The role of digitalization in public education

In the framework of its InnoDay conference series, T-Systems Hungary organized a panel discussion, titled „Digital transformation in public, vocational and adult education”, at Corvinus University Budapest, on May 06. The event was attended by numerous experts of education and IT, as well as Deputy State Secretary for Vocational and Adult Education, László Odrobina and His Excellency, the Ambassador of Finland, Pasi Tuominen.

The main purpose of the panel discussion was to review the strategic documents supporting the digitalization of public education (EU Digital Agenda, National ICT Strategy and Digital Nation Development Program) and to introduce international best practices that may be adopted as models to follow in Hungary.

The discussion addressed the benefits of establishing the European Digital Single Market, including affordable access to training materials by the public. The participants agreed that the issue must be handled as a priority by member states, too, for Europe to be able to catch up with North America and certain Asian countries in terms of digital markets. Participants of the panel also addressed the problems of defining digital skills, as well as the need to familiarize pupils with information technology in a practice-driven manner. It was mentioned that the European Union expects Hungary to increase the number of college and university graduates and to decrease the number of early dropouts. In the achievement of these two objectives, the rollout of digitalized public education and training to a wide range of the public may play a strategic role.

As Pasi Tuominen explained, Finland has always striven to assume a pioneering role in digitalization, as new technologies promote businesses with high added value, thus improve the country’s competitiveness. He also highlighted that robotics, BIG DATA and 3D printing in particular are enablers of business model renewal, thus should be in the focus of the EU’s industrial policy.

Regarding vocational training issues, Deputy State Secretary for Vocational and Adult Education of the Ministry for National Economy, László Odrobina highlighted that „We are living the era of whole professions becoming digital, which makes it especially important that the competences needed for the jobs of the future be acquired by pupils while they are still in school.” He added that it must be examined what policy makers and the IT sector can jointly do to develop the digital infrastructure available at schools.

„Digitalization is not the ultimate goal of education, but the vehicle that can take Hungarian public education to new destinations”, remarked T-Systems Hungary’s Strategic Presales Director, Szilárd Gombos. He added that „Digital competencies are the key to future jobs, thus digitalization is not solely important in the context of education or technologies, but it has a great impact on the labor market and even our competitiveness.”