Improving digital skills among migrants

Overview

Objectives

The objective of the call is to finance projects that will complement and draw on existing EU initiatives for the development of digital skills, including in the area of education such as the Digital Education Action Plan 2021-202724 and the resources available in the European Digital Education Hub, by focusing on the situation of migrants and the specific challenges they face, both as regard their level of digital skills literacy as well as their access to education and trainings.

Projects should also dedicate specific attention to complementing already existing programmes on ICT skills that do not specifically target migrants. Project proposals should also pay particular attention to certain categories of migrants, such as women, the elderly, migrants with disabilities or illiterate migrants who face additional difficulties in accessing digital services.

Activities/actions supported

Proposals should include one or more of the following activities (non-exhaustive list):

1. Activities to increase the digital skills of migrants, in particular for the purpose of employment and including trainings and learning tools for migrants, as well as the development of training material, tools and good practices for professionals working on improving migrants’ digital skills.
2. Activities specifically addressed to increase migrants’ development of skills specific to IT professionals, as well as the development of training material, tools and good practices for professionals working on improving migrants’ digital skills.
3. Activities specifically addressed to increase the digital skills of specific categories of migrants such as women, the elderly, migrants with disabilities and illiterate migrants given their specific needs.
4. Innovative approaches to digital skills learning, specifically as regard reaching and teaching categories of migrants with low digital skills such as elderly, women, illiterate migrants and migrants with disabilities.
5. Conferences, workshops and mutual learning activities aimed at exchanging experience and disseminating good practices in relation to improving the digital skills of migrants in general, and particularly for those categories of migrants who face bigger difficulties such as women, the elderly, migrants with disabilities and illiterate migrants.

Proposed good practices and tools to be developed in order to improve digital skills of migrants should take into account the initiatives already funded under other programmes in the area of employment and education, as detailed above, to avoid any overlap.

The target groups of this topic are as follows:

• Migrants as defined for this call;
• Particular attention should be paid to migrant women, the elderly, migrants with disabilities, or illiterate migrants who face additional difficulties in accessing digital services;
• Teachers, trainers, and other providers of courses to improve digital skills who are engaging with migrants.

Anticipated outcomes

Proposals should focus on contributing to the achievement of one or several of the following outcomes:

• More tools, training offers and materials are available to improve the digital skills of migrants based on their specific needs, including the development of digital skills for the purpose of employment.
• More migrants have better digital skills which allows them to make full use of the digital services offered by Member States, including the capacity to find information on public website and platforms and the capacity to access and use integration and public services available online.
• Digital skills providers have an increased understanding of and are able to cater to the specific needs of migrants. In addition, digital skills providers already addressing the needs of migrants are able to scale their impact.
• More migrants acquire digital skills which can help them find employment opportunities, including specialised skills.
• Adapted information is provided to migrants who face specific challenges in acquiring digital skills such as elderly, women, illiterate migrants and migrants with disabilities.

Institution providing the funding

European Commission

Size of funding

EUR 5,000,000

Conditions

Overview of eligibility criteria

To be eligible, the applicants (beneficiaries and affiliated entities) must be legal entities established in one of the eligible countries (i.e. EU Member States excluding Denmark; countries associated to the AMIF programmes or countries which are in ongoing negotiations for an association agreement).

Other entities may participate in other consortium roles, such as associated partners, subcontractors, third parties giving in-kind contributions.

Consortia have to include a minimum of five applicants (beneficiaries; not affiliated entities) from five different participating Member States. Affiliated entities and international organisations cannot be counted for reaching the minimum number of participating Member States. Please note that  profit-making entities cannot apply as coordinator.

Overview of award criteria

The award criteria are as follows:

• Relevance: clarity and consistency of the objectives and scope of the project seen against the objectives and expected impact/outcomes (if applicable) as identified in section 2; contribution to the relevant EU strategic documents and/or action plans and legislative context; previous results in the field; European/trans-national dimension (30 points)
• Quality: logical links between the identified problems, needs and solutions proposed; methodology for implementing the project (concept andmethodology, timetable, monitoring and evaluation); expertise and quality of the consortium and project teams; management structures and procedures;risks and risk management; feasibility of the project within the proposed time frame; cost effectiveness and best value for money (50 points)
• Impact: expected short-term and long-term impact of results on target groups/general public; degree of ambition and innovation; appropriate communication strategy, including visibility of EU funding; appropriate dissemination strategy for ensuring sustainability and long-term impact; sustainability of results after EU funding ends; replicability/usability/potential for amplification of the results (20 points).

Procedures

Application procedures

All proposals must be submitted directly online via the Funding & Tenders Portal Electronic Submission System. Paper applications are NOT accepted. 

Application support available

More information can be found in the call document.

Non-IT related questions should be sent to the following email address: HOME-AMIFUNION-ACTIONSec [dot] europa [dot] eu (HOME-AMIFUNION-ACTIONS[at]ec[dot]europa[dot]eu) Please indicate clearly the reference of the call and topic to which your question relates (see cover page of the call document).

Useful links

Link to funding opportunity

Link to the programme for more info