Digital Inclusion and Exclusion and Development of Human Resources in European Countries

Abstract

Digital transformation has large effects on people´s lives in European coun-tries. ICT competencies and access to the Internet and new media are key pre-conditions for citizens in these countries and their ability to use e-services every day, and to be successful in a dynamic changing labour mar-ket. The study investigates opportunities for the development of the EU countries in the context of digital transformation. The selected indicators were used to compare EU 27 countries. The basic key performance indicator is GDP per capita. This indicator corresponds very well with the ranking of countries according to the human development index and, surprisingly, In-ternet penetration achieves a similar effect. Next, the correlation of GDP per capita with ISCED 5-8 was higher than the correlation of GDP per capita with the CEDEFOP index, both results can be considered a moderate asso-ciation. Special attention is paid to Germany, Spain, Poland and the Czech Republic and the changes in their position in selected indicators in the con-text of the EU 27. The results show that it is necessary to pay attention not only to citizens who achieve higher education, but also to the group of young people who, for various reasons, do not complete the educational process. Further and more detailed research on digital inclusion is needed.