Intel Joins EU Deep Tech Talent Initiative

By Hendrik Bourgeois, Vice President European Government Affairs  

What’s new: 

Today, Intel is excited to announce that it is joining the European Institute of Innovation & Technology (EIT)’s pledge to train one million Europeans in fields related to deep tech by 2025. Through our Intel® Digital Readiness Programs, we plan to contribute to the EU's 1 million Deep Tech Talent Goal by educating, upskilling, or reskilling 100k Europeans.   

The pledge stems from the EU Commission ambitious  New European Innovation Agenda, which launched in 2022 to position Europe at the forefront of the new wave of deep tech innovations by attracting and retaining tech talent. Both European Commission Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager, responsible for a Europe Fit for the Digital Age – the umbrella digital policy portfolio, and Mariya Gabriel, Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth are promoting the agenda.  

Why it matters: 

Attracting and training new talent is a critical part of our IDM 2.0 strategy, which will bring our most advanced technology to Europe to create a next-generation European chip ecosystem,  shaping Europe’s digital future for decades to come. But investments in buildings and technologies mean very little if there is not enough skilled talent to fill the jobs needed to execute these plans. Without quick action, the ongoing shortage of technical skills will hold back Europe’s plan for increased digital supply chains on the continent. Initiatives such as the 1 million Deep Tech Talent will help boost digital readiness, future-proof EMEA’s workforce, and encourage people from different backgrounds to consider a career in the field. 

Intel’s CSR RISE 2030 commitment to democratize access to Artificial Intelligence (AI) by enabling AI training for 30M people with 30k institutions in 30 countries has the potential to support the European Commission’s ambitious goal.  

What are we doing: 

We commit to support the EIT Deep Tech Talent Initiative pledge by: 

• Offering the Intel® Digital Readiness Programs to enable the training of at least 100.000 individuals between 2023 and 2025 within EU Member States and Horizon Europe Associated countries. This will primarily be achieved through our network of government, academia, and civil society organizations. Additional countries, as agreed by Intel and EIT, are also able to benefit. 
• Offering the Intel® Digital Readiness Program’s train-the-trainer capacity building, which includes the provision of content, training of AI lead coaches, assistance with pilot implementation when a program first launches in a country and providing localized contents when available. 

The Digital Readiness program encompasses skills, trust, and responsible use of deep tech like AI for broader socioeconomic benefits for all people. This shared value and shared responsibility program portfolio aims to demystify and democratize deep tech like AI for broad, diverse, and non-technical audiences, irrespective of their location, gender, and ethnicity.  

Who’s joining us: 

The first signatories reflect a diversity of organizations joining the Deep Tech Talent Initiative: a combination of training providers, financial backers, enterprises, and non-profit and public sector partners who will work together to equip learners with cutting edge tech knowledge and the savvy to bring that knowledge to the market. 

Alongside Intel, Abodoo, Generation, JA Europe, Tampere University of Applied Sciences and Technical University of Cluj-Napoca will join the EIT’s Deep Tech Talent Initiative. Together we will contribute to the development of trainings that will fast-track the careers of the next generation of technologists in Europe.