The study on Evaluation of the Implementation of the Communication on “e-Skills for the 21st Century” has been commissioned by the European Commission DG ENTR with the objective to perform an evaluation of the implementation of the Communication on “e-Skills for the 21st Century”. The main objectives of the service contract are specified as

• Evaluating the efficiency and effectiveness of the implementation of the Communication and the relevance of the EU e-skills agenda;
• Evaluating the results produced so far which will include policies, initiatives and further activities of Member States, other stakeholders (e.g. Industry and especially IT industry, IT associations, employer associations, trade unions, industry associations) and the European Commission ranging from policies and initiatives started and implemented to projects and further activities of different type;
• Evaluating how efficiently the activities have been implemented in terms of organisation, management and interactions with stakeholders;
• Formulating recommendations on how the implementation of a long term e-skills agenda may be improved and/or suggest alternative actions or instruments.

The key components of the European e-skills agenda from the EC Communication « e-skills for the 21st century » include:

• Longer-term cooperation (e.g. multi-stakeholder partnerships)
• Human resources investment (e.g. sufficient private and public investment, support and incentives; e-competence framework and tools for mobility, transparency)
• Attractiveness (e.g. promoting science, maths, ICT, e-skills etc.)
• Employability and e-inclusion (e.g. focus on SMEs, unemployed, elderly, people with lower education etc.)
• Lifelong learning of e-skills (regular e-skills updating, ICT-enhanced learning and training approaches)

The study will cover and address national and European policies, strategies and multi-stakeholder partnerships and further activities on e-skills and digital literacy on the above issues embracing the complete set of e-skills and media competences required in a knowledge-based economy and society. It will include initiatives with respect to formal and industry-based education and deal with the entire spectrum of e-skills which include “ICT user skills” (digital literacy of citizens) and ”ICT practitioner skills”.