3.2.3 | European Edtech Map

EUROPEAN EDTECH POLICY MAP

Integrate EdTech into broader digital and innovation policies

Promote cross-ministerial coordination

Promote cross-country knowledge exchange on evidence building

Pair infrastructure investments with training and support

Train all education stakeholders in identifying their digitalisation needs

Develop occupational profiles mapping skills needs

3.2. Skills and knowledge for selection and adoption

3.2.3 Develop occupational profiles mapping skills needs

Summary of suggested actions

Identify and map the core skills required across all stakeholder groups, educators, EdTech developers, institutional leaders, decision-makers, and policymakers, to ensure the meaningful, ethical, and effective adoption of educational technologies.

Description

A coherent digital education ecosystem requires clarity on the competences and responsibilities of all actors involved in designing, selecting, implementing, and governing EdTech. At present, job profiles and professional development pathways across education systems rarely specify the digital, pedagogical, and ethical skills necessary to support intentional technology adoption. This results in uneven capacity and fragmented accountability across levels of governance and practice.
By systematically mapping job profiles and linking them to specific skill sets, institutions and ministries can establish shared expectations for digital competence.
Aligning job profiles with relevant training frameworks and recruitment processes will enable more targeted capacity building and support workforce readiness for emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence and data-driven systems. Regular updates to these mappings should ensure their continued relevance in light of new technologies, evolving pedagogical models, and European policy priorities such as those defined under the Digital Education Action Plan (2021–2027).

Major enabling factors

Well-established frameworks such as DigCompEdu, DigCompOrg, eLeadership Skills Framework, and AI Competence Framework for Citizens (JRC, 2022) already provide recognised baselines for digital and AI-related competences.
The Digital Education Action Plan, Digital Europe Programme, and Erasmus+ Teacher Academies provide structural and financial mechanisms for competence development and workforce digitalisation.
European frameworks such as ESCO (European Skills, Competences, Qualifications and Occupations) offer an established structure for embedding new digital and EdTech-related roles.
The increasing demand for data specialists, instructional designers, digital learning coordinators, and AI literacy experts supports the development of clearly defined job profiles in education.

Major roadblocks

Responsibilities for digitalisation are often unclear across ministries, agencies, and institutions, leading to duplication or omission of essential functions.
National qualification systems and teacher career structures do not yet systematically reflect digital or AI competences.
The pace of innovation in AI, data systems, and digital content makes static competence frameworks quickly outdated.
Most digital training programmes target teachers rather than institutional leaders, policymakers, or administrative personnel.
Defining competences for AI and data management requires interdisciplinary expertise that many education systems have yet to build.
While tools like DigCompEdu and SELFIE exist, they are often underused or insufficiently adapted to non-teaching roles such as policy, procurement, or governance.

Suggested action: Empower schools in defining their digitalisation needs holistically

WHO (Potential actors)

European Commission, Commissioner for Social Rights and Skills, Quality Jobs and Preparedness, DG EMPL

WHAT (Goal of suggested activities)

Align job profiles with related necessary action areas and the relevant skills needed to implement them.

HOW (Suggested activities)

Offer a way for providers of skills training and acquisition systems to present their tools and services and allow stakeholders to view these offers.

Existing steps in the right direction

UNESCO Job board for data governance and management in the education sector

The Broadband Commission’s Data for Learning Group, chaired by UNESCO, developed a structured approach for identifying the skills required for effective data governance across education ecosystems. The initiative categorises job profiles for data governance at macro (national ministries), meso (municipal and procurement authorities), and micro (schools and institutions) levels. Each profile outlines related functions, activities, and tasks alongside the competences needed to perform them, particularly in the context of managing education data responsibly.
This model demonstrates how a clear mapping of job profiles and associated competences can enhance system-level understanding of roles in digital transformation. It directly supports intentional EdTech adoption by defining who is responsible for data management, ethical oversight, and digital decision-making

Specific support required to achieve the Goal:

Adapt this model for broader use across the EdTech ecosystem, expanding beyond data governance to include roles in AI oversight, instructional design, EdTech procurement, and teacher professional development. The European Commission and Member States could jointly maintain a European Skills Map for Digital Education Roles under the Digital Education Hub, with periodic reviews to reflect technological and policy developments.

European Skills, Competences, Qualifications and Occupations (ESCO) Framework

ESCO, maintained by the European Commission, provides a multilingual classification system describing skills and competences linked to occupations across the European labour market. It includes roles such as “instructional designer,” “education policy officer,” and “ICT coordinator,” each associated with relevant digital competences. ESCO offers a foundational taxonomy that can be expanded to reflect emerging EdTech and AI-related roles within the education sector. Integrating education-specific competences from DigCompEdu and AI Competence Frameworks into ESCO would standardise expectations across Member States and training systems.

Specific support required to achieve the Goal:

Develop a targeted EdTech occupation cluster within ESCO, harmonising digital education roles with labour market demand. This would support consistent job descriptions, qualification alignment, and the design of training and certification pathways for education professionals and EdTech specialists.

AI and Data Literacy Framework for Public Sector (European Commission)

The European Commission has begun defining AI and data literacy competences for public sector professionals, establishing a structured framework of knowledge areas, skills, and ethical principles. It emphasises critical understanding of AI systems, accountability, and responsible data management.

Specific support required to achieve the Goal:

Adapt the AI literacy framework to the education sector, ensuring coherence with DigCompEdu and data governance standards. Fund national adaptation projects and cross-sector peer-learning initiatives to operationalise AI-related job profiles for ministries, schools, and EdTech intermediaries.