On 12 February 2009, the ECDL Foundation had the privilege of presenting the 9 millionth Skills Card to the President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso. The purpose of the event was to stress the importance of digital literacy for employability and sustainable growth.

José Manuel Barroso received the 9 millionth ECDL Skills Card at a ceremony highlighting the key role of digital literacy in increasing employability and building a knowledge-based economy in Europe.

Accepting the ECDL Skills Cards, President Barroso stressed that digital literacy skills are essential for Europeans and stated that the Commission is proud to have been at the origin of the ECDL programme and its “amazing progress in reaching 9 million Skills Cards”. President Barroso noted that “digital literacy is part of basic competences such as reading and writing and that in this difficult economic situation many workers will need retraining and the digital competence they can gain will help them find new opportunities for a better life”.

The European Commission recently issued the European Economic Recovery Plan that points to “smart investment” to yield higher growth and sustainable prosperity in the longer-term and calls on Member States to invest more in education and retraining to protect Europe’s citizens from the worst of the economic crisis.

As part of this plan, the Commission has proposed a € 1 billion investment to bring broadband to rural areas. However, as the ECDL Foundation CEO Damien O’Sullivan pointed out “unless that investment is supplemented with IT training, Europe risks an additional widening of the digital divide in areas where digital literacy levels already lag behind the European average”.

By presenting the ECDL Skills Card to President Barroso, ECDL Foundation recognises the Commission’s work to empower individuals by creating better employment opportunities and an inclusive Information Society. ECDL Foundation Board Member, Byron Nicolaides, called upon governments, business and civil society to work together to address the current challenges and remain focused on the objectives of the Lisbon Strategy for growth and jobs.

Yet with 40 % of Europeans still without the basic skills needed to use the Internet, much remains to be done according to the ECDL Foundation who calls on governments and policymakers to increase and accelerate investments in training and education to enable Europe to emerge from this economic crisis as a more dynamic and competitive economy.


Further information:

• Original press release – ECDL Foundation 
• Video extracts of the presenting of the 9 millionth ECDL Skills Card to President Barroso