Digital and Entrepreneurial skills. Why is it important?

Europe as the rest of the developed world is facing an era of great technological change. Digital innovations are reshaping our society and economy with a speed like never before. Our lives are now full of new terms:

Cloud, internet of things, big data, artificial intelligence, robotics and many others. Some five years ago, no one had heard of Uber or the hotel substitute service Air-Bnb but now almost everybody knows about these two online services. We have seen computers to do amazing staff, they drive cars, they became world champion in quiz shows and chess.

Greater efficiency, ability to adapt more quickly to the needs and wishes of consumers and the absence of costs, all of these make digital services unstoppable even if we want to stop them.

Gradually, all of us are becoming part of this digital evolution. Since 2006 we have seen the explosion of social media, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and many more, all of us use it. We have seen the development of smart phones and tablets, we use apps to do everything and organise our lives. And all these happened in less than a decade. This is just the beginning. Already many call our epoch - the fourth wave of the industrial revolution - during which the implementation of several emerging technologies will have disruptive effects in the business world and our everyday lives.

To seize the chance to influence the digital newcomers of tomorrow, Europe will have to play a far more active role. If we fail to do so, progress will happen abroad and Europe will fall behind the market. We should therefore be pleased to see that the digital agenda forms one of the seven pillars of the Europe 2020 Strategy.

The creation of a real and efficient market in the digital economy is of major importance, for the growth of businesses, for the creation of new jobs and for the competitiveness of EU in the global market. It is therefore the responsibility of Europe to continue to embrace the development of higher education systems where the digital world has a main role. Together with this, we must support the development of an education system which promotes the mind-set of risk taking and allows the cycle of error. Combing the entrepreneurial mind-set with digital skills, we can tackle many challenges, drive growth, create jobs and improve the lives of citizens.