Alternativi International Annual Report 2018 ANNUAL REPORT 2018 | Page 14

DIGITAL SKILL 4 ALL The digital age is expanding into all areas of our lives, and it is not just those who work in IT that will need to be alert of the digital transformation,” said Mariya Gabriel, EU Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society (January, 2018). Although we live in an increasingly online world, a significant part of the population remains digitally excluded A recent report, “The Digital Skills Gap in Europe”, released by the European Commission on October 2017 has revealed that 44% of Europeans aged 16-74 do not have basic digital skills so near half of European adults lack basic digital skills. Adults without basic digital skills are less likely to manage their finances, access government services and cheaper products and are more likely to suffer from isolation, have lower incomes, be disenfranchised and have children who underachieve at school. In addition, the EU estimates that 90% of all jobs in the future will require at least basic digital skills, meaning that Europe could be facing a digital skills gap among European adults.