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Applications for the European Digital Skills Awards 2023 (EDSA23) are open until 8 April. This award was created to give visibility and promote the projects and initiatives that are supporting Europeans in all areas related to digital skills and helping to bridge the digital divide.

The award, organized by the Digital Skills and Jobs Platform of the European Commission in collaboration with the National Skills and Jobs Coalition, rewards exemplary projects and initiatives in five distinct categories (a project / initiative can only be presented in one of them):

• Empowering Youth in Digital, related to projects aimed at attracting younger audiences to ICT professions, media literacy initiatives for younger audiences, courses on emerging technologies for younger audiences, hackathons etc.
•  Digital Upskilling @ Work related to digital upskilling and reskilling initiatives in various sectors and to facilitate the employment of ICT professionals
• Digital Competences for Education related to projects aimed at improving digital skills for teachers and / or students and school administrations
• Inclusion in the digital world related to digital training and media literacy initiatives for the elderly, the unemployed, vulnerable groups, accessibility
• Women in ICT Careers related to projects aimed at increasing the number of ICT professional women or improving the digital skills of women or younger women in ICT.

Applications are welcome from all types of organizations, public, private, academic, research and/or training centres, schools, SMEs or Large Corporates, EU funded projects consortia, public administrations, NGOs and citizen initiatives who are running or have completed a project or initiative to support the adoption of digital skills in one of the 5 categories of the awards. 

Applicants will have to clearly explain how the project will impact on the target beneficiaries, reducing the digital skill gap in the specific area of action and how this will be sustainable in future.

Among the rewarding elements there are the innovative character of the project, the communication activities implemented, the attention to the sustainability and scalability of the project, as well as the measures taken to ensure accessibility and  inclusivity.

Among all the applications received, up to 5 finalists will be selected for each category from which the jury will select the winner for each category. The finalists will be announced at the end of May and the winners in June.

For the price consists of: 

• Mention and presence at the online event announcing the winners;
• The publication of the initiative/project on the Digital Skills and Jobs platform, including the promotion on @DigitalSkillsEU social media accounts; 
• A trophy and a certificate;
• Invitation to participate in the award ceremony in Brussels and to be part of the co-creation workshop,  with travel and accommodation expenses offered by the organizers.

Official documentation is available here

Written by: Margherita Genua