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Digitally empowered Europe
Unite-IT 3rd Annual Report
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© UniteIT, 2015
This project has been funded with support
from the European Commission. This publication
reflects the views only of the author, and
the Commission cannot be held responsible
for any use which may be made of the information
contained therein.
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Digitally empowered Europe - Unite-IT 3rd Annual Report
Deliverable Title D7.2 Digitally empowered Europe Unite-IT 3rd Annual Report
Version 2
Deliverable Lead Fundația EOS – Educating for an Open Society Romania
Related Work package WP 4
Author(s) Gabriela Barna, Cornelia Popescu, Cristina Enachescu
Contributor(s) Peter Palvolgyi, Zarko Cizmar, Laurence Leseigneur, Mara
Jakobsone, Ivan Stojilovic, Gordana Stojilovic, Gabriela
Ruseva, Laurentiu Bunescu
Duration 36 months
Project coordinator Telecentre-Europe AISBL
Digitally empowered Europe Unite-IT 3rd Annual Report
2015 has been a great year for digital inclusion, digital empowerment, access and
upskilling of citizens. The Digital Agenda Scoreboard, the Digital Economy and Society
Index, the Digital Single Market and the Europe 2020 Strategy are only some of the
policy documents which ensure that European citizens benefit from a wide array of
opportunities in terms of digital skills, starting from low/basic digital skills to high level IT
industry required digital knowledge and competences.
The third and last Unite-IT report provides an overview of the activities,
programmes, events and initiatives carried out by the Unite-IT project consortium
partners or associate partners within the Unite-IT digital inclusion network. This report
covers approximatively 12 months, starting October 2014 until the very end of the Unite-
IT project – October 2015.
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Digitally empowered Europe Unite-IT 3rd Annual Report
CHAPTER I │An overview of e-Skills and digital inclusion policy in Europe
1.1. The Unite-IT e-inclusion network – 3 years on
The Unite-IT project ends in October 2015, but the e-inclusion community
developed through this project will continue to strive and grow over the years to
come.
The results of the overall project are presented and detailed on the Unite-IT portal
developed during the project. The portal comprises separate sections as follows:
information about the project and the partner
consortium, the Unite-IT community (with sub-
sections for members, photos, blogs, videos,
guidelines about the use of this section and a FAQ
part), the section dedicated to the working groups (5
groups), the database of good practices, policies and
resources, and finally an events section which
highlights past, current and future events which might
be of interest to the Unite-IT community. A thorough
account of activities and progress achieved during the
last year of the project can be found in Chapter II of
this report.
The www.unite-it.eu e-inclusion web portal contains all the public information,
resources and documentation and can be freely accessed by all interested parties.
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1.2. e-Skills and inclusion initiatives/policies in Europe
Research points to the existence of clear social and economic benefits to engaging
adults into continued learning activities. Across Europe, however, the participation
rate in adult learning programmes has been stagnant throughout the last decade,
despite political commitments at both European and national levels. No more than
4.4% of the 66 million adults with low education attainment participate in learning
activities. It is crucial to improve both the design and the implementation of current
adult learning schemes. Such a re-think should include a more careful selection of
policy levers, explicit targets and more rigorous frameworks for policy evaluation.
Strong examples of policy levers are co-financing schemes to support employers’
investment in adult learning provision, financing of learning programmes for
disadvantaged groups, and the
alignment of training provision
with the identified future skills
needs of employers.
The fourth edition of DG EAC’s
annual flagship publication – the
Education and Training Monitor
2015 - charts the latest evidence
available on a number of issues
directly related to ET 2020’s
priority areas, such as the Europe
2020 headline targets, education
investment and educational
poverty. It also points to policy
levers that can actively contribute
to inclusiveness, quality and
relevance. Where possible, its
quantitative analysis is complemented by an assessment of structural and process
indicators to reveal barriers in the EU’s education and training systems.
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A lot has happened over the past year in the sector of digital inclusion in Europe.
Since 2010, Europe has identified new engines to boost growth and jobs, e-inclusion
being a cross cutting issue embedded and addressed in each of the 7 flagship
initiatives of the Europe 2020 Strategy: The Digital Agenda for Europe, Innovation
Union, Youth on the move, Resources efficient Europe, And industrial policy for the
globalization era, An agenda for new skills and jobs and the European Platform
against poverty. Although as mentioned before e-inclusion and digital skills are
cross-cutting, we will focus our attention at policies mainly related to the Digital
Agenda for Europe.
The Digital Agenda Scoreboard, part of the
Digital Agenda for Europe flagship, presents
previously unpublished analysis and
conclusions, based partly on data published
online between January and June 2015. The
Digital Agenda Scoreboard reports on the
progress of the European Union on digital
issues. It includes an in-depth analysis in fields relevant to EU digital policies. The
Commission also publishes yearly the Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI),
which focuses on progress in 5 key fields.
