To respond to the “shortage of qualified professionals in the sector of TIC, the new technologies of information and communication” and the consequent “slowdown in the application of the TIC in the EU economy”, the European Commission last Friday proposed the adoption of a long-term programme and a series of measures in the field of digital skills which should be launched in 2008. In collaboration with national authorities, firms, universities and organizations in the sector, the Commission will concentrate its own efforts on actions aimed at providing an added value at the EU level: these include awareness-raising (exchange of information and good practices to promote the sciences, TIC, the training of teachers and professional guidance); technical support (formulation of a European framework of digital skills and introduction of a portal on skills and careers in TIC); employment and social integration (reduction of the digital gap by 2010, access to information technology, and efforts to balance demand and supply).
