16 May ALL DIGITAL Weeks 2024 Launch Event: “What’s next for Digital Skills? Beyond the European Year of Skills and the European Elections”
16 May, 2024
The International Launch Event of the ALL DIGITAL Weeks 2024 campaign, themed “What’s next for Digital Skills? Beyond the European Year of Skills and the European Elections” took place on May 14, 2024. Hosted at the prestigious Microsoft Technology Center in Brussels, the event boosted the ongoing conversation surrounding digital literacy and skills development.
As the digital landscape continues to evolve, the ALL DIGITAL Weeks 2024 campaign aims to address pressing issues such as digital democracy, civic participation, social responsibility, the impact of artificial intelligence, and the crucial role of digital skills in employment, entrepreneurship, innovation, and social inclusion. With an emphasis on digital media and information literacy, cybersecurity, and well-being, the campaign underscores the growing importance of digital competences for European citizens and residents alike to face the digital transformation with confidence.
The launch event, opened by ALL DIGITAL President, Altheo Valentini, welcomed an impressive lineup of keynote speakers and panelists, including Georgi Dimitrov, Head of Unit “Digital Education,” DG EAC, European Commission, Jeremy Rollison, Head of EU Policy, European Government Affairs, Microsoft and Elisa Gambardella, President, Lifelong Learning Platform.
In his intervention, Georgi Dimitrov focusing on the DEAP highlighted that: “In 2024, digital education and skills development take center stage as challenges and opportunities including artificial intelligence, disinformation or an ongoing skills revolution – to name but a few – abound. We need focus and dedication going forward and with the review of the Digital Education Action Plan launched in April by the Commission, we invite you to shape its future.”
Jeremy Rollison stressed that ‘’To empower everyone to thrive in the European economy, we have a collective responsibility to bridge critical skill gaps in areas like AI, cybersecurity, and sustainability”.
Elisa Gambardella highlighted: ‘’For Europe to thrive in the digital era we need all people to be able to understand, navigate and take action also in the digital dimension of our lives. We cannot solely focus on high-order digital skills, but we must have high ambitions to invest in digital basic skills and in digital citizenship education.’’
The event continued with a dynamic panel discussion titled “Digital Skills: Equity, Citizenship, Entrepreneurship, Cybersecurity” which featured different perspectives on the relevance of digital skills in the way we learn, work and live and insights from esteemed experts: Anna Carrero, DG EMPL, European Commission; Nina Olesen, European Cybersecurity Organisation; Stefano Kluzer, Research, ALL DIGITAL; Guillem Porres, Fundacio Esplai; Elin McCallum, Bantani Education; Stella Meyer, The Lisbon Council.
The day ended with an enlightening session focused on AI applications for the future of skilling. Following this, participants engaged in a valuable networking session, seizing the opportunity to build synergies and exchange ideas for future collaborative actions and projects.
The Campaign
The ALL DIGITAL Weeks campaign is one of the major pan-European awareness raising campaigns on digital skills for inclusion, empowerment and employment. It is organised by ALL DIGITAL Network, and it has been running since 2010. Since then, the campaign has helped almost 1.5 million people to get online for the first time or enhance their digital skills.
The awareness-raising campaign is run at digital competence centres, libraries, community centres, schools and other venues across Europe. Every year it helps about 100,000 Europeans from 20+ European countries to learn and be inspired by what technology can do for them, focusing on the opportunities given by digital transformation and its effects. The campaign is co-funded by the European Commission.
Over the years, the campaign was supported by Microsoft, Liberty Global, Accenture, Telenet, Cisco, Mozilla Foundation, Certiport.
Recording and Pictures
The ALL DIGITAL Weeks 2024 launch event was a productive gathering, fostering collaboration and innovation in the realm of digital skills development. Join us as we explore the future of digital education and empowerment in Europe and beyond.
- Check the launch event programme
- Check the recordings of the International Launch Event here
- The pictures are available here
Get Involved
Are you part of an organization or institution committed to fostering digital skills for inclusion and empowerment? Are you organising an event, training or course on digital skills and education? Add your event to the events map and get the opportunity to have it featured in the national coordinator’s report and to win the ALL DIGITAL Weeks Award for Best event!