9Since 2014. The European Commission has been monitoring the progress of European Union member states in terms of digitization. The result is the "Digital Economy and Society Index"(DESI), published annually. It indicates the areas that national authorities should prioritize in planning digital policies. One of the four components of the index is human capital. Its characteristics and potential are shown in the latest DESI 2021 report.

In the DESI 2021 ranking, Poland ranked 24th out of 27 countries included in the ranking. Only Greece, Bulgaria and Romania are ranked lower. This is a drop of one position compared to the previous year. The report emphasizes that Poland has made progress in many of the areas studied. However, in other countries these changes were even more far-reaching, resulting in a lower ranking.

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Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) ranking for 2021.

(scale of 0-100)

Source: European Commission, DESI 2021 Poland

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Human capital - Poland versus other EU member states

According to DESI 2021, Polish society was among 11 others that scored lower than the EU average of 47.1 (out of 100) in terms of human capital. Poland ranked 24th with a score of 37.7. Italy, Romania and Bulgaria fared worse.

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The undisputed leader in this regard, however, is Finland, which ranked No. 1 with a score of 71.1, followed by Sweden (64.6) in 2nd place, and the Netherlands (61.5) and Denmark (61.2) in 3rd and 4th place, with almost identical scores.

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The human capital index in DESI reports is updated every two years. It is determined by seven criteria. The first three characterize the prevalence and sophistication of digital literacy among the population. While the next four describe the saturation of a country's labor market with information and communications technology (ICT) specialists and how many are being trained.

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DESI - Poland and the European Union average 2016-2021

(scale of 0-100)

Source: European Commission, DESI 2021 Poland

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Digital and IT skills of Poles

The term "digital skills" is used by DESI developers to describe competencies that enable people to use the Internet to obtain information and communicate, as well as to use other basic digital tools (such as word processing).

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According to the latest data, 44 percent of the Polish population has such skills at the basic level, down 2 p.p. from the previous survey. This is also well below the average for member states, which is 56 percent. Above-basic digital skills are possessed by 21 percent of people in Poland, 31 percent in Europe.

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It is worth noting at this point that in March 2021. The European Commission has adopted a new development strategy in the socio-economic sphere - Digital Compass 2030, which sets out the main directions for Europe's digital transformation.

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In terms of basic digital skills, the European Union's goal for 2030 is for a minimum of 80 percent of the population to have them. However, this will be an extremely difficult task, given that the community as a whole saw an annual increase of only 0.9 p.p. in the 2015-2019 period. (from 54 to 56 percent), and even declined in Poland and other countries.

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By "digital literacy," in the context of the report at hand, we mean more advanced use of computer programs (e.g., creating presentations, using spreadsheets) and basic knowledge of programming.

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The DESI 2021 report shows that 46 percent of the Polish population has such basic competencies. Compared to the previous survey, this is a 3 p.p. decrease. Across the European Union, the average is 58 percent.

Perspective on change

The report's creators predict that the COVID-19 pandemic will have a positive impact on the prevalence of digital skills. The shift to remote learning has forced students, their families and teachers to use new tools and thus improve their competence in this area. A similar effect may occur with the spread of remote work.

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Institutional support for nationwide improvement was provided by the 2014-2020 Digital Poland Operational Program, which was co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund. For students, the European Week of Coding, which took place in October 2021, was also an important event. It was attended by 623,000 people, the most of any country in the European Union.

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The effects of all these activities will probably already be visible in the DESI 2022 report.

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Human capital - Poland and the European Union average 2016-2021

(scale of 0-100)

Source: European Commission, DESI 2021 Poland

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ICT specialists and their training

There is still a shortage of ICT specialists in Poland, as well as across the European Union. A total of 8.4 million people work as ICT specialists in all member states, including 1.9 million in Germany and 1.2 million in France. According to the Digital Compass, there should be 20 million of them by 2030.

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Currently, ICT specialists account for 3.4 percent of all employed people in Poland aged 15-74. Of these, 15 percent are women. The EU average is 4.3 percent of the workforce, with 19 percent women. The highest percentage of female ICT specialists is currently recorded in Bulgaria, where they hold almost ⅓ of the positions in this area.

Higher education

In terms of the share of ICT students among graduates, Poland (3.8 percent) ranks 19th and matches almost the average of all member countries (3.9 percent). In contrast, Estonia (8 percent), Ireland (7.8 percent) and Finland (7.4 percent) have the highest results.

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The situation in Poland should be improved by the implementation of the Academy for Innovative Applications of Digital Technologies (AI Tech) project, which started in 2020. It involves a consortium of five universities(Gdansk University of Technology, Poznan University of Technology, Wroclaw University of Technology, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan, Warsaw University) in partnership with the Prime Minister's Office.

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The project's premise is to develop a model for training high-level specialists in artificial intelligence, machine learning and cybersecurity, to be later implemented at other Polish universities as well.

Retraining of employees

The final element that makes up the overall human capital assessment in the DESI 2021 report is the percentage of companies that provide their employees with ICT training. Poland ranks 16th in this regard with a score of 18 percent, with the EU average at 20 percent. The undisputed leader of the European Union is Finland, where as much as 38 percent of companies retrain their employees. Belgium, Sweden and Denmark also score above 30 percent.