The current normal

Many of you know that I have the pleasure of being chair of the EU governing board of Digital Skills and Jobs Coalition. The Coalition’s work on improving digital skills across EU citizens obviously gained new focus and importance during last few weeks. Today I participated in a zoom call between National coalitions from the member states, and first hand experienced how the national member organizations has helped build the much-needed, “emergency” activities during the Corona virus times of today.

I was truly impressed by the Croatian Ministry’s of Education project to bring virtual classes to all students in the country. The lessons are not only available through a variety of online platforms, but are also broadcast on the national TV for those, whose internet connection might not be entirely reliable. This project has been made possible also thanks to an efficient student/teacher identification system that Croatia has introduced 15 years ago.

An important remark came also from our members in Italy, a country that – as we are all aware - is in a very unique situation now. Their experience reminded us all that the day still has 24 hours and that it’s easy to overwhelm – students and employees alike – with a multitude of classes, activities and tasks to complete remotely. It might seem obvious, but when planning our digital day, we all need to consider how much time each of the tasks will take – leaving enough time for off-work activities, eating and sleep.

For all the organizations that needed to digitally transform almost overnight, a huge challenge is also to be able to secure enough hardware to keep the teams, classes and social groups connected. Obviously organizations like my own Dell Technologies offer great work from home solutions, but equally impressing is it to see the great work done by organizations like Close The Gap, a social enterprise which collects pre-owned IT hardware, updates and repairs whenever needed, to be able to offer it to schools, communities and businesses in over 50 countries around the world. A great initiative both from the social and environmental point of view.

And while other countries were sharing their amazing projects and initiatives during the session, I couldn’t stop thinking how digital became the current normal almost overnight. Will it become the new normal for us moving forward? I think so, and will share some more thought on that in my next blog – watch this space!