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Spain, the sixth country in Europe with the most people with basic digital skills

The new monographs about the strategy Digital Spain 2026 have been published by the National Observatory of Technology and Society (ONTSI). With them, it is intended to reinforce knowledge on issues related to this area and promote an environment in which society has knowledge about digitization to use technologies effectively, safely and responsibly.

The first monograph, titled digital skills, It provides important data on global digital skills, in addition to detailing how this measurement is carried out in the European Union, since this analysis is essential to understand the degree of adaptation of citizens to the challenges posed by the digital society. Specific, performance is measured in five dimensions: information and data literacy, communication and collaboration, digital content creation, problem solving and security. Depending on the tasks that a person is able to carry out for each one, their digital skills will be above basic, basic, low, reduced, limited, without skills or not evaluable. The more tasks you can complete, the higher level of skills a person will have.

Spain occupies a prominent position within the European Union in the development of citizens’ digital skills, above average. Specifically, the drive of the public administrations and of society as a whole in this regard, have managed to in Spain 64% of the population dispose of digital skills at least basicoccupying the sixth place and ahead of countries like France (62%) and Germany (49%)bringing our country closer to the goal that 80% of citizens have these skills, set by the European Commission for 2030.

In addition, Spain has managed to reduce the digital divide due to gender, with a difference of 3 percentage points at the moment (63% of women compared to 66% of men). This also positions Spain in 6th place in the European Union ranking.

Gaps based on age

Of course, as in the rest of the European Union, the biggest gaps in digital skills occur based on age, with 58 point handicap between the older population versus the younger one. The difference based on occupation is the second largest gap, at 49 points, between the non-active population and students.

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On the other hand, it should be noted that more than half of the people unemployed Possesses basic or higher digital skills.

The monograph invites us to reflect on the importance of all population groups being able to acquire these skills on equal terms, so as to reduce the gaps that still exist when facing the challenges and opportunities of the digital economy.

To increase the digital skills of all citizens and considerably reduce the gaps between groups, the Digital Skills Plan included in the Spain Digital strategy contemplates an investment of 3,593 million euros for the period 2021-2024, endowment linked to the Recovery Plan, Transformation and Resilience.

The collection that is presented complements the dissemination work carried out by the Observatory and aims to serve as an accessible guide and make the concepts on which the digital strategy of Spain and the EU is based. To do this, it moves away from other works that go through figures and contexts, opting for a formula that delves into concepts and methodologies. Among the topics that will be developed within this framework will include, among others, digital rights, digital entrepreneurship or cybersecurity.

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