A group specializing in education in the digital era has teamed up with Spain’s Escuela de Organización Industrial (EOI) to offer master’s programs related to digital transformation free of charge to specially qualified groups in Catalunya and Andalucía.
The initiative comes at a time when Spain is experiencing challenges with employability and education.
According to the National Institute of Statistics, which collects data on demography, economy, and society, Spain is among the countries with the highest percentage of unemployed women, with 41.3% of women experiencing a prolonged period of unemployment in 2022. This compared to 38.9% on average across the European Union.
What’s more, Spain’s teaching federation, Federación de Enseñanza de CC.OO (FE-CC.OO), reports that the country has some of the highest costs for master’s programs in Europe.
DIGITALENT, a group of business schools and venture accelerator programs focused on fomenting education in the digital age, and which includes Spain’s first digital-first business school ISDI and its accelerator program IMPACT Accelerator, have teamed up with EOI, which is part of the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, to provide continuing education to Spaniards in key demographic sectors.
According to DIGITALENT’s CEO Nacho de Pinedo, through its partnership with EOI, the educational group aims to “offer top-level educational programs to the most promising minds in Catalunya and Andalucía; helping them boost their professional growth and contributing to the strengthening of Spain as a key technological ecosystem in Europe.”
DIGITALENT will offer two types of programs in different regions of the country.
Promoting education for unemployed people in Catalunya
In an effort to foster digitalization of industry in Spain, and in line with the country’s Spain Digital Agenda 2025, the first program from DIGITALENT and EOI in Catalunya will offer free master’s programs to young people up to 35 years of age who work at small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), as well as unemployed young people who wish to join the labor market as proponents of digital transformation — so-called “Agents of Change.”
According to a release from DIGITALENT, special priority will be given to women and young people who are out of work.
The goal is to educate these young people to provide them with the necessary knowledge and skills to integrate into the labor market as agents of digital transformation. The group said that more than 1,000 “Change Agents” will be trained, in classes of 40 people per program in Catalunya.
Students will learn about business and strategic management, innovation, developing client processes, technology and skills useful in the age of digital transformation as well as other important soft skills for business.
Interested Catalans can apply by visiting DIGITALENT’s website, or by visiting EOI’s web page for Generación Digital, and selecting the corresponding DIGITALENT program in their region.
The EOI website also offers a number of different continuing education opportunities across Spain from other educational institutions.
Furthering the digital education of small business leaders in Catalunya and Andalucía
DIGITALENT’s second master’s program with EOI focuses on supporting the growth and development of digital transformation skills for business leaders at SMEs across Catalunya and Andalucía.
Its so-called “Directivos PYMES” (SME Managers) program offers an opportunity for up to two managers from SMEs in the two regions that count anywhere from 10 to 249 employees in their organization to take part in a master’s course, free of charge.
The course aims to increase the manager’s digital skills through a mix of online and in-person education, mentoring and 175 hours of work from the student committed to implementing a digital transformation project at their SME.
According to the group, more than 4,000 executives will be trained, in classes of 50 people per program or edition.
Business managers in Catalunya and Andalucía can apply for the Directivos PYMES program by visiting DIGITALENT’s website, or by visiting EOI’s web page for Generación Digital, and selecting the corresponding DIGITALENT program in their region.
“In Spain, SMEs make up 99.8% of companies. This group contributes 62% of the Gross Added Value and 66% of total business employment to our country. But this network of national SMEs is comparatively less efficient than that of neighboring countries. This is due to a matter of size (they are very small) and productivity (they do not have the technology or digital knowledge to develop it). That is why it is critical for our country that this sector finally begins its digital transformation on a large scale,” said Pinedo, DIGITALENT’s CEO.
DIGITALENT’s EOI-related programs are all completely free to qualified students thanks to financing from NextGenerationEU, funds allocated by the EU to promote business growth after the pandemic.
