Digital Europe Program has opened a call for Advanced Digital Skills
The Digital Europe Program (DIGITAL) has opened a call for Advanced Digital Skills (DIGITAL-2023-SKILLS-04), with a total budget of 16 million euros. The call is open until September 26, 2023, until 5 p.m. Brussels time, and applications are submitted electronically, through the EU portal for funding opportunities and tenders, where you can find more information about the call itself.
The expected outcome of this action is stronger cooperation between primary, secondary and vocational schools and tertiary education and research in order to increase the number of students enrolled in digital studies with the aim of gender convergence, which will lead to the development of:
- Summer schools;
- Specialized information and career days;
- Dissemination and field activities, such as EU Code Week.
Students of digital and ICT disciplines represent a minority - in 2021, they were 4.5% of the total number of diplomas. There is also a serious problem of gender balance - of the total number of ICT specialists, only 19% are women, while in the field of technology, engineering and/or mathematics (STEM), one out of three graduate students is a woman.
In this regard, the aim of this call is to pilot actions to increase the number of students engaged in digital studies and careers, with a special focus on increasing the participation of girls. The call supports joint actions between leading technical higher education institutions, companies and schools to promote digital studies, through practical activities and challenge-based projects. Another goal of this action is to expand the EU Code Week initiative, putting it on a stronger and broader footing, thereby further increasing its impact beyond the > 4 million people it reaches every year, among whom almost half are young women and girls.