Hungary: a snapshot of digital skills

Introduction

In the 2024 edition of the Digital Decade report, Hungary has achieved 58.9% basic digital skills coverage, compared to the EU average of 55.6%. This puts Hungary at 73.6% of the overall target for the EU 2030 goal, which aims to have 80% of the EU population possessing at least basic digital skills. The country has seen a remarkable annual growth of 9.5% from the previous year.

According to the Digital Decade report 2024, Hungary performs slightly worse than the EU average in the percentage of ICT specialists in employment. Hungary has surpassed has not surpassed the EU average of 4.8%, despite increasing from 4.1% to 4.2% last year.

As a response to the dire state of the digital labour market, the Hungarian National Coalition was formed in December 2016. In accordance with the objectives of the European Coalition, the Hungarian initiative seeks to develop and implement different measures and projects to alleviate the digital labour deficit. Coalition is coordinated by Informatikai, Távközlési és Elektronikai Vállalkozások Szövetségének IVSZ who among other relevant activities, also created the Association for a Digital Hungary, a voluntary coalition to promote the digital transition by transforming the educational system and increasing the digital competencies of the population and businesses. They described four pillars, based on which rapid and effective changes can be achieved:  digital society, human resources ; sectoral digitization, technological development of SMEs; data economy, innovation, startup ecosystem  and digital region, international cooperation.

Overview of state strategies and national initiatives

State strategies

The National Digitalisation Strategy (Nemzeti Digitalizációs Stratégia 2021-2030) provides the strategic policy framework for digital policies from 2021 to 2030. It is an overarching strategy that groups, clarifies, and in some instances supplements the measures outlined in numerous other strategic documents. The structure of the strategy is based on the four primary pillars of the Digital Decade Compass: digital infrastructure, digital skills, digital economy and digital governance. Strategy lists three priority areas for digital skills: (1) developing digital competence (based on the DigComp framework); (2) increasing the number and qualifications of IT professionals and engineers; and (3) supporting the structural change needed to develop digital skills in education and vocational training. In addition, it identifies four critical areas of action for the digitalisation of businesses: (1) increasing SME use of digital technology; (2) developing digital start-ups; (3) targeted development of the ICT industry through support programmes; and (4) economic use of state data assets.

Under its digital state pillar, the strategy outlines the following five priorities: (1) coordinated, user-centric digital development of central and regional administrations and professional systems on all platforms; (2) establishing a data-driven administration by further enhancing interoperable data links between public registries and relevant back-end systems, as well as e-government services; (3) developing smart settlements and smart areas; and (4) enhancing the information security of government systems.

National Social Inclusion Strategy 2030 (Magyar Nemzeti Társadalmi Felzárkózási Stratégia 2030) was adopted in 2021 with the three main horizontal aims: equal access to public services, development of the situation of Roma women, and digitalisation. Strategy establishes several digital objectives. Particularly, it aims to improve the digital literacy of students, parents, and teachers; to further develop the digital infrastructure in disadvantaged regions; to reduce online risks (such as cyberbullying, addictions, hate speech, and data security); and to improve the IT infrastructure in schools in order to effectively combat early school leaving.

National initiatives

Hungarian Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP) goals in digital transition are to develop a highly skilled and competitive workforce by digitally transforming education and research, promoting teaching and researching in a digital environment and creating a digital curriculum. 29.8% of total €5.8 billion budget is entitled to digital transformation.

The Highly qualified, competitive workforce component of Hungarian RRP aims to modernise higher education and increase cooperation between universities and businesses through the development of R&D and innovation capacities, the sectoral modernisation of higher education courses and the development of infrastructure and skills for practice-oriented higher education courses. Strengthening adult learning in higher education is intended to increase participation in adult learning, which is one of the key challenges for the Hungarian economy and society. An important element of the component is the development of a network of 21st century vocational education and training institutions and National Central Accredited Examination Centres, as well as the development of digital curricula for vocational education and training.

IT Fitness Test is the newest and most comprehensive free ICT skills test in Hungary. Originally organized in Slovakia, IT Fitness Test was in 2022 for the first time organized in four countries and five languages exceeding 100,000 respondents. The test was available in Slovak, Czech, Hungarian and Polish, with the English version as a bonus. In 2022, nearly 5000 participants from Hungary tested their skills as preparation for further study and practical use of IT skills in working life. The IT Fitness Test focuses primarily on practical IT knowledge, A separate set of 20 questions online has been prepared for upper-grade students of elementary schools, while high school and university students have to solve a more complex set of 25 questions, which can be completed in roughly 45-60 minutes. In 2022, thousands of students and teachers from nearly 150 Hungarian schools joined the initiative, almost 29 percent of students and more than 61 percent of teachers achieved results better than 50%. Initiative will continue in 2023 too.

Funding opportunities

Funding opportunities for upskilling and reskilling to support the digital competences of individuals and organizations are available in form of loans, grants and financial instruments. For the period 2021 – 2026 most of the activities in digital transformation are financed through Recovery and Resilience facility but also as activities in Horizon, Erasmus+, ESIF and EEA grant schemes. You may find more on the page of Hungary’s Recovery and Resilience Plan, the page of tenders portal Palyazat.gov.hu and in the article on the Digital Skills and Jobs Platform.