The coronavirus crisis demonstrated the importance of having the right skills for strategic sectors to perform and for individuals to navigate through life and professional transitions, and  accentuated in particular  the need of digital skills in many aspects of people's daily lives and for business continuity. While teleworking and distance learning have become a reality for millions of people in the EU, the COVID crisis also revealed  the limitations of our current digital preparedness. Recent European Commission figures show that at least 85% of jobs require some level of digital ability, while only 56% of adults had at least basic digital skills in 2019. A recent report by ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) and EY titled Meaningful work for the digital professional, shows that there is room to increase levels of digital adoption, and  that future work for finance professionals is set to transform for the better through an increase in the adoption of digital technologies. Interestingly, it also find that new ways of working will accelerate a move towards digitisation and promote careers that are intellectually stretching and driven by a renewed sense of purpose.

As Europe and the world are navigating  their path to a hopefully more sustainable and greener recovery, the need to improve and adapt skills has become more imperative than ever. As Eurofound stresses in this article, COVID-19 recovery needs a  green, social and digitally  skilled Europe.

To address this, the European Commission presented in July its European Skills Agenda for sustainable competitiveness, social fairness and resilience, which  pursues a real paradigm shift in skills to take advantage of the green and digital transitions and support a prompt recovery from the COVID-19 crisis. It sets ambitious, quantitative objectives for upskilling and reskilling, and  also aims to ensure that the right to training and lifelong learning, enshrined in the European Pillar of Social Rights, becomes a reality all across Europe. To complement this , the Commission is expected to launch its  Pact for Skills  in November 2020.

As part of the European Vocational Skills Week 2020, ACCA and  EY are delighted to invite you to a lively discussion on European Skills Agenda & Meaningful work for the digital professional- what are the skills needed for successful  green and digital transitions? 

Draft agenda

11.00h Welcome speech, Jeanne Boillet, EY Global Assurance Innovation Leader

11.10h Keynote speech, Alicia Homs Ginel, MEP  

11.20h Panel discussion moderated by Narayanan Vaidyanathan, ACCA

• Glenda Quintini, Senior Economist, Skills and Employability Division, OECD
• Julie Fionda, Deputy head of unit, Skills and Qualifications, DG EMPL
• Irene Mandl ,  Head of Unit, Employment, Eurofound
• SMEunited, name tbc
• Salvatore Nigro, CEO,  JaEurope 

12.15h Q&As

12.25h Conclusions

12.30  End

Please note that pictures, videos, and audio recordings will be made at this event in which you may be featured. By attending this event, you grant the organisers the right to use such material for non-commercial purposes, including the posting of photos and/or videos on our website. If you wish to object to this, please contact the organisers.

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