Who are we

Coligação Portuguesa para a Empregabilidade Digital (CPED), currently coordinated by the INCoDe.2030 Program, was formally established in 2015 and emerged as a response to the European Commission’s challenge to address the lack of digital skills in Portugal and foster greater employability in this sector.

From the government to the most varied private and public entities, associations, companies, NGDOs, university centers and confederations, all came together to respond to this great challenge and define mechanisms to encourage the adoption of innovative measures and training of young people in ICT; the reskilling of the unemployed workforce and, among other measures, raising awareness of job opportunities in this area.

Currently, only 57% of the population has the digital skills needed for the digital world we live in. One in six Europeans (16-74) has no digital skills at all and one in four has basic digital skills. There are more than 400,000 vacancies for ICT specialists in the European Union and only 38% of companies refer digital skills as a gap in their performance.

Having a digitally skilled workforce and population more broadly is crucial to creating a digital single market in Europe, in order to reap its benefits and strengthen European competitiveness towards an inclusive digital society.

The bet on the digital transformation of the businesses is mainly based on measures and actions that support investment, encourage the digitization of companies and the awareness and training of SMEs, in particular, since they represent the bulk of the business fabric, employment in the country and the development of initiatives that contribute to the consolidation of scientific and technological business knowledge.

INCoDe.2030 must remain as a reference framework as an integrated public policy initiative dedicated to strengthening digital skills, giving new impetus from the point of view of materializing the objectives and targets set.

Once there is a gap in ICT skills in Portugal and, considering the high level of unemployment, particularly among young people, as well as the numerous companies that do not use ICT, what conditions the development of the digital economy, at a national level, are priority goals of this Strategy and Action Plan for Digital Employability 2021-2026 in Portugal:

To ensure the access for the entire population to digital technologies, promoting basic digital skills;
To modernize education and training systems, preparing young people, stimulating digital skills and lifelong learning;
To qualify and requalify for Employment in ICT, including resizing the educational and training offer in ICT, through the creation and/or updating of qualifications integrated in the National Qualifications Catalog, bringing them closer to the demands of the labor market, encouraging specialization and requalification in ICT by professionals from other areas, adoption of flexible systems of training and certification of digital skills, using the existing structure throughout Europe, among others;
To train qualified ICT specialists to fill the growing number of job vacancies in all sectors of the economy.