As digitisation is transforming our societies and the way we work, digital skills are now a key competence to participate in our society. And yet, 100 million Europeans have never used the Internet, one third of all workers have insufficient digital skills and we're heading towards a situation where we may lack as many as 750 000 ICT professionals by 2020. We all collectively need to do more to boost digital skills.

This is why the New Skills Agenda for Europe announced the launch of the Digital Skills and Jobs Coalition, a partnership gathering all stakeholders and Member States to pledge actions and share best practices to reduce the digital skills gaps in Europe.

The Coalition will be officially launched on the 1st of December at a high-level conference at the Square Brussels. The number of places is limited and registration closes on the 25th of November. If you have received an invitation, or would like to attend, please use the registration form above. 

The conference will be held in English and is free of charge. 

Conference programme 

A more detailed version of the programme is attached as pdf.  

08h30     Registration and coffee

09h15     Welcome by Andrus Ansip, Vice President European Commission and
               moderator Karen Coleman, Journalist, author and founder of EuroParlRadio

09h30     Keynote on digitisation and jobs by Ryan Avent, Journalist for The
               Economist and author of the book "The Wealth of Humans: Work,
               Power, and Status in the Twenty-first Century " 

10h00     Panel on digitisation and jobs

               Claire Bury, Deputy Director General, DG CNECT European Commission, 
               Lowri Evans, Director General, DG GROW European Commission,
               Michel Servoz, Director General DG EMPL European Commission, 
               Eva Paunova, Member of the European Parliament,
               Luc Triangle, Secretary General industriAll European Trade Union, 
               Eiso Kant, CEO & Co-Founder source{d}

11h10     Coffee break 

11h30     Launch of the Digital Skills and Jobs Coalition by Günther H. Oettinger,
               European Commissioner for Digital Economy & Society 

11h50     Presentation of the "shared concept" for a digital skills strategy by
               Alexander De Croo, Deputy Prime Minister of Belgium and Minister of
               Development Cooperation, Digital Agenda, Telecom and Postal Services

12h00     European Digital Skills Awards 2016 by Günther H. Oettinger,
               European Commissioner for Digital Economy & Society

12h15     New pledges to the Digital Skills and Jobs Coalition 

12h30     Lunch and exhibition area of best practice projects

14h00     Plenary panel on digital skills and education with Tibor Navracsics,
               European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Youth and Sport 

15h00     Parallel sessions

               1. Assessing Digital Competences - the Digital competence framework 
               2. Coding Bootcamps and accelerated training programmes for digital jobs
               3. Digital skills needs of Industry
               4. National coalitions and local initiatives   

16h15     Networking drink + The way forward by
               Roberto Viola, Director General, DG CNECT European Commission

17h00     Conference closes 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

• Can I forward the invitation to my colleagues? - Yes. The registration is open for anyone but people with  personal invitations will be prioritised.  

• How do I reach the venue? See attached pdf: How to get to the Square

• Are there any sponsorship opportunities at the conference? - No

• Will there be an exhibition area and can my organisation have a place? - There will be a small exhibition area and the exhibitors have been contacted separately. 

• Are there any speaking opportunities? - The programme is now full and there are no further speaking opportunities. 

• Can I receive help from the organising team to manage my travel? - No, unfortunately we are not able to assist on this. 

• Will I be reimbursed for my time, travel and expenses to the conference. - Not unless your invitation specifically stated so. 

• Will the conference be held in English? - Yes. There will be no translation services available. 

• Is the venue accessible? - Yes  

• Will there be a vegetarian/vegan/gluten free option at lunch? - Yes, send special dietery requests to cnect-digital-skills@ec.europa.eu. 

• What will happen when I register? - You will receive an automatic response confirming receipt. 

• Can you recommend any hotels? - We do not have any negotiated rates but there are a number of hotels close to the venue. Look at for example Booking.com or Hotels.com