European Year of Skills: Master in Artificial Intelligence for Public Services

Like industry, the public sector is increasingly facing a profound digital transformation, aimed to deliver public services to citizens and businesses that are of higher quality, easier to use, that can run faster and reach broader audiences. This ambition is boldly captured by the Digital Decade targets for the Digitalisation of public services, which the European Commission set for 2030 as follows:

• Key Public Services: 100% online
• e-Health: 100% of citizens have access to medical records online
• Digital Identity: 100% of citizens have access to digital ID

To achieve these demanding targets, it is essential to equip public sector professionals with advanced digital skills and understanding of these technologies. Since artificial intelligence is one of the most promising digital technologies that is expected to bring radical innovations to the design and deployment of digital public services, four European universities joined forces in 2020 to create the AI4Gov Master Programme in Artificial Intelligence for Public Services, which has recently started its 3^rd edition.

This pioneering master's programme, funded by the European Commission's Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) - Telecom, is a collaboration between

• Universidad Politécnica de Madrid,
• Politecnico di Milano,
• Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, and
• Tallinn University of Technology.

In the first two editions (2021-2022, 2022-2023), AI4Gov successfully trained over 80 participants from over 40 countries, including government officials, industry professionals, business and ICT consultants, and officials from European and international institutions. 

The master’s organisers, teachers and students gathered from 22 to 24 June 2023 in Milano, Italy, for the closing event and graduation ceremony of its 2^nd edition. HaDEA was there to witness a vibrant, multi-cultural event that confirmed the maturity of this education project and the high level of satisfaction and gratitude expressed by its students.

Deservedly, this master programme won the European Digital Skills Awards 2023 in the category ‘Digital Skills @Work’!

Background

European master programmes on advanced digital skills like this one are financially supported by European Union programmes like Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) Telecom and Digital Europe Programme and cover a wide range of innovative technologies (e.g. AI, cloud, quantum, digital twins, cybersecurity) as well as sectoral applications (e.g. health, construction, agriculture, SMEs, public services). Wishing to explore other master programmes specialised in advance digital skills?

Digital Skills and Jobs Platform