2015 has witnessed the fourth publication of Digital Agenda Scoreboard by the
European Commission. This report mainly includes a presentation and analysis of
data from 2014. Although there is data available for each of the EU28 countries, with
breakdown figures regulated to digital inclusion in various sectors, the main
achievements in Europe in the areas of digital empowerment and use of technology
were summarized as follows:
Connectivity
in the last two years, there have been 20 million more subscriptions
to fast internet (at least 30Mbps) in the EU. 4G mobile broadband
is available to 79% of households, up from 27% two years ago.
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basic broadband is available to everyone in the EU, while fixed
technologies cover 97% of households.
Human Capital
internet users continue to increase, with 75% of the EU
population reporting that they used the internet at least weekly in
2014;
for most people, use of the internet is a daily activity, with 65% of
EU citizens reporting using it daily in 2014;
Use by disadvantaged people (individuals belonging to at least
one of the three groups: 'aged 55-74', 'low education' or
'unemployed, inactive or retired') also continues to rise, with 60%
reporting using the internet at least weekly in 2014.
18% of the EU population has still never used the
internet. The main reasons for non-use are lack of interest, lack
of skills and cost factors;
40% of the population have insufficient digital skills;
the large and growing demand for ICT professionals in the
economy is leading to a skills gap projected to reach 825 000
unfilled vacancies by 2020. The biggest gaps are expected in
Germany, the UK and Italy.
Use of Internet and Integration of Digital Technology
more than half (57%) of EU Internet users use online banking and
close to two-thirds (63%) are shopping online;
21% of individuals in the EU make use of cloud services to store
files, while 15% do so for the purpose of sharing files;
young people are more than three times likely to use cloud
services than those aged 55 and above. Only 11% of cloud users
pay for the service they are using.
only 15% of citizens in 2014 were buying from another EU
country;
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Digital Public Services
26% of the population uses eGovernment services to submit
forms to public authorities online
while the majority of the most used public services are now
available online, these online services are not yet user-friendly
and transparent enough to overcome the barriers to use by the
less digitally-skilled members of the population
In order to increase the supply of information and communication technology (ICT)
practitioners by 2015 and to ensure there are a sufficient number of skilled people to
meet future demand for ICT skills, the Commission launched the Grand Coalition
for Digital Jobs at the conference on 'e-Skills and Education for Digital Jobs' in
March 2013 in Brussels. It is a multi-stakeholder partnership that facilitates
collaboration between businesses, education providers, and public and private actors
to attract young people into ICT education, and to retrain unemployed people.
As part of the Grand Coalition for
Digital Jobs, the Commission
organised e-Skills Weeks to raise
awareness of e-skills and the
demand for jobs. There were over
2.235 events taking place in over 37
European countries and involving over 1.8 million participants. In 2014, a new
campaign, 'e-Skills for Jobs' was launched. Its aim is also to raise awareness of the
need for citizens to improve their ICT skills for work. The e-Skills for Jobs High-
Level Conference and the e-Skills for Jobs Grand Event were organised as part of
this initiative. Similar campaigns are planned for 2015-2016.
The Digital Single Market (DSM) is a new initiative launched by the European
Commission within the Digital Agenda for Europe flagship which touches on
extremely important issues like employment, digital skills and expertise. A digitally
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skilled workforce and digitally competent consumers will be a driving force for the
achievement of a truly connected DSM and a precondition for Europeans'
participation in the digital world of e-commerce, services, communication and other
forms of interaction. However, we are witnessing digital skills mismatches and
shortages in Europe which will significantly affect the functioning and performance
of European labor markets in the near future.
To make sure that we have the necessary pool of digital skills in Europe, at basic,
intermediate and advance levels, education and training opportunities, also within
companies, need to be improved. Currently 39% of EU citizens have only low or no
digital skills. About one fifth (18%) of the EU population has never used the Internet,
mainly older people, those with lower
educational attainments and the
inactive or retired. Learning and
acquiring digital competences goes
beyond pure ICT skills and involves
the creative and collaborative and
safe use of ICT. Consumers need also
to be educated and protected in relation to new disguised forms of marketing in
social media, e-privacy and behavioural targeting of marketing through online
tracking. Consumers should be aware of their online rights and have the means to
enforce them. All citizens need to be sufficiently digitally competent to participate
actively in society and the economy and to benefit from digital services such as
online learning, e-health and e-government and e-commerce.
It is therefore essential to increase digital competences among the general
population at all stages of life. Effective initial education and training requires well
trained educators and modern and well-equipped educational institutions making best
use of digital and other innovative tools. Between 20-25% of students are taught by
digitally confident and supportive teachers having access to ICT and facing low
obstacles to their use at school. Only one in three teachers in the EU reports frequent
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use of practices involving ICT. Digital skills or ICT competences are sometimes a
separate subject and sometimes taught across subjects; however they are so far not
part of all educational curricula and learning outcomes.
Digital skills are currently mostly learned outside formal education, through
personal internet and computer use, in the workplace, in experiential learning or in
other informal settings.
Mechanisms to identify, assess,
recognise and validate these
skills are rare and fragmented
across Europe and often not
recognised across borders. This impairs the further acquisition of digital skills as well
as the matching of job seekers' and employers' needs.
The digitisation of the economy is transforming the European labour markets,
changing the working conditions and boosting the demand for digital skills. The use
of technologies in the workplace alters significantly the patterns and modes of work
as well as the relationships between employers and employees.
