02 June 2025

The European Internet Forum hosted a timely breakfast debate focused on the pressing need for digital and AI-related skills to ensure Europe’s global competitiveness and societal inclusion. The event brought together policymakers, industry leaders, and digital education advocates to discuss how to close the skills gap and foster a resilient, future-ready workforce.

A Union of Skills: Moving the needle on AI and Cyber Skills

Opening the discussion, MEP Alex Saliba underscored that without a skilled workforce capable of developing and deploying AI systems, Europe risks falling behind. “We can talk all we want about the potential of AI,” he stated, “but without the people… Europe will not be able to compete.” Saliba emphasized the need for continuous reskilling and upskilling across all sectors, particularly for vocational learners, and advocated for stronger EU-level competence in coordinating education strategies. He called for a more structured approach to digital education across Member States, insisting that workers must be equipped not just with tools, but with opportunities to thrive in the digital age.

Max Uebe, Deputy Head of Cabinet to Executive Vice President Manzano, echoed the urgency of closing the skills gap, citing that nearly half of EU adults lack essential digital competencies. He introduced the Commission’s “Union of Skills” initiative, a multi-pronged effort to address reskilling, upskilling, and talent attraction. Uebe detailed various tools already in place, such as micro-credentials and individual learning accounts, and called on industry stakeholders to lead on workforce training. “Skills policy is not just social policy—it is industrial and economic policy,” he noted, stressing that upskilling 50 million Europeans by 2030 is a collective responsibility.

Chris Gow, Senior Director at Cisco, shared the company’s longstanding commitment to digital education through its Networking Academy, which has trained 24 million people globally. He emphasized that technology alone is insufficient without the human capacity to use it, adding that only 10% of European organizations feel ready to meet AI-related workforce demands. Cisco, along with other industry players, has formed the AI-enabled ICT Workforce Consortium to tackle these challenges with practical tools and targeted training, including AI skill mapping across 47 job roles. “It’s not AI that will take your job,” he warned, “but the person next to you with better AI skills might.”

David Mekkaoui, CEO of All Digital, shifted the lens to the human stories behind the statistics. Sharing a personal anecdote about his father-in-law’s late digital inclusion, Mekkaoui illustrated how digital skills foster not just employability, but social belonging. He highlighted All Digital’s work with over 100 competence centers across Europe, reaching 2.3 million individuals. Projects such as the Infinite digital hub for universities and hands-on AI tools for adult learners demonstrate that scalable, localized solutions are both possible and effective. Yet, he stressed that broader policy support and sustained investment are essential. “We need to treat digital skills as a right,” he argued, recommending dedicated funding and wider recognition of diverse learning pathways, from vocational training to virtual reality.

Maud Sacquet, Senior Policy Manager at LinkedIn, presented data-driven insights into the EU labour market. She reported significant potential for economic growth through generative AI but flagged slow adoption and persistent skill gaps, especially among SMEs. According to LinkedIn’s research, while AI technical skills have grown by 71% in the EU, they remain scarce, with only 0.41% of workers having acquired them. Moreover, she noted a pronounced gender gap in AI skills, projecting that at the current pace, gender parity could take 162 years. Sacquet recommended increased access to both technical and AI literacy training, promotion of skills-based hiring practices, and targeted support for SMEs and human-centric capabilities like critical thinking and communication.

Videos

  • 42:00 Cyber resilience of European healthcare: readiness of the sector
  • 7:33 Juan Jimenez, Santander on the economic and societal impact of tokenization
  • 1:48 #EIFasks - Ivan Štefanec MEP on the EIF visit to Israel 2023

Related content