Deadline: 2-Sep-25
The European Commission (EC) is accepting applications for the Sectoral Digital Skills Academies: Digital Skills Academy in GenAI Program.
Objectives
- This topic aims to establish an academy in Artificial Intelligence (AI): the “AI Skills Academy”.
- The AI Skills Academy will be a one-stop-shop for a range of activities supporting or developing educational and training schemes in two main focus areas:
- skills for the uptake and deployment of AI and in particular ‘GenAI’ in key economic sectors;
- skills related to the development and deployment of AI models in the ‘AI Factories’ facilities.
- This call covers only the establishment of the first part of the AI Skills Academy, focused on AI and GenAI. Another call will be organised at a later stage to cover specific skillset necessary for the AI Factories. The two projects selected to implement the AI Skills Academy will closely collaborate to ensure an aligned education and training offer and to support its implementation. They will also share communication and dissemination activities. The precise scope of the collaboration should be laid down in the collaboration agreement that the two projects will sign once both parts of the AI Skills Academy are set up.
- The main objective of this first part of the AI Skills Academy is to address the current and future AI skills gap in the EU’s strategic sectors and strengthen the pool of AI specialists, particularly in the field of Generative AI (GenAI) development and application. To do so, the AI Skills Academy (in short, the Academy) will leverage the collaboration between industry, higher education, and vocational training institutions to skill, up-skill and re-skill students and professionals and facilitate their positioning in the EU labour market, matching their expertise with the needs of the AI market, and of EU industries and the public sector. This will contribute to increasing the overall competitiveness of the EU industries and the efficiency of the public sector.
- The Academy will additionally focus on boosting the AI and GenAI competences and job-placement of underrepresented groups in the AI workforce, particularly of women and on promoting AI-related opportunities for students, professionals and the broader public, targeting also Europeans living abroad.
Scope
- In alignment with the other digital academies, the activities of the AI Skills Academy will be centred around three pillars of action.
- Pillar 1: Knowledge, education, and training
- Under this first pillar, the AI Skills Academy will review, develop, and implement education and training material for university and vocational training students. It will also pilot on-the-job trainings for professionals.
- More specifically, the goals of this pillar will be:
- Complement existing information on the AI skills needs in the EU labour market, the AI role profiles currently demanded across key EU industries and the public sector, and the gaps in the existing European higher education and training offer on AI and, specifically, GenAI.
- Design educational programme(s) and trainings.
- Higher education curricula at ISCED level 6 or 7 (Bachelor’s, Master’s or equivalent level) leading to a degree, and related self-standing modules leading to a certification: To be designed are full programmes and selfstanding modules on GenAI model development for ICT students, and on (Gen)AI deployment and application for key industrial sectors (see the list of key sectors below), as well as deployment and application for the EU, national and regional public sectors.
- Technical education curricula (such as vocational training): To be designed are curricula that can be adapted for their adoption by technical education and vocational training institutions across EU Member States leading to a vocational qualification. These trainings should aim at enhancing employability through the acquisition of AI- and GenAI-related skills for ICT and non-ICT students. Input from industry partners and stakeholders, as well as EU Member States’ entities responsible for vocational training, should be included in to fine-tune the content of these trainings, in particular in view of the evolving job market demands.
- On-the-job trainings: To be provided are ready-made training materials for specific profiles/professions and sectors (see again the list of sectors below). Some of these materials should be used by courses directly offered by the Academy and delivered online or in person. The training materials should also be made available to companies or public administrations, which wish to implement the trainings with their own resources, while access to these on-the-job trainings should be facilitated for SMEs, startups, as well as the public sector that demonstrate the need to upskill their employees. Collaboration with EDIHs is encouraged, where relevant. Professional training design should take into account the European Approach to Microcredentials.
- Implementation and delivery of the above-mentioned educational programmes and trainings. The Academy should at least implement the following:
- one certified Master’s programme specialized in GenAI,
- one vocational training scheme,
- one on-the-job training programme per profile/profession (and, where possible, per sector).
- In alignment with the AI Innovation Package and the upcoming Apply AI Strategy, among the sectors considered of particular interest regarding AI deployment and adoption are:
- healthcare and pharmaceutical,
- manufacturing,
- mobility (including automotive and aerospace),
- agriculture,
- cultural and creative industries,
- energy,
- telecommunications,
- environment,
- robotics,
- defence and (cyber)security,
- finance, and
- public administration, including education.
- Pillar 2: Building the ecosystem
- Under this second pillar, the Academy will act as a catalyst to attract and retain European and international talent in the EU labour market, including facilitating the matching of AI-skilled workers with jobs. Communication and dissemination activities will further promote career paths and increase the visibility of the Academy and its education and training offer.
- More specifically, the goals of this pillar will be:
- Build and nurture a diverse and rich ecosystem of stakeholders, including businesses from both the AI industry and other key industrial sectors, higher education, vocational and training institutions, research organisations, as well as EU national and regional public. This may include the organisation of stakeholder events, such as matchmaking, career days, and other formats.
- Leverage this diverse ecosystem to offer practical professional experiences in collaboration with the industry and the public sector (e.g. “teach-the teacher” schemes).
- Communicate about the opportunities offered by the Academy and more generally the EU AI education and job market, as well as disseminate outcomes and results. This should be done via a dedicated landing page integrated in the Digital Skills and Jobs Platform, a self-standing website titled “AI Skills Academy”, and any other relevant channels. A specific outreach campaign targeting European AI experts and professionals living abroad, aiming to inform them of the opportunities for further education, training and employment in the EU, is to be set up.
- Pillar 3: Measuring progress
- Under the third pillar, the Academy will monitor the progress and impact of its activities. More specifically, the goals of this pillar will be:
- Develop and implement a robust methodology to systematically monitor the progress achieved in closing the identified AI skills gaps.
- Based on the progress monitoring, suggest and implement adjustments of the Academy’s activities. This objective should also take into consideration the feedback received from Academy’s participants.
- Pillar 1: Knowledge, education, and training
Funding Information
- The estimated available call budget is EUR 27 000 000.
- Digital Skills Academy in GenAI: EUR 7 000 000
Duration
- Indicative 48 months
Outcomes and Deliverables
- By the end of the project, the selected proposal will be required to have achieved the following:
- Detailed description and their related skills, competences and education/training paths, in line with the previously gathered information on the skills gaps and educational/training offer. The description should be linked to the European Classification of Skills, Competences and Occupations (ESCO) and take inspiration from the existing European Cybersecurity Skills Framework (ECSF). Adaptation of the roles to different sectors should be considered.
- Development and implementation of comprehensive academic (Bachelor’s and/or Master’s) curricula to train the identified and needed AI profiles, including in specific sectors of application of AI.
- Development and implementation of vocational training curricula to train the identified and needed AI profiles, including in specific sectors of application of AI.
- Number of professionals working in SMEs, start-ups, as well as the public sector, who are benefiting from on-the-job training programmes. At least one pilot per profile/profession and possibly per sector.
Eligibility Criteria
- In order to be eligible, the applicants (beneficiaries and affiliated entities) must:
- be legal entities (public or private bodies)
- be established in one of the eligible countries, i.e.:
- EU Member States (including overseas countries and territories (OCTs))
- non-EU countries
- listed EEA countries and countries associated to the Digital Europe Programme
For more information, visit EC.