ELEVATE: European League of Advanced Digital Skills Academies DIGITAL-2026-SKILLS-09-LEAGUE-OF-ACADEMIES

Context 

The European Health and Digital Executive Agency (HaDEA) has launched the 9th Digital Europe Call for Advanced Digital Skills (DIGITAL-2026-SKILLS-09) under the Digital Europe Programme to fund projects that strengthen advanced digital skills in line with the EU’s Digital Decade and Competitiveness Compass goals. 

Goals

The first topic of the call aims at establishing the European League of Advanced Digital Skills Academies (ELEVATE) — an overarching framework designed to guide governance, enhance coordination, and ensure coherence among various sectoral initiatives. 

ELEVATE will foster synergies and support the effective implementation of objectives across existing efforts such as the Cybersecurity Skills Academy, the EuroHPC Skills Community, and the newly created advanced digital skills academies in AI, Virtual Worlds, Quantum, and Semiconductors. It will also align with other EU-funded projects focused on advanced digital skills, including DIGITAL-funded specialised education programmes, in order to reduce fragmentation.

Furthermore, the action will seek complementarities with related initiatives such as the Digital Large-Scale Partnership under the New Pact for Skills, the European Digital Education Hub, Erasmus+ digital projects, the Data Space for Skills, and the European Skills Intelligence Observatory. It will also build on the Digital Skills and Jobs Platform (DSJP)—which hosts the advanced digital skills academies—to create a cohesive and interconnected ecosystem and reduce fragmentation.

Target Groups

• Higher education institutions
• Vocational and training institutions
• Research institutes
• Public administrations and/or governmental bodies
• Human resources organisations and employment agencies
• IT professionals
• Industry partners, trade and industry associations, alliances, social partners and NGOs

Structure and Expected Outcomes

The call is structured in 4 Pillars:

• Coordination and collaboration
• Capacity building
• Communication
• Market intelligence 

The consortium is expected to:

• Establish an agile governance structure and stakeholder engagement plan to steer and coordinate ELEVATE.
• Develop quality and certification frameworks for ICT education, including a seal of excellence and a European micro-credentials mechanism.
• Create mentoring, fellowship, and alumni networks to support learners and under-represented groups.
• Conduct a market analysis on advanced digital skills supply and labour demand.
• Implement a communication strategy and repository - hosted on the DSJP - to share outcomes and best practices EU-wide.

For the exhaustive list of deliverables and outcomes please refer to the call document. 

Eligibility and Consortium Composition

Beneficiaries and affiliated entities must: 

• Be legal entities (public or private bodies).
• Be established in one of the eligible countries, i.e.:
  • EU Member States (including overseas countries and territories) 
  • Non-EU countries: 
    §    listed EEA countries and countries associated to the Digital Europe Programme

The consortium must be composed of a minimum of 3 independent applicants from at least 3 different eligible countries.

Funding, Duration and Eligible Costs

The estimated available call budget is EUR 7 200 000, which also corresponds to the maximum budget available per project. The expected project duration for this topic is 48 months. 
Coordination and Support Actions have a 100% funding rate.

Timeline

• Call Opening: 4 November 2025
• Deadline for Submission: 3 March 2026 – 17:00:00 CET (Brussels)
• Evaluation: April-May 2026
• Information on evaluation results: June 2026
• GA signature: September 2026