Discover the finalists of the 2023 European Digital Skills Awards

The European Digital Skills Awards is an initiative of the European Commission aimed at rewarding the good practices that are helping Europeans gain the digital skills they need for life and work. The Awards are open to organisations of all types, as long as at least one of the applicants is based in an EU country: citizen initiatives, universities, EU funded projects, public and private entities and non-profits can all participate and gain recognition for their active contribution in supporting the Digital Decade targets set by the European Commission.

The 2023 edition, organised under the European Year of Skills, received a total of 330 applications – 93 in Digital Skills for Education, 88 in Inclusion in the Digital World, 60 in Digital Upskilling @ Work, 52 in Empowering Youth in Digital, and 36 in Women in ICT Careers.

On 30 May 2023, the finalists in all categories were announced, including 7 projects in the Empowering Youth in Digital category:

• Solve for Tomorrow is a national youth competition and Samsung’s yearly initiative through which it encourages innovative thinking, teamwork, and the development of innovative tech-for-good solutions to solve some of the community’s most pressing problems – by Samsung Electronics România  and Samsung Electronics Polska
• BayCode, founded in 2021“BayCode” aims at upskilling 5,000 Bavarian pupils with little or no access to digital education and/or migration background in digital competencies. Together with local schools, companies and volunteer IT-experts, it promotes digital participation and equal opportunities – by ReDi School of Digital Integration (Germany)
• UNBreakable Romaniais an end-to-end cybersecurity educational program for high schools and university studentsfrom Romania. UNbreakable’s mission is to provide young cybersecurity enthusiasts with resources, so useful for developing the skills needed to become good cybersecurity specialists – by Bit Sentinel Security (Romania)
• Empower Girls’ Creativity Through Use of Digital Technologies (SparkDigiGirls)aims to encourage girls to explore digital technologies such as AR (Augmented Reality), AI ( Artificial Intelligence) and other technologies to come up with new and interesting ideas – by Viešieji interneto prieigos taškai (VIPT) (Lithuania)
• ubbu – Learn how to Code is an initiative that teaches kids (from 6 to 12y) how to code through game based lessons. Featuring a curriculum comprised of 90+ game-based STEAM lessons, kids are prepared for the future by being introduced to logical challenges and developing their problem-solving skills – by  ubbu (Portugal)
• Social Warning is a project that brings the topic of digital awareness to schools through a network of young volunteer trainers, all professionals who work with digital technologies on a daily basis. The aim is not to alarm or reassure but to inform. by Social Warning – Movimento Etico Digitale ASD (Italy)
• Empleando Digital +  is an innovative project aiming to consolidate digital inclusion for the most vulnerable and create inclusive markets in the technological field. It aims to empower young Roma people in the digital world, stressing innovation as a key element to their employability – by Fundación Secretariado Gitano (Spain)

The winners in all categories will be announced on 28 June 2023!