Background information
Funding opportunities for upskilling and reskilling to support the digital competences of individuals and organizations are available in form of loans, grants and financial instruments. For the period 2021 – 2026 most of the activities in digital transformation are financed through Recovery and Resilience facility but also as activities in Horizon, Erasmus+, ESIF and EEA grant schemes. You may find more on the page of Cypriots National Digital Skills and Jobs Coalition.
Recovery and resilience facility
Cyprus’ Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP) has a total value of EUR 1.2 billion of which EUR 282 2 million is dedicated to the digital transition, which is 23% of total RRP allocation. The RRP measures will contribute to the digital transition of Cyprus with an emphasis on education (A new teacher and school evaluation system, including digital skills training for teachers), digital transformation of school units with the goal of enhancing digital skills and skills related to STEM education, as well as digital skills in general (National e-skills Action Plan and measures on Skilling, Reskilling, and Upskilling – digital skills). Regarding Connectivity, the objective is to empower the National Regulatory Authority to improve building cabling to be “Gigabit-ready” in order to encourage connectivity adoption and improve very high capacity networks in underserved areas. There are investments in smart cities, smart and sustainable water management, smart metering infrastructure, and the development of a FinTech regulatory sandbox for the integration of digital technology. Regarding Digital public services, Cyprus is planning a number of reforms and investments in e-government, e-health, Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) utilising Digital Twin technologies, cloud-based platforms, and e-justice.
Reforms in Employment, social protection, education and human resources will be supported by €172.9 from RRF, including €94 million for modernization of the educational system – upgrading and strengthening of skills. Modernization of the educational system will tackle skills mismatch between education (secondary and tertiary) and the labour market, support digital transformation of schools to strengthen digital skills and skills related to STEM education. New system for evaluating the educational work and teachers will be developed and free compulsory preschool education expanded. Investments are planned in technical schools and €15 million are dedicated to training in digital skills and skills related to the blue and green economy, entrepreneurship training for the unemployed and education for people over 55.
Calls for funding from Recovery and Resilience Facility are published on dedicated page of the Funding Programmes Portal.
National Funding
On the Funding programmes portal, managed by Ministry of Finance, different lines of funding are presented, like Competitive EU programmes, Co-financed EU programmes, Recovery and Resilience Plan, National Incentive Schemes and Financial tools.
National Incentive Plans are designed and approved at national level and are financed exclusively from national resources. The aim of these plans is to implement various political priorities of the Government, e.g. boosting employment, promoting tourism, etc. The implementation and management of the projects is done entirely in Cyprus by the relevant Ministries/bodies of the wider public sector.
The e-Gnosis Platform, of the Cyprus Productivity Center publish information about the training, as well as other important news and developments in the field of Vocational Education and Training. The Productivity Center of the Ministry of Labour and Social Insurance, within the framework of the Digital Skills and E-Government Promotion from March 2022 till the end of 2025 organizes free digital skills training programs. Available categories include:
- Digital Skills for people aged 55 and over
- Digital Skills for all
- Managerial Development
- Technical Vocational Training
- Safety and Health
- Europass workshops
- Mediterranean Institute of Management
Different funding options are also available on the Digital Skills and Jobs platform, you may find a listing for Cyprus on this link.
