October 3rd 2014, Lisbon

Click here: DURÃO BARROSO SPEECH @ Grand Coalition for Digital Jobs Summit

The President of the European Commission, José Manuel Durão Barroso, addressed the opening session of the Grand Coalition for Digital Jobs in Portugal, an initiative launched by CIONET and key Portuguese stakeholders. This summit intended to generate synergies and steer joint efforts to revolutionise the employment and investment in the Information and Communication Technology sector in Portugal.

The Grand Coalition for Digital Jobs is a European wide initiative launched by the European Commission in March 2013. The Commission is leading a partnership with multiple stakeholders to address the lack of skills in Europe and 900.000 unfilled vacancies in ICT. The European Commission has supported the initiative from the start, given its impact in promoting job creation in particular youth employment. Throughout the European Union several business leaders have joined the Grand Coalition and defended the Davos Declaration for the Grand Coalition for Digital Jobs.

This Summit recommended action plans in four areas, considering three main lines of action: retaining talent in the technology sector, re-skilling and updating skills among the Portuguese talent, and attracting digital job "generators" for Portugal. Ultimately, CIONET intends to update the national institutions to digital initiatives needs for employment and to develop and share best practice in re-skilling and retaining talent, establishing short and medium-term goals for concrete results.