Regarding the demand of digital skills, there is a growing concern amongst hiring
companies regarding the availability of key skills of people, even if these are known
to have grown significantly year after year, and even if ICT professionals proved the
strongest growing occupation over 2013-2014. But it is equally true that so far, still a
third of the EU workforce has insufficient digital skills while 19% has a low
level and 14% has no digital skills at all.
Demand for digitally competent professionals across all economic sectors has
continued to grow and is not aligned with the existing supply on the workforce
market.
Education and employment are mainly Member State and regional competences.
Nevertheless, with the recognition of a digital skills shortage and mismatches
affecting Europe, EU intervention and support have a clear role to play. The joint
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labor market and the cross-border nature of digital and online offers imply that
shortages in some countries or regions affect all others. At the same time, European
focus and support are needed to assure that no regions are either left behind or 'brain-
drained' as regards the provision of digital infrastructure, devices, skills in education
or the skills and competences of the general population.
European Structural and Investment Funds already support the connectivity of
schools as well as digital skills and competence training; this support might need to
be widened to include provision of devices to educational organisations, skills
training aimed at educators, as well as to increase support for digital skills and
competence training of the general population and job seekers.
The Riga Declaration for e-Skills for Jobs in Europe Governments, industry,
NGOs, academia and other key stakeholders from across Europe have joined forces
with the European Commission to push for
further action to stimulate the creation of the
jobs needed to build a digital single market in
Europe.
Together they have drawn up the Riga
Declaration - 10 principles that should guide
efforts this year to unlock the potential of e-Skills to fuel growth and job creation.
Harnessing the benefits of the digital revolution has been identified by European
Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker as a top priority and an essential means
to ending Europe’s prolonged economic downturn.
Unemployment remains stubbornly high in many EU member states. But at the same
time there is a parallel shortage of people with the digital skills needed to fill
positions both in the public and private sectors. This is what is referred to as the
skills gap.
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The skills gap offers a big opportunity especially for young people entering the
workforce. Unemployment among 15-24 year olds in Europe averaged 24% at the
end of 2013.
Over the last decade, the number of ICT jobs in Europe has continued to grow,
despite the unfavorable economic context and the alarming rise in unemployment,
especially among young job seekers.
The highest job growth has been in highly skilled jobs where there is increasing
excess of demand over supply. The trend in ICT management jobs has been growth
of almost 14% p.a. from 2011 to 2013. Even with cautious forecasting, demand is
expected to increase at 4.6% p.a. up to 2020, largely due to a stagnation in the
number of qualified graduates from universities. As a result, Europe will be faced
with bottlenecks, especially in highest skilled ICT jobs, according to the research
organisations, Empirica and IDC).
1.3. Policy position papers
During the last 12 months of the UNITE-IT project, Telecentre-Europe with the
Unite-IT membership worked together to develop and publish a series of
participatory position papers on various topics of joint interest.
I. Digital Competence and Employability
One of the most important policy position papers was developed on the recognition
of competences acquired through non-formal and informal learning environments.
The paper entitled Digital Competence and Employability, offers an understanding
of the current need for the development of the digital competence levels of citizens in
Europe with the aim of increasing employment and employability perspectives and
discusses the need to formally recognize those competences when acquired in non-
formal and informal settings.
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The paper argues that our social and
economic interactions are increasingly
mediated by new technologies, and that
digital inclusion today depends largely
more on competences than on access to
and use of technologies. However, the EU
population has either "low" or "no" digital
skills and is thus not considered to be
functional in a digital society. The lack of
digital competence of a large part of the EU population has dramatic repercussions
on their employability perspective. Regardless of overall high unemployment rates,
in areas like ICT the job offer exceeds the demand and the gap is widening, while it
is expected that 90% of jobs in the near future will require ICT skills of some level.
Despite the long record of policy developments in the field since at least 2002,
reducing skills mismatches and preparing the population to face the challenges of an
ever-increasing adoption of technologies in everyday life are still two urgent
challenges that require pressing and focused policy action and endorsement.
There is a necessity for a common European framework that allows a shared
understanding of the meaning and implications of digital competence and that
presents its components and levels of proficiency, similar to the Common Reference
Framework for languages. This might ease comparability across Europe and the
alignment and harmonisation of training offers. Three frameworks have been
developed recently at the request of the European Commission that touch upon
digital competence - the eCompetence Framework for ICT professionals; the
eCompetence framework for end users; the DIGCOMP framework. Telecentre
Europe suggests that - in the case of non-ICT professionals - the DIGCOMP
framework is used as it considers and develops the transversal component of digital
competence that are necessary for a variety of job profiles. The eCF for end users can
be used to complement the DIGCOMP frame as it covers some aspects of digital
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competence in a more granular way and allows for measurements and certifications
which are already developed and adopted. The eCF for ICT professionals shall then
be used in the context of ICT-related jobs.
II. Digital skills and inclusion through e-facilitators
Telecentres have placed themselves for a long time as providers of ICT access and
digital competences in local communities. This policy position paper provides the
background in terms of the space and context which demand the existence of the e-
facilitator profession and its further acceptance and professional up-skilling.
