It was published on 27 September by the European Commission and takes stock of the EU’s evolution towards a successful digital transformation. More specifically, it presents the activities of the Member States in relation to the four focal points of the Digital Decade 2030:
- digital skills
- digital transformation of businesses
- secure and sustainable digital infrastructure; and
- digitalisation of public services
it includes specific recommendations to them prior to the adoption of their national strategic roadmaps and their future adjustments.
It also includes data on the follow-up to the European Declaration on Digital Rights and Principles for the Digital Decade, the EU’s new strategic text to translate its vision for digital transformation into principles and commitments. In conclusion, it stresses the need to accelerate and deepen collective efforts, including through policy measures and investments in digital technologies, skills and infrastructure.
Digital Skills Axis
As regards digital skills, it is recalled that the Digital Decade’s vision is to ensure that citizens have the right digital skills to fully benefit from and contribute to current and future opportunities in the digital age. It therefore sets the following two targets for 2030:
- at least 80 % of those aged 16-74 have at least basic digital skills, and
- at least 20 million ICT specialists are employed within the EU to achieve gender equality.
According to the findings of the progress report, strengthening digital skills in the general population remains one of the EU’s biggest challenges. However, 46 % of Europeans, especially among older people, currently lack basic digital skills, hampering the use of digital technologies for daily tasks and access to services offered online. Also, the lack of basic digital skills is often observed among people who have received less formal education, whether they live in a rural area or in an outermost region. As the report concludes, unless further action is taken, it is estimated that only 59 % of the European general population will have at least basic digital skills by 2030. On the other hand, the digital skills gap between men and women can be seen.
The case of Greece
52 % of Greece’s population has at least basic digital skills, which is close to the EU average (54 %). As regards ICT professionals, although our country has one of the lowest rates in the EU, only 2.5 %, women represent 20.3 %, which is higher than the EU average (18.9 %). However, the above outlook is relatively weakened by a number of factors, such as the drain of digital talent to countries abroad, the lack of skilled personnel responding to business demands and the low number of ICT graduates.
The report concludes that Greece should significantly step up its efforts in the area of digital skills by:
- expanding the pool of digital talent and ICT professionals; and
- matching skills and qualifications with demand and job opportunities.
© European Commission