Digital Skills for All - Austria
According to Statistik Austria (2023), 63% of the Austrian population aged 16 to 74 have at least basic digital skills. Digital skills vary among different population groups: while 60% of individuals with a maximum compulsory schooling diploma lack digital basic skills, the corresponding figure for those with a high school diploma or tertiary education is 20%. Age also plays a significant role: around 20% of 16 to 24-year-olds lack these basic skills, while nearly 60% of 65 to 74-year-olds do not possess them.
"Digital Skills for All" aimed to address those gaps by offering free digital skills workshops throughout Austria from October to December 2023, making them accessible to individuals with low income, limited education, or under social isolation. Through interactive and hands-on experiences, the project seeked to empower participants, enhance their self-esteem, and encourage lifelong learning practices.
Get to know the initiative
Based on the data above and the relevance to societal participation, 3 main topics were chosen: e-government, safe digital media usage for parents and teenagers and digital education for senior citizens. The Digital Skills office opened a funding call for educational providers to organise and hold workshops, to which numerous educational institutions responded, with a total of 753 workshops (each 2-3 units à 50 mins) held by 35 educational providers for 8544 participants in 209 municipalities.
An external evaluation was carried out during and after the workshop phase. The intended outcomes were for learners to develop confidence, understand technology and use digital devices on a basic level, familiarise themselves with existing support structures in case of need, connect with peers in similar situations and continue engaging with digitisation. The workshop concept is based on 4 pillars:
- Meeting participants where they are, through workshops in rural areas and accessible locations and at times that are convenient for them,
- Planning and marketing a share of workshops exclusively for certain target groups such as senior citizens,
- Focusing on key areas such as safety that are required to participate in society and where skills are low,
- Placing emphasis on the needs and wishes of participants to raise motivation for continuous learning, instead of strictly adhering to teaching lesson plans.
Main goals of Digital Skills for All
The main goals of Digital Skills for All are:
- To provide orientation to a basis digital skills topic for participants and motivate citizens to continue their learning path. Participants receive an introduction and learn about supporting resources, reduce their fear through a gentle approach and peer-support and start their lifelong learning journey through first small but immediate successes during the workshop.
- To activate and support adult education networks in Austria. The aim of the funding procedure was to build on existing structures and strengthen them; by doing so we intend to further develop sustainable processes and cooperate with existing providers.
Current milestones of the initiative
Within the three months of its running time, the Digital Skills for All project achieved significant goals in promoting digital inclusion and empowerment in Austria. With 753 workshops held across the country, involving 8544 participants and 35 educational providers, the initiative achieved more than the numbers that were originally set out.
A detailed evaluations focusing on workshop attendance, participant diversity, satisfaction, and the impact on improving basic digital skills shows that its two main aims, to encourage ongoing learning among participants and helping them become more confident with digital skills, as well as to strengthen adult education networks and encouraging collaboration in digital skills development, have been met in a short amount of time. By using a mix of research methods, including interviews and surveys, the project gained valuable insights into its effectiveness and areas for improvement.