People who are disconnected from
the digital world today show a
multitude of disadvantage features:
this group has little options to access
the formal education system, so non-
formal adult education becomes their
unique option (apart from family and
friends, i.e. informal learning) to get
acquainted with e-skills and digital
opportunities. This makes this target group a multi-faceted disadvantaged group that
will need special support on their way to the digital society. Education staff with
abilities in dealing with this target group is a key for providing digital competences.
Telecentre Europe (through its members) has been involved in a strand of four EU
financed development projects (Lifelong Learning Programme, 2011-2014) aiming at
supporting the professionalization of telecentres, their services and staff. One of the
outcomes was the branding of the profile of the “eFacilitator” as a vocational profile
of educational staff for ICT competences in telecentres.
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Recent years have seen a constant rise in requirements towards educational staff
working in telecentres. Telecentre staff meets challenges like reduced public funding,
new labour market demands for employability concerning ICT qualifications and
changing technological systems (tablets, cloud applications, apps). On the other side,
end users are requesting new services (mobile devices, online job searching,
certification of competences) and new target groups are entering the digital world
and face competence gaps. These developments lead to a demand for professional
training for educational staff of telecentres.
III. European Framework for Cooperation in Education and Training
Digital technologies have become an integral part of all aspects of our lives. This
paper serves to remind policy makers and all those involved in the “Education and
Training 2020” (ET2020) that the function of education in today’s world is also to
provide European citizens, particularly young people, with learning opportunities to
acquire digital skills and competences in a holistic way, including the safe, critical
and creative use of technology.
Adopted in 2009, the ET2020
strategy sets the framework for
cooperation in education and
training at the EU level. 2014 is
a crucial year for the strategy,
as it is under mid-term review
halfway through its
implementation. So far the
strategy put emphasis on
improving education and
training to meet the requirements of the labour market in an increasingly changing
society. Telecentre Europe (TE) believes however that education and training should
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not be looked at from a purely economic prism. Only comprehensive strategies
combining inclusion, up-skilling, flexible learning paths, civic engagement and
cross-sectorial cooperation can ensure that education and training correspond to the
differing needs of all citizens. This position paper discusses the following aspects of
the implementation of ET2020:
Non-formal education and training has to be recognised in its own right
Existing terminology on non-formal education, training and learning needs to
be revisited
Non-formal education and training is key enabler of lifelong learning
More university ICT graduates, but also digital skills needed for the labour
market
New non-formal ICT educators’ profiles need to be recognised
Not just ‘innovation’, but ‘inclusive innovation’ in education
IV. Skillage report 2012-2015
Telecentre Europe, alongside the members of Unite-IT e-inclusion network, regularly
carries out an analysis of the
data provided in Skillage, with
the aim of providing an
evidence base on young
Europeans’ digital skills. The
conclusions of the analysis will
help mobilise the efforts of
telecentres around Europe to
tackle youth unemployment in
the most underprivileged areas and to raise awareness about digital competences and
their importance for the labour market.
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The report analyses participation results and the average scores obtained by
participants between 2012 and 2015. In addition, for 2015 it provides an in-depth
analysis with the socio-demographic variables. Following the analysis, specific calls-
to-action and policy recommendations are proposed as well.
Policy recommendations are:
•to raise awareness among female youngsters and employers about the fact that girls
and women are well prepared to work in jobs requiring digital competence
•specific digital competence education and training should be already introduced at
school age and aligned with labour market needs
•to reinforce digital skills education and training for employability at high school,
vocational training, university and non-formal training for youngsters (ICT training
centres, telecentres, etc.).
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CHAPTER II │Unite-IT – the European digital inclusion network
The coordination and running of the Unite-IT network was officially launched
during the First Annual Unite-IT conference held in Malta in October 2013. Since
then, the network has continually developed its resources and enlarges its
membership. This section of the report comprises some key figures and a summary
of the activities carried out by the network partners to enhance the participation of
multi-sector stakeholders in the area of digital inclusion. Although the focus of this
report is to highlight activities and keep points of the last year of its operation, the
figures and overall conclusions reflect the progress and the current state of affairs,
after 3 years of running the Unite-IT project.
The network in numbers – end of October 2015:
Running the Unite-IT network has obviously underlined a number of activities
which are strictly linked with dissemination and exploitation. Because the running
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of the network represents 2/3rds of the total duration of the project, the consortium
partners have devoted a significant time to develop the network both following the
plans initially described in the project application but allowing sufficient flexibility
to help the community evolve in a lively and pro-active way. For relationship
building and forming partnerships within the community it was important to keep a
certain discipline and structure but also allow conversations and blogpost be
published freely (as long as the topic was connected to digital inclusion).
At the end of 2015, the Unite-IT online community registered 737 members from
85 individual countries. Although Unite-IT is mainly a Europe wide e-inclusion
network (77% of total members), it has so far attracted a considerable international
community of members (23% of total membership). From a gender point of view, it
seems that the network has achieved an almost perfect gender balance during 2015.
