The Consell has approved a collaboration agreement between the Presidency of the Generalitat and the Graduate School and Network of Artificial Intelligence Research Centres-Foundation of the Valencian Community (ValgrAI) to carry out courses to reduce the digital divide and train citizens in artificial intelligence.
The aim of the agreement is the development and delivery of training activities and itineraries focused on the development of citizens in digital matters, with the focus on artificial intelligence and its uniform implementation among the population as an important digital competence. To this end, the Presidency will allocate 3,998,042 euros.
For the Generalitat, digital transformation is essential for sustainable development and competitiveness in the global economy. However, small and rural populations often do not have access to specialised training in emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence. This agreement seeks to address this disparity by providing resources and training to enable these citizens to actively participate in the digital economy.
The actions covered by this agreement will aim to improve the digital skills of the population living in areas with special demographic difficulties, considering the priority nature of professional qualification as an instrument to promote economic activity, boost productive renewal and promote social innovation and the transformation of the territories most affected by economic transformation and demographic changes known in recent decades.
With this objective, the actions will be developed as a priority in localities with a lower concentration of population, specifically municipalities with less than 20,000 inhabitants; and will be aimed in particular at specific population groups such as the over 65s, women, children and young people.
The training programmes should have a minimum duration of 7.5 hours and should be focused on the acquisition of basic digital skills by citizens, so that they can operate with confidence and security when communicating, getting information or making transactions, such as shopping, interacting and interacting with public administrations, as well as solving simple problems in the digital environment.
The ValgrAI Foundation aims to play a coordinating role between public universities and other relevant sectors in training, research, dissemination and technology transfer activities on artificial intelligence, creating a seal of quality within the Valencian university system and with the aim of positioning itself at the forefront of international research and postgraduate study.
For its part, the Generalitat has made a firm commitment to the transformation of the region’s economic model, with a vision that encompasses the short, medium and long term, and a focus on the promotion of projects to reduce the digital divide, in collaboration with organisations and bodies with competence in the development of the digital society and other technological projects.
