commission and the National Coalitions for Skills and Jobs all around Europe. 

To find out more about the previous editions and the winning projects, we have compiled the list of projects and initiatives that have been awarded the prestigious Award. Some of the projects -most in fact- are still running and continue to produce an impact, empowering Europeans of all ages and walks of life to acquire digital skills, while some projects are not active anymore.