While in the first year of its operation, there were more registered female users in
the community, with a proportion of 2/3 female members and 1/3 male members,
the ratio is now at 53.1 female users and 46,9 male users.
In terms of growth of the community, there is significant progress both in terms of
numbers and the types of members who chose to join the Unite-IT community:
The growth of the network, as can be seen from the overall picture which represents
the network numerically, is mainly based on the usefulness of the activities
undertaken by the network and in the interest members take in the events and
information facilitated by the network. It is obvious from the comparative metrics,
577 members in 2014
737 members in 2015
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that the organisations and individuals of the Unite-IT network have had a very active
year in 2015. This can be seen from the continually growing number of blogposts,
photographs, videos events, and even working groups.
During 2015, the internal activities of running the network were focused on the
following categories of activity:
Running of the working groups
Updating activities
Interaction activities
Although there is a clear evidence on the interests and preferences of the members
for some activities and working groups, Education and Training seems to be by far
the more popular topic – with a
membership of 88 people. This is
mostly due to the fact that education
and training is a topic which is
relevant and cross-cutting across the
other working groups and has
therefore attracted a higher number
of users. Regardless of how the
working groups might be organized
and facilitated, it seems there is still a
tendency for members to use other
collaborative working spaces
(Basecamp, Dropbox) and communication instruments (email, skype, etc). The
activities within the working groups have also witnessed a seasonality of increased
activity at times like the Get Online Week campaign or the Annual Unite-IT
conferences.
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While the activity and discussions of the working groups are all accessible on the
Unite-IT portal, it is worth mentioning that the face to face meetings during the
annual Unite-IT events made it possible for the members to meet each other in
person, co-work and discuss live the issues of common interest.
The Unite-IT network has now become a focal point of e-inclusion initiatives,
projects and activities in Europe. With the continued support of Telecentre-Europe –
the initiator of the project – and with contributions from the membership this e-
inclusion community will continue to develop and grow with the mandate of
bringing on board of the information society ALL the European citizens.
Each working group has had its own structure for development and has organised
webinars aligned with the interests of the members. All webinars per each work
group are available for reference on the Unite-IT portal. It is worth mentioning that
the Unite-IT membership felt that a new working group is needed to address the
social innovation aspects of inclusion – since this topic has become a priority
especially within telecentre networks across Western Europe.
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Chapter III - The 3rd Unite-IT Annual Conference on Digital Empowerment – All Inclusive Unite-IT project partners organised the 3
rd annual conference in Belgrade during 24th
and 25th September 2015. The event was co-organised by the Serbian Unite-IT
member International Aid Network. The event was attended by almost 150
participants and was held in the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Belgrade where guests
enjoyed 2 days of speeches, workshops and an unforgettable e-Inclusion award
ceremony with live music and networking.
In 2015, the participants at the 3rd
Unite-IT Annual Conference were, expectedly, a
majority of telecentre networks and NGOs in digital inclusion field. However, the
event also welcomed policy makers from Finland and Serbia, a group of primary and
secondary school teachers, civil society organisations from UK and municipal
authorities from the city of Venice. From the private sector, Tieto Latvia’s CEO
Elmars Gengers spoke at length about attracting talent to ICT professions and the
ever-growing importance of soft skills such as flexibility, communication and
leadership. On behalf of CISCO, Natacha Comar spoke about the CISCO
Networking Academies making a difference all around the world. She also presented
the Get Connected course which can be implemented in telecentres and was therefore
an interesting opportunity for Unite-IT members to further explore this program. All
the details of the conference are available on the event website:
http://teannualconference2015.info/.
The first day of the conference started with an overview of the progress and trends in
the field of e-Inclusion, followed by a panel discussion which focused fully on youth
employability and the new stakeholder platform launched by Telecentre-Europe
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together with European Schoolnet and Telefonica. The panel brought together
representatives of 5 different fields: researchers, civil society, ICT sector,
entrepreneurs and policy makers. They all presented their own perspective about how
they are contributing to bringing unemployed young people into jobs.
Another important section of the event was dedicated to learning about the theory
and practice of e-participation, what it means and what it can actually achieve for
local, regional or national initiatives. The main question was centered around the
kind of skills citizens need to have to be able to be active and participate online in
shaping the future of their communities and countries.
The e-participation session was followed by a world café on funding, where
members and other NGOs talked about concrete topics they can get together for
projects and funding applications. This is always one of the workshops which
generates a lot of interest for organisations and individuals.
Workshops and discussions
The UNITE-IT workshops were a series of simultaneous discussions on digital
inclusion matters, relating to 1. Vulnerable groups such as the elderly or disabled
(#TEACvulne), 2. The gender gap in ICT (#TEACgender), 3. Education and training
and the EU framework for digital competence (#TEACedu), 4. Youth employability
(#TEACemploy) and 5. Social innovation (#TEACinno).
