• Digital SkillUp – an EU-funded initiative contributing to the Digital Skills and Jobs Platform – went live on 3 June 2021. It provides easy-to-follow, engaging and free-of-charge online courses in 10 European languages designed to help European citizens and SMEs to up-skill and re-skill around emerging technologies and digital transformation.

• DIGITAL SME is thrilled to be a part of the project consortium that has delivered the Digital SkillUp courses and website. It encourages its members and SMEs to take part in the free training, engage within the project activities and, in this way, boost their digital competencies.

• To get a sneak peek of the Digital SkillUp initiative, join the webinar ‘Digital SkillUp in your pocket – why and how to engage with us?‘ on 16 June 2021 at 15:00-16:00 (CEST).

Emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), blockchain, big data, or Augmented and Virtual Reality are increasingly used by businesses and citizens. They bring a wide range of opportunities and have the potential to boost European innovation, competitiveness, and growth. However, those technologies are still difficult to grasp for many citizens and companies. Especially for SMEs who often lack resources to offer on-the-job training for their employees, the understanding of emerging technologies‘ functioning and adoption becomes a challenge.

To make knowledge about emerging technologies more accessible and available to everyone, an EU-funded initiative Digital SkillUp has been launched.

Free courses to boost SMEs‘ and citizens’ digital competencies

Digital SkillUp has been created to help all Europeans and SMEs keep up with emerging technologies and to learn how to make the most of them in daily lives and business operations. As a learning pillar and contribution to the Digital Skills and Jobs Platform, Digital SkillUp offers three free and innovative online courses explaining emerging technologies in an easy and accessible way to everyone – no matter their age, profession, or ICT experience.

The three courses are available in 10 EU languages (English, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Polish, Romanian, Dutch, Greek, Croatian) and revolve around the core themes:

• Digital Revolution: From computers to apps, from the internet to the cloud, the course explores how digitization became so pervasive, the risks technologies pose and how to minimize them, and tips on harnessing technology to improve our lives at home and work.
• Emerging technologies: The course explores how these technologies impact our jobs, business and lives, with a deep dive into IoT, Robotics, and AR/VR/MR.
• Cybersecurity: The course covers the fundamentals of cybersecurity with real-life examples and exercises aimed at building a simplified cybersecurity action plan for personal or professional use.

Digital SkillUp has been developed by European creators of digital learning solutions: European Schoolnet, DIGITALEUROPE, Public Libraries 2030, Reaktor, and DIGITAL SME.

From learners’ needs assessment to course development

The Digital SkillUp partners have conducted extensive research in the initial phase of the project, with an aim to collect more information about emerging technologies, their trends and application in daily lives and work, learners’ (citizens’ and SMEs’) training needs and training path development, and existing educational offer in this field.

The findings of the analysis have been used as recommendations for the development, design, and further improvements of the Digital SkillUp training courses and the website resources. Read the ‘Report on European Educational and Training Landscape and Training Needs for Citizens and SMEs‘ where the main insights and findings are summarised.

Spread the world and engage within the Digital SkillUp activities

Digital SkillUp has been designed for citizens and SMEs to boost their digital skills and knowledge. Support the digital upskilling in Europe and let your community know about the initiative, using Digital SkillUp communication materials.

In addition to three innovative courses that have been developed within the Digital SkillUp initiative, hundreds of high-quality courses on digital skills and emerging technologies have been gathered and described within the Digital SkillUp Training Catalogue. Training providers interested in contributing to Digital SkillUp’s mission and adding their online courses to the Catalogue are invited to propose their courses. Click here to learn how you can suggest your training.

The Digital SkillUp community will use the Digital Skills and Jobs Platform, and its community feature, as a place to exchange best practices and network with one another. Stakeholders interested in learning about emerging technologies are invited to share their experiences.

Various online events are planned within the Digital SkillUp initiative. Visit the Digital SkillUp’s news section to stay up-to-date.

On 16 June 2021, at 15:00-16:00 (CEST), the webinar ‘Digital SkillUp in your pocket – why and how to engage with us?’ will take place to showcase the Digital SkillUp online courses, introduce the key functionalities of the website and explain engagement possibilities for stakeholders. More information and registration link are available here.