Digital Skills EU Days: Learn more about the Awards Ceremony and launch of the Digital Skills Academies

The Digital Skills EU Days 2026 will take place in Brussels from 29 June to 1 July with a series of working meetings and events focusing on advancing digital skills across Europe and fostering collaboration among stakeholders. 

On 30 June, the public programme will feature the European Digital Skills Awards 2026 ceremony and the launch of the Quantum, GenAI and Virtual Worlds Skills Academies. Henna Virkkunen, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy, and Roxana Mînzatu, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission for Social Rights and Skills, Quality Jobs and Training, will open the public event with a keynote speech and present the awards.

The European Digital Skills Awards 2026 ceremony will reveal the five winners across the categories: Digital Upskilling @ Work, Digital Skills for Education, Inclusion in the Digital World, Women in ICT Careers and Cybersecurity Skills. From 220 applications to 25 finalists, the ceremony will spotlight impactful initiatives from across Europe. 

Following the awards, a high-level panel session with Renate Nikolay, Deputy Director-General, DG CONNECT, European Commission, will bring together experts for a discussion on the vision for the Digital Skills Academies, which aim to bridge critical talent gaps in key technological areas such as Quantum, AI, Virtual Worlds, Cybersecurity and High Performance Computing (HPC). 

In addition to the public programme, the Digital Skills EU Days will host two key annual working meetings bringing together major digital skills stakeholders and projects from across Europe: the National Coalitions for Digital Skills and Jobs will exchange good practices and contribute to discussions on the Digital Decade, while the Digital Europe Programme will convene DEP projects to discuss strategic priorities and ongoing actions.

Digital Skills EU Days Public Programme

European Digital Skills Awards 2026 ceremony and the launch of the Digital Skills Academies 

SQUARE Brussels Meeting Centre

Agenda

14:00 - 14:45 Registration and coffee

14:45 - 15:00 Welcome

15:00 - 15:10 Keynote speech by Henna Virkkunen, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy

15:10 - 15:20 Keynote speech by Roxana Mînzatu, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission for Social Rights and Skills, Quality Jobs and Preparedness

15:20 - 16:45 European Digital Skills Awards 2026 Ceremony

16:45 - 17:30 High-level panel discussion: Digital Skills Academies

• Moderated by: Renate Nikolay, Deputy Director-General, DG CONNECT, European Commission
• With:
• Jacob Sherson, Niels Bohr Institute, Copenhagen University, Denmark, Director of the Centre for Hybrid Intelligence, Dept. of Management, Aarhus University, representing the Quantum Skills Academy
• Isabella De Magny, Founder and Chief Communications Officer of Inspiring Futures Europe representing the AI Skills Academy
• Yiorgos Chrysanthou, General Director of CYENS Centre of Excellence representing the Virtual Worlds Skills Academy
• Michael Bletsas, Governor of the National Cybersecurity Authority of Greece representing the Cybersecurity Skills Academy
• Maria-Ribera Sancho, Head of education and training, Barcelona Supercomputing Centre representing the EuroHPC Virtual Training Academy  

Closing remarks - Yvo Volman, Director of the Data Directorate, DG CONNECT, European Commission

17:30 - 19:00 Networking cocktail reception

Registrations now closed.