As the world is moving towards digitalization and most services will be provided through this form, Albanian adults have poor knowledge compared to other European countries. 

Eurostat comparative statistics for all European countries found that, in 2019, only 21 percent of Albanians aged 16 to 74 had basic digital knowledge. This was the lowest percentage among European countries. 

After us comes Bosnia where, 24 percent of the adult population has few digital skills, followed by Kosovo with 28 percent of the adult population, Bulgaria with 29%, and so on. 

At the other end of the graph, comes Iceland with the highest percentage of the population that has digital knowledge, where 85 percent of adults aged 16-74 have known the basics of digitalization. Then comes Norway with 83% of the population with digital knowledge, the Netherlands with 79%, Switzerland with 77%, Finland with 76%, etc. 

The digital literacy indicator in the adult population measures the percentage of the population aged 16 to 74 who have at least basic digital skills in four specific areas (information, communication, problem-solving, and content creation). The indicator is based on the EU survey on the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in households and individuals. 

The EU is implementing a strategy to increase the digital capabilities of the continent's population. Having a skilled workforce and a population with digital knowledge is crucial to European competition. 

Surveys show that almost 42% of European citizens do not have basic digital skills. Of these 37% of people without digital knowledge are part of the workforce. Lack of digital knowledge includes farmers, bank employees, and factory workers. 

Europe also lacks ICT specialists capable of filling the growing number of vacancies in all sectors of the economy. A key issue underpinning this is the need to modernize European education and training systems, which currently do not adequately prepare young people for society's digital economy. 

Hiring expertise in information and communication technologies (ICT) is a challenge for businesses in the European Union (EU), but in Albania, this problem is even more acute. 

During 2018, about 9% of EU companies recruited tried to recruit ICT specialists, but more than half of them reported having problems filling vacancies requiring ICT skills.

(Source: Monitor)