European Code Week is an initiative designed to help bridge the digital skills gap by inspiring young people and educators to program and use technology. Originally a European campaign, the EU Code Week stretches to almost 80 countries and 4 million participants around the world!
Certiport has long been a supporter of this week and is thrilled to have been awarded a Certificate of Excellence in Coding Literacy from the European Commission for our role in EU Code Week – for the sixth year running! We believe that ensuring citizens gain the digital competence they need is imperative to future-proof our society. We work to help them make their skills visible and transferrable through internationally recognized certifications.
What happened in 2023?
During EU Code Week 2023, our partners across Europe held various events to support learners’ skilling and training.
- Multiple partners focused on building IT skills for learners in their country. In France and Ireland, our partner held multiple events focused on IT skills. Learners had the opportunity to learn and certify their skills in HTML, Java, and Python.
- In Greece, our partner hosted a test fest for educators, offering a free six-hour training for 20 educators, helping them expand their knowledge of 21st Century learning design. After completing the training, the educators earned their Microsoft Certified Educator certification, validating their ability to provide rich, custom learning experiences for students in their classrooms.
- Our partners in Romania, France, and Sweden combined their efforts to support the Cyber4All initiative, focusing on women and girls across their respective countries. Cyber4All helps equip individuals with the knowledge and skills needed to excel in the dynamic field of cybersecurity.
Why do we support EU Code Week?
According to , over 70% of businesses face obstacles in securing investments because they lack staff with adequate digital skills. Countries across Europe and economies around the world are wrestling not only with reskilling to fill existing gaps, but also finding solutions to ensure that future labor forces have the skills and resilience to adapt to technology’s rapid changes. Education systems are considered the backbone of the economy and thus must modernize to scale up the use of ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) in teaching and learning.
Campaigns, such as EU Code Week, help schools give students in-demand skills for their future careers. Coding can help develop competences such as computational thinking, problem solving, creativity and teamwork, all skills that are needed to move future generations from mere consumers of technology and content to veritable creators. Of course, coding and programming aren’t the whole story. Students, need a range of skills from basic applications, to digital productivity, entrepreneurship skills, creative digital design and much more. But it is a great place to start.
The need for these skills also extends well beyond students: to teachers, parents, job seekers and citizens in general. Right now in Europe, and every third working person lack basic digital skills. Through the Certiport network of global partners, we helped job seekers ensure they could upskill to advance their employment prospects with networking, security, cloud, and server administration skills, filling that much-needed gap for specialist level talent tool.
What’s happening in 2024?
Certiport is proud to be part of European Code Week, we encourage teachers, schools, and our partners around the world to mark their calendars for EU Code Week 2024: October 14 – 27. We look forward making EU Code Week this year an even bigger success.
Learn more about the EU Code Week .