The main themes addressed during the conference were Empowering youth for
employability, e-Participation in theory and practice and Sustainability and funding
for telecentres, networks and NGOs working in the field. One of the main focuses of
each of the working groups` face to face meeting was to collectively develop and
validate a joint position paper on topics of common interest. While the Education and
Training working group discussed the future of the Digital Competence Framework
and its usability by telecentres, the Gender equality group discussed opportunities to
bring more women into IT, the Youth employability group focused on the Grand-
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Coalition-for-Digital-Jobs and the Digital-Single-Market, while the Vulnerable
Groups community overviewed the balance between social and digital disadvantage.
The Unite-IT network established the Digital Inclusion Awards in 2014 as the
annual recognition to organisations and professionals who work in the field of digital
inclusion and who create, often with very small resources, innovative ways to bring
digital opportunities and skills to people in their communities.
Organisations working in the field of digital inclusion and training were invited to
submit their good practices and policies in May-August 2015. The Unite-IT network
collects each year new European practices into a comprehensive database that can be
used by all its registered members. The Unite-IT
Project Jury evaluated 42 good practices and 18
resources from all over Europe based on the
following criteria: (1) innovation of the good
practice/resource, (2) its usability, and (3)
relevance.
The Unite-IT award ceremony took place on 24th September 2015. Gordana Stankov
Stojilovic, from International Aid Network (IAN, Serbia) hosted the ceremony, while
four Board members of Telecentre Europe were invited to present and hand the
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awards to the winners. The winners received certificates and symbolic statues for
each category and were invited to briefly present their project to the audience, share a
few ideas and thoughts about the Unite-IT network and the feeling of having won an
award. The audience applauded the winners and celebrated their success during the
gala dinner following the formal part of the awards ceremony.
Four organisations, in four categories, were selected and awarded in Belgrade:
Education and training AWARD
“Tieto Latvia” - an IT company - won the award
in this category with their mobile application
“GUDRINIEKS” (Wise One). The application is
a free educational tool designed for preschool,
first and second grade schoolchildren.
“GUDRINIEKS” helps children develop
mathematical understanding, skills and strengthen their knowledge base acquired at
school. More information: http://goo.gl/IkkeF9
Youth employability AWARD
YouRock.Jobs platform, established by
YouRock Online Ltd (UK) in 2013, was selected
as the best entry in Youth employability
category. It is a creative tool developed for
young job-seekers under 30 wishing to showcase
their first working skills and connect with
employers. Available in 17 languages, YouRock aims to help 500,000 young people
in Europe to build attractive online portfolios and find a job. More information
http://yourock.jobs
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Vulnerable groups at risk of exclusion AWARD
Citizens Advice from United Kingdom won with
their Digital Money Coaching. This project is
about a community of volunteers who work with
Citizens Advice clients to improve their digital
skills in the context of financial capability to use
online and mobile banking; price comparison sites
and energy switching sites. They also teach people how to access local and national
government services. More information: https://goo.gl/GIl4fn
Gender equality AWARD
The winner of Gender equality category is a
project Spazio M@mm@ (M@mm@ space) run
by the City of Venice in Italy. It is a dedicated
space for mothers and children, next to the room
that houses an Internet centre. The idea was to
address the gender gap and attract more women to
the centre and to computer classes by providing a space for children with a
babysitter. Children play while their mothers are learning ICT skills. More
information: http://goo.gl/oRdnzo
Due to the success of the eInclusion Awards developed through the Unite-IT project,
the membership agreed to continue to organise this event for the long term. The
continuation of this activity will be supported by Telecentre-Europe and the Unite-IT
membership.
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CHAPTER IV │ Best practices and e-inclusion policies database The Unite IT Database was constructed to allow access to the repository of
European practices and policies with specific regard to ICT for inclusion and social
cohesion.
The Database presents practices and policies related to digital inclusion, and
initiatives, trends, policy agendas at a local, national and European level. The
Database is available free of charge for the registered Unite IT portal users.
The procedure for submitting new practices developed during the design phase of the
network has functioned well for
organizations wishing to submit best
practices. The project consortium agreed to
keep the same procedure in place – to keep
the fillable .pdf form procedure to make it
easier for members to focus on the contents
and review their entered text easier.
Until the end of 2015 – which represents
approximately 24 months since the database was available to partners and other
organisations – a number of 121 good practices were
uploaded online. The chart below details the number of
practices submitted per country of the submitting
organisation. It is obvious that the project consortium
partners demonstrated a higher level of activity and have
uploaded more good practices – this was understood as a
means to encourage and motivate other organisations to start sharing their
experiences.
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Top 10 contributing countries to the collective pool of knowledge and experience in
the field of e-inclusion is not surprisingly coming mostly from the countries of
residence of the Unite-IT project partners, but has also shown a lot of interest from
countries like Germany, Spain or the United Kingdom.
The general trend for the good practices uploaded into the database has been
searched and evaluated to better understand the target groups which are mainly
served by the organisations who have uploaded best practices. It is obvious that from
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the total number of best practices available the most targeted groups in terms of
digital inclusion are the unemployed, seniors and followed by the general
public and young people. This seems to validate the result of the analysis
performed during the first operational phase when the first good practices were
uploaded into the repository.
