Spotlight on: Digital skills – strengthening Europe’s workforce for the digital decade

The rise of digital technologies is continuously reshaping our society. Nowadays, basic digital skills are a precondition for inclusion and participation in the labour market and society. However, data from 2023 shows that only 55.6% of the EU’s population has minimum basic digital skills (DESI indicators). 

The European digital rights and principles state that everyone should have access to digital skills, and no one should be left behind. Education on digital skills is the foundation of an accessible economy and society, and vital to a competitive, sovereign and resilient EU. 

As highlighted by Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice-President for a Europe Fit for the Digital Age: 

“We need to do much better on digital skills and treat them with the same importance as reading and writing. The aim is to reach a target of at least 80% of all adults as a minimum with basic digital skills, and 20 million employed ICT specialists including a lot more women, by 2030.“ 

Innovations and breakthroughs in different areas such as artificial intelligence, virtual worlds, robotics, quantum technology and 6G are even triggering another wave of demand for a new generation of advanced digital skills. 

Putting digital transformation and skills on the priority agenda, the European Commission established the Digital Decade policy programme in 2022, the first ever digital strategy commonly agreed by the European Commission, Parliament and Council. One of the four main targets of the programme is to ensure a digitally skilled population as well as highly skilled digital professionals. An important initiative that supports the increase in digital skills and digital experts is the Digital Skills and Jobs Platform, which also supports the National Digital Skills and Jobs Coalitions to deliver digital skills to every level of society in EU countries. 

With digital topics at its core, the European Health and Digital Executive Agency manages a large portfolio of projects improving digital skills at all levels and across sectors in Europe, including the examples presented below.  

Master’s degree programme in ‘Managing Digital Transformation in the Health Sector’ 

With 18.8 million tertiary students in the EU in 2023 (Eurostat), higher education has enormous potential to supply professionals with the skills needed for Europe’s digital healthcare transformation. 

Funded under the Digital Europe Programme, ManagiDiTH has developed an innovative Master’s degree to equip graduates with the skills to digitalise health services, ensure system interoperability, configure information systems, develop ICT-enabled services and improve organisational efficiency in healthcare. 

The programme is currently being implemented across three participating universities and initially aimed to reach 240 students over four years through two pilot editions. In practice, it has proven highly attractive and has already significantly exceeded this target, with 182 students enrolled in the first cohort in September 2024 and a further 182 students admitted for the September 2025 intake. Its impact is being continuously monitored to ensure the relevance and quality of the programme in upskilling Europe’s healthcare professionals.  

A key milestone was the organisation of the first Summer School Week in Lisbon in May 2025, bringing together students, educators and industry representatives from across the EU to explore the latest developments and challenges in digital healthcare transformation. 

Training SMEs for the digital decade 

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which form the backbone of Europe’s economy, face a particularly acute digital skills gap. Compared to larger market players, they often lack the time, financial capacity and reliable guidance needed to adopt advanced digital technologies. This can limit their ability to innovate, ensure cybersecurity and remain competitive in increasingly digital markets. 

To help address this challenge, the recently concluded SME4DD project, co-funded under the Digital Europe Programme, provided SMEs with short, targeted and high-impact training in the areas of artificial intelligence, blockchain and cybersecurity. It also delivered workshops on digital transformation, innovation and new EU regulatory frameworks. 

Overall, the project trained more than 2000 professionals and entrepreneurs, reaching over 1500 SMEs across multiple European countries through 35 seminar workshops, nine dedicated courses and one executive programme. Notably, 34% of participants were women, which reflects progress towards improved gender balance in advanced digital skills development. A solid set of open resources, training materials and insights remain available on the project website. 

Towards a human-centred, sustainable and resilient economy 

As European industry advances from Industry 4.0 to a more human-centred and resilient Industry 5.0 model, the Horizon Europe projects Bridges 5.0 and Up-skill place people, sustainability and skills at the heart of the digital transition. The projects developed practical tools, solutions and recommendations to equip managers, workers, students and job seekers with the digital skills required for Industry 5.0, while redefining standards to better anticipate and reduce skills gaps. 

Working closely with large industrial companies and SME networks, they propose evidence-based approaches to transform education systems, labour markets and company strategies, supporting greener, more sustainable business models and faster absorption of new technologies.  

