EIMIN: an opportunity for digitally excluded people to improve their digital skills
The Ministry of the Economy and Innovation will continue to improve the digital literacy of the Lithuanian population. Together with the Information Society Development Committee (ISDC), it will implement another project to improve the digital skills needed in everyday life for the most digitally excluded people in Lithuania.
"To strengthen Lithuania as an intelligent digital state, we need to ensure that the digital divide does not widen by introducing e-services and increasing their use in society. Therefore, to reduce this gap, we are implementing a project to improve digital literacy among vulnerable groups," said Aušrinė Armonaitė, Minister of the Economy and Innovation.
According to EUROSTAT, the statistical office of the European Union (EU), around 53% of the Lithuanian population had basic digital skills last year. In the older age group (65-74), the figure was only 15.15%.
By age group, digital literacy was highest among young people (16-24 years old) with 81.28% of the population, followed by 78.41% in the 25-34 age group and 68.49% in the 35-44 age group. In other age groups, less than half of the Lithuanian population had these skills: 48.90% in the 45-54 age group and 32.54% in the 55-64 age group.
So another project funded by EU investment would give people the chance to develop their ability to use digital solutions in a comprehensive and intelligent way. This will involve EU investment of €2 million.
The project will be implemented by the Information Society Development Committee (ISDC) together with partners Langas į ateitį Association and the Lithuanian National Library Martynas Mažvydas.
"This project will increase the use of e-services. It will make it faster and easier for vulnerable groups to access public services such as healthcare, education and social protection, as well as commercial services such as online banking and e-commerce. Better digital skills would therefore save them time and resources," said Erika Kuročkina, Deputy Minister of the Economy and Innovation.
The project will provide digital literacy training and other activities to help develop the population's ability to make full use of the digital solutions developed. They will also enable the most vulnerable social groups to make greater use of e-services.
The deadline for applications is 31 July this year. More information on the call is available on the EU Investment website.
The previous project "Connected Lithuania: an efficient, safe and responsible digital community in Lithuania" showed that the development of digital skills remains a key issue in Lithuania and that the knowledge acquired significantly facilitates everyday activities.
During the project, around 500,000 people, including 601 local communities, took part in various digitalisation activities. The number of adults participating in digital literacy training reached 104,000 and the motivation to learn digital literacy increased from 64.5% to 77.5%.
The project also had the added benefit of inspiring some 3,400 volunteers to become digital leaders, advisors and virtual technology agents.
The project is being implemented as part of the Next Generation Lithuania plan, funded by the European Union's NextGenerationEU instrument.
