Highlights from the Digital Skills EU Days 2025
We made history in Brussels with a three day digital transformation event that brought together Europe’s most committed policymakers, industry leaders, educators and innovators under one shared mission: to strengthen the continent’s digital talent pipeline and accelerate progress on advanced digital skills.
From 12 to 14 November, the Digital Skills EU Days united three major summits into a single cohesive programme — the European Digital Skills Awards, the 20×30 Advanced Digital Skills Summit and the inaugural Women in Digital Summit — creating a unified space for celebration, strategy, evidence and action. Across these days, participants explored how Europe can build a digitally skilled workforce, expand opportunities and ensure that digital transformation reaches every corner of society.
Day 1 – European Digital Skills Awards
Day 1 opened with the official address by Executive Vice President Henna Virkunnen (Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy) and Executive Vice President Roxana Mînzatu ( Social Rights and Skills, Quality Jobs and Preparedness.
Their remarks set the tone for the Digital Skills EU Days, highlighting Europe’s commitment to stronger digital capacity, inclusive talent development and the recognition of initiatives driving impact across Member States.
The European Digital Skills Awards Ceremony followed, celebrating this year’s five outstanding winners:
EBU Academy School of AI for upskilling media professionals in AI,
Escape Fake for its immersive AR approach to teaching young people to identify disinformation,
Digital Angel for supporting older adults with safe and confident digital engagement,
Digital Everywhere for providing free workshops to boost basic digital skills across Austria,
Women Engineers for a Day for inspiring girls to pursue STEM and ICT careers.
Together, these initiatives showed the diversity of Europe’s digital movement and how digital skills empower people across ages, backgrounds and communities.
The day closed with a networking reception that carried the energy forward and prepared participants for the strategic and data-driven sessions ahead.
Day 2 – Advanced Digital Skills Summit and Women in Digital Summit
Day 2 began with the opening of the Advanced Digital Skills Summit, led by Renate Nikolay, who underlined the urgency of strengthening Europe’s advanced digital talent and the importance of the 20 million ICT specialists target for 2030.
Brendan Rowan then presented the Advanced Digital Skills State-of-Play Report, highlighting the main gaps in Europe’s talent pipeline and the points where coordinated action is essential.
This was followed by a panel with Anne Bajart, Fernando Escóbar Ruiz, Mojca Štruc and Anne Ribault, who shared national perspectives on reskilling, curriculum development and the alignment between education and labour market needs.
The industry perspective came from Infineon through Martina Wolfgruber-Neubauer, who offered a concise look at how companies structure internal pathways for advanced digital talent. The programme continued with the ADS Sub-Cluster sessions, which addressed data-driven talent development, accreditation and skills recognition and the scaling of advanced programmes, with contributions from Headai, EMBL, Workday, ISCTE, the University of Pavia, the University of Oulu and the University of Limerick.
The exhibition of DIGITAL-funded ADS programmes remained active throughout, giving participants the opportunity to explore initiatives from across Europe.
The afternoon moved into an additional round of panels with representatives from 28Digital, Immune Institute, INETUM and IBEC focusing on AI talent development, followed by a discussion with PayPal, YTK Finland and BME exploring how Europe’s reskilling efforts can open pathways for new ICT profiles.
A final exchange with BluSpecs, the OECD and Generation examined the wider structural challenges affecting Europe’s talent readiness.
During the closing address Rehana Schwinninger-Ladak brought up reflection on the key insights and outcomes from the summit, exploring how Europe can leverage talent and digital innovation to strengthen competitiveness and future-proof its workforce.
The Women in Digital Summit opened in the late afternoon with a video message from Executive Vice President Henna Virkunnen, followed by opening remarks from June Lowery Kingston, who framed the Summit around evidence, inclusion and the EU’s commitment to strengthening gender equality in digital transformation.
The first WiD session, Steps for Change, brought together Luciano Pollastri, Eduvigis Ortiz and Samia Ghozlane. Pollastri introduced the discussion with insights from Amadeus on how small elements in job descriptions and recruitment language influence who applies, stressing that systems must change, not women. Ortiz added the perspective of everyday unconscious bias, while Ghozlane highlighted the micro-dynamics that shape confidence and visibility inside teams.
The day closed with the fireside chat with Sophie Proust, who reflected on leadership, role modelling and the practical actions women can take to strengthen their place in the digital landscape. Her insights set the thematic direction for the following morning.
Day 3 – Women in Digital Summit Continued
Day 3 opened with a keynote by Luciano Pollastri, who shifted the focus from identifying barriers to defining the structural changes organisations must make to support women’s progression in digital roles.
He reinforced the importance of accountability and transparent leadership and reminded participants that “there’s nothing wrong in being wrong — what matters is doing something about it,” a message that captured the spirit of learning, adaptation and responsibility underpinning the Summit.
The first discussion panel of the morning was moderated by Liubba el Hadi Hamed, who led a focused exchange with Anna Lager, Igor Pesek and Joyce O’Connor. They examined what the Index means for national strategies, organisational practice and Europe’s capacity to create gender inclusive digital ecosystems.
This was followed by the Initiatives for Change panel, moderated by Yaël Plegerin, featuring Geneviève Tomson and Cristina Roca Hernández. They presented concrete national efforts supporting gender inclusion, from targeted interventions to integrated digital skills reforms.
The focus then shifted to the Women in Digital Forum, with two parallel workshop streams connected to its Thematic Working Groups work.
Mind the Gap: Coordinating Policy and Data across ICT (TWG1 – ICT Education ) The session was chaired by Ruth Martínez López and Ilker Demirkol, with contributions from Irina Dimitrova, Dalibor Todorovic, Anhelina Bykova, Eglė Celiesienė, Barbara Gstöttenmayr, Zeynep Şahin Timar and Igor Pesek. They examined gaps across ICT education, VET pathways and digital skills development, outlining coordinated recommendations for strengthening Europe’s talent pipeline.
Community as a Key for Strong Leadership (TWG2 – Leadership Empowerment ) Moderated by Simona Ramanauskaitė with input from Petra Kotuliakova, this session explored leadership pathways, organisational culture and the support structures women need to progress into decision making roles across the digital sector.
The Summit closed with a final address by June Lowery Kingston, who reflected on the evidence gathered throughout the programme and reaffirmed the Commission’s commitment to advancing gender equality in Europe’s digital transformation.
The Women in Digital Forum Assembly then gathered as a closed session focused on governance, priority setting and the next steps for the Forum’s work, ensuring a clear and accountable roadmap for the months ahead.
Conclusions The Digital Skills EU Days showed how Europe can strengthen its digital capacity through coordinated action, evidence based policy and shared commitment. Over three days, the programme brought visibility to successful initiatives, highlighted structural gaps and introduced the work that will guide future progress. The contributions from policymakers, industry, academia and civil society confirmed that Europe’s digital transformation depends on people as much as on technology.
