The Digital Age Skills Programme

A national programme supporting lifelong learning by funding new educational programmes, courses and training models focused on digital skills, targeted at adult education providers including summer universities, learning centres and folk high schools in Finland. Finland's goal is to be the most skilled nation in the world; the PIAAC adult skills survey found that as many as 600,000 adult Finns have deficiencies in basic digital and literacy skills, prompting the Minister of Education to launch a national programme to support lifelong learning.

Digiaikakauden Taidot (The Digital Age Skills) programme was established by the Ministry of Education and Culture to strengthen the future competencies of adults and to prevent inequalities in education and remove barriers to lifelong learning, with special attention to adults with low basic education, immigrants, the unemployed and those at risk of unemployment, and the elderly.

In 2018 the Finnish Government proposed an additional €60 million in its budget for up-skilling the labour force with a focus on digital skills. An open call for funding of €7 million was opened at the National Board of Education on 3 September 2018 and closed on 8 October 2018, coordinated by the Finnish National Agency for Education. After funds were allocated, training activities were implemented through educational institutions in cooperation with NGOs and third-sector training providers, covering basic and advanced digital skills including areas such as AI and cybersecurity.