Digital Skills EU Days
From 12–14 November 2025, Brussels became the centre of Europe’s digital skills conversation as over 250 leaders from policy, industry, and education gathered for the DIGITAL Skills EU Days, a series of high-level events including the 20×30 Advanced Digital Skills Summit, the European Digital Skills Awards, and the inaugural Women in Digital Summit.
We played a central role across the three days, contributing thought leadership on advanced digital skills, talent development, and digital inclusion. Through strategic interventions from our CEO & Founder Tanya Suárez and our Managing Consultants Brendan Rowan and Liubba El Hadi Hamed, Digital Skills EU Days helped guide discussions driving forward Europe’s digital future.
Setting the stage for Europe’s digital talent future
The first day of the Joint Digital Skills EU Days set the tone for an ambitious three-day programme, bringing together nominees, national coalitions, and European leaders to celebrate progress and spotlight the urgent challenges ahead. The afternoon opened with the Digital Skills Awards Nominees Showcase, followed by high-level interventions from Henna Virkkunen and Roxana Mînzatu, who underscored Europe’s need for stronger digital talent pipelines and coordinated action across Member States. The day concluded with the European Digital Skills Awards 2025 Ceremony and a networking reception, creating the perfect environment for dialogue, collaboration, and the exchange of ideas among Europe’s most active digital skills stakeholders.
The ADS State-of-Play key findings and results
The 20×30 Advanced Digital Skills Summit opened with a presentation by Brendan Rowan, our Managing Consultant and Coordinator of LEADSx2030, who unveiled the Advanced Digital Skills State-of-Play findings.
His presentation provided a data-driven picture of Europe’s ADS landscape, spotlighting critical gaps and opportunities as the EU strives toward its ambitious 20 million ICT specialists by 2030. Brendan’s analysis set the foundation for the day’s discussions and prompted a high-level panel debate involving representatives from Spain, Slovenia, Ireland, and Belgium.
His intervention reinforced the urgency of coordinated action across education, industry, and policy to build a resilient, future-ready digital workforce.
Navigating the challenges in Advanced Digital Skills
Later in the day, our CEO Tanya Suárez moderated the session “Navigating the challenges in advanced digital skills, insights and impact.”
Joined by experts from the OECD and Generation, Tanya led a forward-looking conversation on how Europe can respond to rapidly evolving skill demands, global competition, and digital workforce shortages. The panel explored strategic approaches to workforce readiness, reskilling pathways, and talent attraction, providing fresh insights into Europe’s competitiveness in 2026 and beyond.
See more insights about this session here
Guiding the Women in Digital pipeline discussion
As part of the Women in Digital Summit, our Managing Consultant Liubba El Hadi Hamed moderated “The pipeline view, Reflections and discussion”, following the presentation of the Women in Digital Index 2025.
Together with speakers from Girls Go STEM, Slovenia’s University of Maribor, and BlockW, the session examined the persistent gender gaps in Europe’s digital ecosystem, where women still represent fewer than 20% of ICT specialists. Liubba guided a candid conversation on systemic barriers, early-stage interventions, and the policies needed to build a stronger, more inclusive digital pipeline.
Learn more about our initiative
Overall, the DIGITAL Skills EU Days confirmed that Europe has both the ambition and the ecosystem to close its advanced digital skills gap, but only if we keep working in step. From data-driven evidence to practical solutions and candid discussions on inclusion, the three days showed what’s possible when policymakers, industry, and educators align around a shared goal. We leave Brussels energised by the collaborations sparked, the insights surfaced, and the momentum building, and we look forward to continuing this work through LEADSx2030 as we help shape a more skilled, competitive, and inclusive digital Europe.