The National Coalition for Digital Skills and Jobs established in CEA

In March 2013, the European Commission launched the "Grand Coalition for Digital Jobs" (hereinafter referred to as the GCDJ) initiative - a partnership of stakeholders whose goal is to co-operate between the economies, educational institutions and the state to encourage young people to develop digital skills in order to increase the number of ICT experts in Europe. In order to achieve the same goal, the increase of qualified professionals, the European Commission promotes publicity at national level through the establishment of national digital coalitions as a partnership of stakeholders. The National Coalition for Digital Skills and Jobs has a mission to increase employment and retention of qualified professionals in the Republic of Croatia. The work of the National Coalition in Croatia is coordinated by the Croatian Employers' Association.

Davor Majetić, CEO of HUP (CEA) said: "The digital industry is not located in the distant future, but is already here with us. Digitization is not a question of desire but an imperative for all companies that want to be competitive in today's market. We are still struggling to convince people that the question of digital skills is a matter of 21st century literacy, a standard without which our children will not be ready for the labor market. The establishment of the National Coalition for Digital Skills and Jobs is just one of the ways we strive to draw attention to the importance of proper education and training of staff for digital workplaces. "

Boris Drilo, President of HUP - Information and Communication Association and HT Management Board member, said: "Our desire is to move the current positive momentum of the ICT sector to other sectors of the economy and call it digital economy. We would like to have at least 15% of the digital economy in the Republic of Croatia, and we need people and digital competencies. Today, we have around 50,000 ICT experts in Croatia, but we have to focus on the total number of employees with digital skills in other areas of the economy. In Croatia we should have at least 200,000 people with advanced digital skills in order to increase our chances of progress. "

Hrvoje Balen, Vice President of HUP - Information and Communications Association and member of the Management Board of Algebra presented the work of the Association that preceded the establishment of the National Coalition.