Leading young people in a training course on innovation to strengthen digital skills in the green and blue economy and paving the way for new professional opportunities are the goals of the advanced training course in digital skills, which will kick off on 6 March (3 p.m.) at CIHEAM Bari's office in Tricase Porto.

A joint initiative between the Italian Institute of CIHEAM, Puglia Region, Puglia IT District and DiTech Technological District, in the framework of the Food4Health project, funded by the Interreg IPA Cbc Italy-Albania-Montenegro Programme and led by the Albanian Ministry of Agriculture. 

Digital skills are needed to foster the development of innovative technologies and apply them effectively in the main manufacturing industries.

It is estimated that by 2030 the European labour market will need at least 20 million ICT experts while only 9 million are available today (Eu Commission’s DESI 2022 Reports).

The course on digital skills, which are crucial nowadays to face the rapid progress of technology and communication tools, is intended to meet the fast-growing demand of IT professionals by digital businesses in Puglia and across the regional cooperation area (Italy, Albania and Montenegro).

With the digital market applied to the agri-food supply chain steadily growing, global agritech turnover is expected to reach $15 billion, although business up-take remains limited. The main challenges include lack of expertise and difficulties in finding professionals to support business design and digitalisation processes.

Many applications were received to attend the advanced training course and thirty young graduates from different fields (Economics, IT, Agrifood) were selected: 19 from Albania, 2 from Montenegro and 9 from Puglia and Molise.  In-person training will be delivered at CIHEAM Bari’s office in Tricase Porto. Moreover, 20 companies will host the trainees to develop innovative solutions based on their business needs, using an open innovation approach.

This initiative seeks to be a model for launching Puglia as an international HUB on digital training applied to the green and blue economy and other priority sectors for the region and the countries in which CIHEAM Bari is active.

The kick-off event will be attended by Maurizio Raeli, director of CIHEAM Bari, Alessandro Delli Noci and Sebastiano Leo, councillor for economic development and councillor for training and labour policies of Puglia Region, respectively, Antonio De Donno, mayor of Tricase, Salvatore Latronico, president of Puglia Information Technology Productive District, and Angelo Corallo, president of DiTech. Damiano Petruzzella from CIHEAM Bari will moderate the meeting.

Download the agenda of the event.