Europe has set itself an ambitious target: 20 million ICT specialists by 2030, as part of the Digital Decade programme. The gap between that goal and today's reality is substantial — not merely in numbers, but in the quality, relevance and inclusivity of digital education across member states. 28DIGITAL's EU-funded projects in this cluster address the skills challenge from every angle: from advanced technology specialists and SME workforces, to women entering tech careers, early-stage researchers, public-sector regulators, and the data infrastructure that makes sense of it all.
The digital transition will only succeed if Europe's workforce can drive it. 28DIGITAL's education and skills portfolio is helping to build that workforce — one learner, one region, one organisation at a time.
LEADSx2030 (Leading Europe's Advanced Digital Skills to 2030) is the coordination backbone of the Digital Europe Programme's advanced skills cluster. Funded with €2 million over four years, it operates as both an observatory and a strategic engine — mapping the landscape of advanced digital skills initiatives, tracking progress against Digital Decade targets, and translating findings into actionable policy recommendations. Its practical tools include an Advanced Digital Skills Demand Dashboard and a Best Practice Repository, both publicly accessible, and its annual Digital Talent EU Days summit brings together policymakers, educators and industry leaders to calibrate the EU's digital skills agenda. As a core consortium partner, 28DIGITAL connects the broader EU advanced skills community to its pan-European network of practitioners and innovators.
Five of 28DIGITAL's projects — ARISE, ACHIEVE, EMAI4EU, RESCHIP4EU and SPECTRO — are delivered through the EIT Digital Master School, a pan-European platform for advanced digital double-degree programmes combining deep technical specialisation with a mandatory Innovation and Entrepreneurship minor, delivered across two universities in different countries. Together, these programmes target training 500 engineers by 2030 across disciplines that represent Europe's most critical skills gaps: extended reality, cloud and high-performance computing, emotion AI, semiconductor chip design, and cybersecurity. Scholarship schemes explicitly prioritise female applicants and candidates from EIT Regional Innovation Scheme countries, lowering economic and geographic barriers for underrepresented learners. Alongside the degree programmes, the Master School offers free, self-paced online certifying modules designed and delivered by universities, accessible to learners who cannot commit to a full programme. All programmes are listed on the EU Digital Skills and Jobs Platform, aligning them with the Digital Skills and Jobs Coalition and the Digital Decade agenda.
DS4SKILLS builds the underlying evidence infrastructure that the entire skills ecosystem depends on: a European data space enabling skills-related data to be shared securely and interoperably across organisations, sectors and borders. Without reliable, comparable data on where skills gaps exist and how they evolve, neither policy nor investment can be effectively targeted. The project makes it easier to align training supply with labour market demand — and to identify underserved groups that broader aggregated data tends to obscure.
Connecting Women in Digital addresses the structural underrepresentation of women in digital careers through evidence-based policymaking, expert networks and active outreach across all EU member states. Its Women in Digital Index gives policymakers a concrete evidence base on where progress is being made and where gaps remain, and its Best Practice Repository documents initiatives that have demonstrably worked. Europe's 20 million ICT target is unreachable without significantly more women entering and remaining in the sector — and the project's work directly supports both the policies and the collaboration needed to make that happen. Organisations and individuals can engage through the Connecting Women in Digital community and the Digital Talent EU Days 2026.
INSIGHT supports early-career researchers through institutional networks providing mentoring, mobility and innovation training, building the pipeline of future digital innovators. Its focus is on cross-sector skills — combining digital and deep-tech expertise with entrepreneurship and collaboration capabilities — and on helping research organisations create more attractive, inclusive career pathways that connect academia, industry and the public sector. A Survey Hub at insighthorizon.eu is mapping Europe's research talent ecosystem and gathering evidence to support better-designed research careers, with policy recommendations and talent ecosystem guidelines due in the project's final year.
DIGI-SEII addresses a part of the skills challenge that most EU programmes overlook: the digital transformation of social enterprises and the organisations that support them. Many have strong social missions but lack the resources, infrastructure and digital capabilities to grow sustainably and scale their impact. The project responds with a tailored capacity-building programme that combines self-paced and instructor-led learning, mentoring, peer exchange, matchmaking and international collaboration — all delivered through the ICARUS platform, which includes an AI-supported digital capability assessment. Open calls allow social enterprises across Europe to join the programme and access both training and financial support for in-person activities. The second Open Call is now open for applications.
DICE (Digital Competencies for Competition Authorities) occupies a distinctive niche in this cluster: it builds AI and digital competencies inside the public institutions responsible for regulating AI markets — National Competition Authorities across the EU. As AI simultaneously transforms what these regulators do and what they must oversee, the gap between regulatory capacity and market complexity is widening fastest in smaller and less digitally advanced member states. Implemented by 28DIGITAL in cooperation with the European Commission through the Technical Support Instrument, DICE is upskilling 15 NCAs across the EU — with a DICE AI Trends Report due in Q3 2026 giving regulators the intelligence they need to scrutinise algorithmic pricing, AI-driven mergers and fast-moving digital markets with confidence. Organisations interested in digital upskilling for regulatory or competition-law contexts can reach out to 28DIGITAL Professional School directly.
Three further projects in this cluster address cybersecurity skills specifically, and are covered in depth in the companion cybersecurity article. CyberHubs is establishing seven national cybersecurity skills hubs across Belgium, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Lithuania, Slovenia and Spain, connecting education providers, employers and policymakers around Europe's most acute security talent shortage. CYCERONE offers free, targeted training for SMEs and public administrations across four areas — foundational cybersecurity, defensive security, offensive security, and governance and compliance — with its training portal launching in late June 2026. SME4DD (Training SMEs for the Digital Decade) complements these by delivering short, targeted programmes in AI, blockchain and cybersecurity to SME managers and professionals in France, Italy, Hungary and Sweden, harmonised into a scalable Professional Master Programme in English.
28DIGITAL's role across this cluster is consistent with its broader mission: not just participating in EU programmes, but actively connecting education providers, employers, policymakers and learners across a pan-European network that turns individual project outcomes into systemic change for Europe's digital workforce.
To learn more or explore collaboration opportunities, visit 28digital.eu/contact-us.
