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On April 13, Sofia Investment Agency organized a conference dedicated to the benefits and opportunities for the Bulgarian business in implementing a Digital Single Market. Many issues were discussed during the conference, such as the challenges in providing experts prepared to work in a high-tech environment, and the future EC policies and regulations in terms of digital technologies and society. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The \u201cBusiness Sofia 2018 – Digital Horizons\u201d conference gathered the top 100 Sofia companies. Special guests of the event were the EU Commissioner on Digital Economy and Digital Society Mariya Gabriel, the Mayor of Sofia Yordanka Fandakova, the MEP Andrey Novakov, the Labor and Social Policy Minister Biser Petkov and the General Manager of Hewlett Packard Bulgaria \u00a0Iravan Hira. Moderator of the discussions was Vladimir Danailov, CEO of Sofia Investment Agency.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n EU Commissioner Mariya Gabriel revealed the main clauses that <\/span>will be included <\/span>in the next bill of the European Parliament. The new bill <\/span>is expected<\/span> to be officially announced on April 25.<\/span><\/p>\n Here are the strategies and proposals that the European Commission will introduce:<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Artificial Intelligence (AI)<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n A proposal will be made to create a <\/span>European Artificial Intelligence Alliance<\/b>, to be set up in June 2018. The Alliance will enable institutions, civil society and business to identify good practices and to determine future steps together. The experts will be selected through a public procedure and the Alliance<\/span> is expected to be<\/span> operational as of September. According to the EU Commissioner Mariya Gabriel, the AI strategy is important because Europe continues to be the global leader in terms of robotics and has to keep its position. \u201c<\/span>It is important to address issues that are related not only to technological capacity but also to topics that directly affect the business, the labor market and the citizens. That is why our strategy will focus on boosting Europe\u2019s technological capabilities, but we will also raise ethical issues such as what is the responsibility and who has the rights\u201d<\/span><\/i>, the EU Commissioner on Digital Economy and Digital Society said.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Digital skills and labor market<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n As of June 2018, a new European Commission pilot project will be launched that will enable between 5 000 and 6 000 students to benefit from <\/span>cross-border internships of 4 to 5 months in the field of modern technologies<\/b>. The aim of the project is to make a direct connection between companies and students, as well as to fastly gather information related to the shortage of skills and types of labor in different sectors on the back of the companies\u2019 applications for participation. The project budget is only EUR 10 million, but it will be able to cover the said number of students with a paid internship.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n If successful, the pilot project will turn into a regular practice and one of the possible tools to cope with the rapid impact that AI has on the labor market. EC data are very alarming. Only one in six companies in Europe is digitized; more than 40% of the companies say they have the opportunity to open jobs but cannot find suitable staff; only 37% of Europe\u2019s population has basic digital skills and over 90% of jobs after 2020 will require digital skills. \u201c<\/span>Therefore, it is very important to find more tools that will enable investment in people, digital skills and digital literacy\u201d<\/span><\/i>, Mariya Gabriel said and urged the business to be active and to join the program that already has more than 150 applications from companies, as well as to enter into dialogue with the team of the relevant European office and to share issues, concerns, ideas and criticisms so that the EC could establish business-friendly practices within the Digital Single Market.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The cross-border staff training project has its own website <\/a>where you can find information and contact the team.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Questions and answers for companies willing to join the initiative are available here<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n For students, you can check here<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n