Just like in the previous year, the project partnership also looked at understanding
which kind of activities, projects and programmes are mainly developed and carried
out by the Unite-IT membership. Just like with the target groups, there are no big
changes of direction in terms of types of activities. Having said this, there is a clear
indication that a new type of activity is starting to become of interest for
communities: coding. A mere 10% of the practices seem to indicate that coding and
learning how to develop software has an increased interest. This might be due to the
recent campaigns run by Telecentre-Europe, by the European Commission or by
business players like Microsoft. It seems to have raised the awareness of telecentres
and communities to start tapping into a huge pool of human resource which has not
yet been tapped into. Employability, digital skills (e-skills) and IT specialist
courses represent over 75% of total good practices contributed to the Unite-IT
database.
12
4 8
22 24
12
6 2 4 2
11
2 1 6 2 3
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The chart below summarises the overview of all best practices submitted by the end
of the project in October 2015 in the Unite-IT searchable database, based on their
focus:
By interpreting the data and analysing the good practices which were submitted in
the overall database, we can conclude that there is still a lot of effort going into the
provision of digital skills courses and programmes – especially to those who are still
not confident or convinced about the power of the Internet and the use of a
computer. The last 30% of the EU population which is still not digitally literate
requires a lot more resource and effort, but also exposure opportunities to
technology. The telecentre ecosystem is one of the vehicles which still have as one of
their core missions the digital inclusion of those who are still left out, and will
continue to do so until most European citizens are aboard of the information society
and knowledge economy.
As a new feature for the Unite-IT database, the project partners have developed a
new section within the database – a section dedicated for the sharing of resources
specific to digital inclusion initiatives. Started up just a few months before the end of
the project, the resources section of the database is a grass-roots proposal which was
embraced by the membership willing to share curriculum, plans, guide books, etc.
Accessibility
eskills
Innovation
Internet
Employability
IT Specialist
Mobile apps
Multimedia
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
Accessibility eskills Innovation Internet
Employability IT Specialist Mobile apps Multimedia
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Although there are only 20 resources which were uploaded to the resources section
until the end of the project, this will be a feature which will continue to be
maintained by Telecentre-Europe who will take responsibility on continuing the
work around this great e-Inclusion community.
The following countries have kick-started the Resources section with material which
will be hopefully used by many other member organisations in the future:
As a follow up and continuation to grow the pool of expertise and know-how of the
Unite-IT community, Telecentre-Europe and the wider membership will continue to
publicise calls for the collection of more good practices, eInclusion policies and
resources. There is an agreement that these calls for contributions should be done
around important events in order to motivate newcomers. For example, before the
next Telecentre-Europe Annual Conference, a general call for contributions will be
published with the opportunity to then participate in the Digital Inclusion Awards
competition and take part in the overall conference.
0 1 2 3 4 5
Belgium
Czech Republic
Hungary
Ireland
Lithuania
Macedonia
Portugal
Romania
Russia
UK
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CHAPTER V │ Conclusions
As stated before in this report, 2015 has been a year in which jobs, growth and
competitiveness were tackled as hugely important topics, and e-skills are transversal within
all the programs, projects, initiatives and strategies concerned.
Competitiveness, innovation and job creation in European industry are increasingly being
driven by the use of new information and communication technologies (ICT). This must be
backed up by a workforce with the knowledge and skills to use these new technologies
efficiently. The European Commission works on a number of initiatives to boost ICT skills
in the workforce.
We will just mention a few strategic documents and communications of the European
Commission which highlight the importance of the digital skills and empowerment for a
better Europe:
The Annual Growth Survey 2015 states that ICT is not only a sector but also the
foundation of a modern innovative economy, and which identifies the need for
structural reforms to establish a connected Digital Single Market (DSM), which in
turn is essential to make the European economy more competitive;
Commission's Communication “For a European Industrial Renaissance”, stated
that the EU, Member States, regions and industry all have a role to play in fostering
the digitalisation of business processes and in developing the industrial dimension of
the digital agenda;
Commission's Communication “A Digital Agenda for Europe”, proposes a
framework for better exploiting the potential of information and communication
technology (ICT) in order to foster innovation, economic growth and productivity;
Conclusions on Single Market Policy stressed the benefits of a stronger Single
Market and DSM and their potential for higher growth and new jobs, and for
increasing the EU’s global competitiveness; they recognise the importance of the
digital transformation of EU industry to creating jobs, boosting productivity and
enhancing the competitiveness of EU businesses
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The importance of e-Skills for Europe is widely acknowledged. Shortages and mismatches in
e-skills, and the resulting digital divide negatively affect growth, competitiveness,
innovation, employment and social cohesion in Europe. As new technologies develop
rapidly, the skills required to use them become increasingly sophisticated and need to be
constantly updated. Individuals with creativity, innovation and higher-level conceptual skills
are increasingly in demand. Improving the level of e-Skills in the workforce and increasing
the talent pool requires action at EU and national level in education, training, research,
industrial and labour policies, and also in areas such as immigration and taxation.
The EU’s long-term e-skills strategy, based on the Communication, 'e-Skills for the 21st
Century' is making progress. There are several visible achievements regarding ICT
practitioners in particular. The initiatives that stemmed from the implementation of the e-
skills strategy were financed by the Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme
(CIP). New initiatives for 2014-2020 will be financed by the programme for the
Competitiveness of Enterprises and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (COSME).
