Copenhagen, Denmark —
To meet the increasing demand for digital skills in the labour market and in society, the City of Copenhagen, Denmark, has developed a long-term strategy to increase digital skills among the unemployed in the city.
The strategy was developed in response to recommendations from an expert group on digital competences, which were presented to the city in January 2020.
The key objective of the Digital Skills Strategy is to meet the increasing demand for digital skills in the local economy by reskilling and upskilling unemployed people in the city. The strategy tested new methods and approaches to digital skills development through pilot projects developed in cooperation with key stakeholders in the local and regional community.
Due to the rapid changes in the skills demand of businesses, the city administration has chosen an innovative approach where skills and employment measures are developed “as needed” based on insights and learnings from a range of pilot projects. The strategy includes two main tracks:
Boosting basic digital skills: This comprised initiatives providing the unemployed with the basic digital skills needed to enter the labour market (in digital intensive as well as non-intensive occupations) and to participate in society more generally (e.g. use digital solutions provided by the public administration). The administration has set up two digital workshops at local job centres that offer support and guidance to citizens who are in need of basic digital skills. In addition, the administration included basic digital skills training into other training and education programmes provided by the city.
Developing pilot projects: This included a range of pilot projects developed and implemented in cooperation with businesses and organisations operating in the local economy, including employer organisations and unions. The pilot projects are selected based on the needs of businesses and the unemployed in the area. In parallel with digital skills training, the projects tested different methods, including practical learning, e-learning, learning from gaming, internships, on-the-job training, and basic skills training (e.g. reading and writing). An example of an ongoing pilot project is the cooperation with Microsoft on the upskilling of high-skilled unemployed in the use of Microsoft Azure (a cloud-platform) and following the training programme, support to match unemployed individuals with positions in Microsoft partner companies.
In cooperation with the Municipality of Copenhagen, the main stakeholders involved in the project are the members of the expert group, which included high-level representatives from employer organisations, branch/industry organisations, unions, educational institutions and businesses.
The strategy represents an example of how to meet the long-term needs for digital skills through a flexible approach, where new measures are developed based on insights gathered through pilot programmes. It is also an example of how to engage local and regional stakeholders within a city or region in the development of a long-term strategy.
OECD (2022), "Future-proofing adult learning systems in cities and regions: A policy manual for local governments", OECD Local Economic and Employment Development (LEED) Papers, No. 2022/03, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/11fa26cc-en.
