Growing in Digital: how to grow digital to be competitive on national and international markets

By project DigiBEST

Published on 22 January 2021

Italy

About this good practice

“Crescere in Digitale” (Growing in Digital) is a project implemented by Unioncamere in partnership with Google and promoted by ANPAL (National Agency for Active Labor Policies supervised by the Ministry of Labor and Social Policies) to apply the resources of the National Operational Program ‘Youth Employment Initiative’. The project is aimed at promoting, through the acquisition of digital skills, the employability of young people between 15 and 29 who do not study and do not work.The participants follow a training course (50 hours) held by a team of professors, web experts and digital marketers to acquire the knowledge to enter the world of digital work.The course objectives are: understanding the Internet economy; learn to use the main digital platforms; acquire basic digital skills; Learn how to manage a company's online presence. The course is focused on the main following issues: Cloud, Big Data and Machine Learning Understanding the digital ecosystem; Create and develop the online presence of small and medium-sized enterprises; Creation and management of an e Commerce;Social Media Management; How to measure the growth of your online presence.After the training the participants do a 6-month internship in companies. In this way, young people have the opportunity to put into practice what they have learned. Companies will be able to host 1 or more participants. Smes do not take courses, trainees are granted a reimbursement of expenses equal to 500 €. Editions 2014–2021

Expert opinion

The “Crescere in Digitale” is a national programme to support NEET youth (youth not in employment, education or training) by providing them digital training and internship opportunities, thus re-integrating the young people into the Italian economy within an innovative and growing sector. Considering that this target group is tricky to reach and engage with, it is encouraging to see the results achieved - 3100 paid internships across Italy.
The course is held entirely online in a MOOC format with 98 modules. Providing a course such as this online ensures its accessibility. NEET youths can access the programme from their home, making participation barrier lighter.
Other regions seeking to reintegrate NEET youth to the labour market or to implement digital skills training courses could learn from the Italian experience.

Rene Tonnisson

Works at Interreg Europe Policy Learning Platform

Resources needed

Budget for Basilicata
2014/2015: 6,000 €
Growing in Digital
2014/2015: 6.000
2016/2017: 16.000
2019/2020: 8.000
2021: 15.000

Staff

Growing in Digital
2014/2015: 2
2016/2017: 2
2019/2020: 2
2021: 2

Evidence of success

Italy:
- 112,000 young people seeking employment were enrolled to Grow in Digital and :
 3,100 paid internships in the company activated on the national territory
 5,000 internships are planned throughout the national territory in the last program session.

Basilicata:
n. 80 companies have hosted digital innovators.

Potential for learning or transfer

Growing in Digital: as an opportunity for training and traineeships for young people seeking jobs to increase their chances of success and for companies to hire skilled young adults.