State Secretary in the Ministry of Trade, Tourism, and Telecommunications Tatjana Matić, said at the beginning of the first meeting of the Working Group for the creation of the Proposal of Strategy of Digital Skills Development, that in the Republic of Serbia there are 51% of people aged between 15 and higher, who are computer illiterate, i.e. that 34.2% of people are computer literate, while 14.8% are partially computer literate.

She has pointed out that development of new technologies dictates the adjustment of traditional jobs and skills to the digital environment, and that the creation of the jobs of the future, which will require digital skills, is probable at the level of Europe and of the world.

Ms Matić, chairing the Working Group, has pointed out that the citizens need digital skills not only for work, but also to use new digital contents such as e-governance, e-commerce, and other, which can make their life easier, and which will be unavailable if they don’t master the digital skills.

“Also, the functional digital illiteracy can expose the citizens, especially children, to abuse of new technologies”, she warned.

The goal of the Proposal of Strategy is to develop digital skills for all the citizens through the increase of computer literacy, increase of computer and the Internet use, introduction of digital skills and competences at all levels of education and training, and raising the competences of teachers.

Members of the Working Group for the creation of the Proposal of Strategy of Digital Skills Development, apart from the representatives of the Ministry of trade, Tourism, and Telecommunications, are the representatives of the Ministry of Education, Science, and Technological Development, Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-Government, Serbian Academy of Science and Arts, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Philology of the University of Belgrade, Mathematical Grammar School of Belgrade, and Petnica Research Station.