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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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10121416

Series1

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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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