European XR industry technologies for immersive learning and training  

Virtual, augmented or mixed reality (VR/AR/MR) – in general terms, extended reality (XR) – presents several advantages. It offers active experiences rather than just passive information, helps to understand complex concepts, subjects or theories, prevents distractions, boosts creativity and expands one's efficiency in gaining knowledge.  

The XR2Learn project, funded under Horizon Europe, contributes to the development of advanced digital skills by leveraging European extended reality (XR) technologies for immersive learning and training. By supporting technical training, upskilling and reskilling in advanced manufacturing, the project equips learners and professionals with hands-on experience in cutting-edge digital technologies, while fostering innovation and the reuse of XR learning solutions across Europe. The project has already developed: 

• A one-stop shop platform, organised as a Digital Innovation Hub for actors involved in the XR-based educational applications supply chain;
• Educational content included in courses for the EITM Academy and integrated in the project’s platform marketplace;
• A technical Github wiki, a guide to help explore, understand and effectively use the features of XR2Learn’s platform. 

Digital skills for a smart health ecosystem 

Technological advances such as artificial intelligence and big data have the potential to positively transform healthcare, but their uptake is often hindered by poor awareness and digital literacy.  

The recently concluded Horizon Europe project SHIFT-HUB created a thriving smart health community and innovation hub to improve the digital skills and knowledge of all stakeholders for the uptake of smart health solutions. SHIFT-HUB has: 

• Engaged over 1000 SMEs providing technologies, 300 innovation intermediaries, 70 health institutions, 60 public institutions, 50 policymakers, and 7000 patients and citizens to accelerate the adoption of transformative technologies and services in healthcare;
• Created the innovation hub with over 780 registered members;
• Developed a mobile health app repository, featuring over 170 rigorously selected apps, and a gamified e-learning journey; 

• Created an educational repository with over 150 resources covering 15 thematic areas, to advance digital health skills. 

Digital transition and digital resilience in oncology 

The use of digital health solutions holds strong potential across the entire cancer care pathway. The EU4Health TRANSiTION project developed a state-of-the-art education and training programme to equip healthcare and non-clinical professionals with the digital skills needed for current and future oncology practice. 

A structured needs assessment across 38 cancer centres in 12 EU countries confirmed the programme’s relevance and feasibility. Delivered via a multilingual Moodle platform, the programme offered 11 accredited modules across clinical and non-clinical pathways in several European languages. Outreach exceeded expectations, involving more than 600,000 people worldwide. By August 2025, 1,921 users had registered, reporting high completion rates, an average satisfaction rate of over 90% and measurable gains in digital knowledge and confidence. 

Completed in September 2025, the project delivered: 

Short-term effects:   

• Improvement of professional and non-professional healthcare providers’ (HCP) digital skills and support of the safe and effective use of tools for cancer prevention, treatment and survivorship,
• Direct positive impact on the outcomes of treatment;  

Medium-term effects:  

• HCP’s empowerment to use digital tools in their daily practice,   
• Increased patient - HCP interaction,
• Cost-effectiveness; 

Long-term effects: 

• Sustainability and daily practice application with positive impact on patient outcomes and satisfaction,
• Establishment of a culture that supports and encourages digital tools utilisation, including digital innovation, as part of the overall digital transition in healthcare. 

Policy areas that also feed into the Commission’s work on digital skills include: 

• The Digital Education Action Plan
• The European Skills Agenda
• The European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan
• Work to improve media literacy
• The European strategy for data
• The European industrial strategy
• The European small and medium-sized enterprise strategy
• European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs)
• The coordinated plan on artificial intelligence 

Discover more HaDEA-managed projects building synergies to achieve the EU’s strategic objectives:  

• Spotlight on: EU Preparedness – Projects reinforcing Europe’s resilience in a changing world - European Health and Digital Executive Agency (HaDEA)
• Spotlight on EU cybersecurity – Projects shielding the EU from cyber threats - European Health and Digital Executive Agency (HaDEA) 

Learn more about HaDEA-managed EU funding programmes:  

• Connecting Europe Facility - European Health and Digital Executive Agency (HaDEA)
• Digital Europe Programme - European Health and Digital Executive Agency (HaDEA)
• EU4Health - European Health and Digital Executive Agency (HaDEA)
• Horizon Europe - European Health and Digital Executive Agency (HaDEA)