Within this very favourable action and policy context, Telecentre-Europe along with many of
the Unite-IT network members have officially endorsed the Riga Declaration on eSkills for
Jobs in March 2015 with the occasion of the eSkills for Jobs High Level Conference. The
10 points of the Riga Declaration come to highlight the necessity of continued investment in
the area of e-skills and jobs. The declaration is also re-confirming the importance of e-skills
for Europe’s medium to long-term economic future. The ten principles and action items
agreed by the key stakeholders who are committed to push the digital inclusion agenda
forward are summarised as follows:
1. Commitment to more and better investment in digital technologies and skills
Digital technology opens the world to European business and Europe to global markets,
enabling Europe to compete more effectively on the world stage. For the EU28, eliminating
barriers to the expansion of the digital economy based on the free flow of information and
knowledge could deliver 4% additional GDP growth over the next ten years, a gain of
€500bn and similar in scale to the growth dividend achieved as a result of the EU’s historic
Single Market programme of 1992.
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2. Address youth unemployment in Europe through digital skills
With a shockingly high jobless rate among the 15-24-year olds, Europe fares less well than
other regions of the world, including the US and Asia-Pacific. Youth unemployment will fall
if young people are equipped with the digital skills needed for jobs, in turn enhancing the
competitiveness of industries across the board. Job creation can be stimulated through digital
technology. An estimated 2.6 new jobs are created for each low skilled job made obsolete by
digital technologies.
3. Prioritise "e-Skills for the 21st Century" policy and scale-up implementation
The EU e-Skills strategy, multi-stakeholder partnerships, solutions, benchmarking and
research activities, communication, as well as awareness raising campaigns have generated
important, high-value impacts across the EU. The European Commission and Member States
need to start building on these achievements and to prioritise "e-Skills for the 21st Century"
in the framework of Europe 2020 and the Digital Single Market (DSM) package and ensure
that full scale implementation is achieved.
4. Continue work of the Grand Coalition for Digital Jobs
The European Commission needs to ensure that the Grand Coalition for Digital Jobs will
feature prominently in the EU e-Skills strategy and the DSM package. The Member States
are encouraged to continue to create new national coalitions or support existing ones to
tackle the digital skills gap through immediate short term actions. Focus should be on
developing partnerships from the private and public sectors and ensuring that funds from the
European Social Fund are allocated to innovative ICT training initiatives and IT training
vouchers for unemployed talents.
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5. Promotion of European e-leadership
Innovation in the management and use of digital technologies will optimise business value in
Europe. They must be aligned with business goals – affording business leaders more digital
savviness. ICT professionals with greater business knowledge will be able to leap the gap
between ICT practice and board room goals. SMEs form more than 95 % of EU economy
and provide two out of three jobs. Thus, sector specific education and training programmes
for e-leadership skills development for SMEs need to be supported by Member States.
6. Fostering digital transformation and entrepreneurship
Stakeholders need to support the harnessing of advanced digital technologies such as mobile
communications, social media, cloud computing, big data analytics and the connection of a
wide range of devices and objects to the internet (the Internet of Things). The adoption of
these technologies will have massive transformative power, adding genuine social value and
providing the tools for the next generation of entrepreneurs across Europe.
7. Commitment to life-long education and training
From basic digital competence to e-Skills; education and training systems must be designed
in a holistic manner, combining formal, non-formal and informal learning and linking
academic theory to practical skills required for employment and life in the digital world.
Improvement of curricula for computer science and programming and scaling up of ICT
infrastructure and pedagogy in schools is an urgent necessity. Long term cooperation
between employers and education is fundamental in ensuring skills acquired in education
and training remains relevant for life as is the continuing professional development of
teachers.
8. European leadership of global standards
Developing high level e-competences standards is helping Europe to deliver education
reforms, initiated by Ministries of Education and strongly supported by industry and digital
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learning providers. Effective cross-platform integration relies on the development of
common standards for interoperability, as well as European standards to define and develop
skill sets among citizens, the workforce and ICT professionals, such as the European e-
Competence Framework released by the European Standardisation Committee (CEN).
Driving the development of ICT professionalism in Europe can position Europe as centre-
stage for increase competitiveness and delivering business value.
9. Fostering ICT professionalism and maturing the ICT profession in Europe
The stakeholders need to support the further development and the implementation of a
European Framework for the ICT profession based on four building blocks: 1) European e-
Competence Framework and related ICT jobs profiles 2); European ICT foundational body
of knowledge and curriculum development guidelines; 3) European recognition of ICT
certifications and qualifications across countries based on high quality standards; and 4)
shared European professional ethics.
10. Commitment to cooperate, pool expertise and efforts
The internet has evolved into an interactive Web 2.0. Mass-collaboration has been made
instantly possible, emphasising the importance of e-Skills for jobs and digital technologies
awareness. Whether for experts working on research, game creators developing new
software, architects designing a new project or designers shaping a new model, having the
skills to use the internet facilitates teamwork, anytime, anywhere, in every business sector.
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