Corporate leaders agree that digital skills are integral for navigating digital present and future.
We are happy to have been invited to the ’22 Handelsblatt Winter Camp. Over 250 thought leaders and decision makers came together on December 15th to discuss challenges and opportunities laying ahead in 2023. It was hosted by Handelsblatt Media Group, the publisher behind some of Germany’s most renowned business and finance newspapers.
Our policy lead Gabriel Häusler discussed the need for digital skills in a thought-provoking panel with Summer Vornwald (TechAcademy), Dr. Julia Freudenberg (Hacker School), Ramona Swhajor (GS1), and Gabriele Fanta (Körber). Sharing our experiences from past years of facilitating discourse and education on digitization, Gabriel emphasized curricula across all subjects and education levels must adapt to the pace and breadth of digitization. He also stressed the urgency of such changes, especially given Germany’s low ranking in EU-wide digital skills rankings and potential implications for digital citizenship and future job market.
While youth organizations have already proven working solutions and expertise bottom-up, it is now up to politics to embrace and actively support the development of digital skills top-down. Encouraging the adoption of innovative new models from youth and non-profit organizations and standardization across institutions and regions are only two of several actions that can be taken now.
As part of our campaign #DigitalChangeNow we advocate for promoting digital skills in today’s economy. With more than 20 other initiatives (including TechAcademy e.V., German Informatics Society, Hacker School, and TechLabs) we have put together a call towards decision-makers in Germany to lobby for the young generation. Read more about this here (German only).
Overall, the Handelsblatt Wintercamp provided a valuable opportunity for us to make young voices heard on important issues of our (digital) future. We explored the latest trends and developments in the world of digital skills and connected with like-minded individuals, that will hopefully be part of our future journey.