02 DEC 2025
Event
Virtual event

Skills and jobs: How SMEs go digital

The 25 million small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the European Union drive growth, innovation and employment and play a key role in digitalisation. By leveraging digital technology, SMEs can improve operations, expand their market reach and contribute to innovative solutions to pressing challenges such as fighting climate change and increasing social cohesion.

In this virtual get together, Cedefop and Eurofound, EU agencies which both celebrate their 50th anniversary in 2025, teamed up to present new joint work on digitalisation policies and to explore how digital SMEs in Europe are today. Live from Dublin and Thessaloniki, the two EU agencies presented the key challenges and barriers SMEs face in becoming more digital and review digitalisation and digital skills support measures. The links between digitalisation and job quality in SMEs were assessed by looking at how digital tools and algorithmic management practices affect work organisations and working conditions.

This virtual get-together was open to policy makers, social partners and sectoral representatives, SME representation organisations, VET providers and institutions, representatives from national, regional, and local authorities, and labour market, education and training, and skills experts.

The presentation of Cedefop/ Eurofound is available in the Downloads section below.

Video recording

The video recording of the event can be watched from here.
(By following the link, the YouTube privacy policy and cookies will apply)

Programme

14:00 - 14:15Welcome and introductionJuergen Siebel (Cedefop Executive Director) and Ivailo Kalfin (Eurofound Executive Director)
14:15 - 14:40How SMEs go digitalJasper van Loo (Department coordinator at Cedefop) and Franz Eiffe (Research manager at Eurofound)
14:40 - 15:15Panel conversation

Moderated by Jasper van Loo

Valentina Guerra (Policy Director at SMEUnited)

Ants Sild (Lecturer-Consultant BCS Digital skills academy, Estonia)

Thomas Oberholzner (Director of KMU Forschung, Austria)

Dr. Mairéad Nic Giolla Mhichíl  (co-ordinator of the DigiAdvance Project)

15:15 – 15:30Policy pointers and take-awaysSara Riso (Senior research manager at Eurofound) and Jasper van Loo

 

 

Speakers

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Jürgen Siebel
Executive Director, Cedefop

Jürgen Siebel joined Cedefop from the private sector in September 2019. As Executive Director, he is responsible for managing the Agency’s operations in accordance with the strategic direction of its tripartite Management Board.

With his management team and all staff, Jürgen has led Cedefop to strengthen its position as a go-to ally for the EU institutions, social partners, researchers and practitioners when it comes to analysing the impacts of megatrends on the labour market, on skills, and on training ecosystems – and on how vocational education and training enables a fair digital and green transition.

Jürgen has a background in human-resources management with particular emphasis on learning and education, earned his MSc in economics at the University of Hamburg, and his PhD in business administration from the University of Vienna. 

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Ivailo Kalfin

Ivailo Kalfin joined Eurofound as Executive Director on 1 June 2021. Mr Kalfin’s expertise covers a range of areas, from the dynamics of the labour market and social policy to global political trends, the EU and budget, as well as digital transformation. 

He has outlined five main priorities for his role at Eurofound: supporting the mainstreaming of Europe's green and digital transitions; complementing the implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan with evidence-based research; increased cooperation with international organisations and external partners and greater outreach to European Neighbourhood Policy countries; support for enhancing and expanding the capacity of social partners within the remit of the Agency; raising Eurofound's profile among key stakeholders.

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Franz Ferdinand Eiffe

Franz Eiffe is a research manager in the Working Life unit at Eurofound. He is involved in projects on sustainable work, quantitative analyses and upward convergence in the EU, as well as in the preparation of the fourth European Company Survey. 

Before joining Eurofound in 2016, he was Head of Unit ‘Analysis’ at Statistics Austria in Vienna and project leader of ‘How is Austria? Measuring wealth and progress beyond GDP’. He holds a PhD in Economics from Vienna University of Economics (WU), where he also worked as research associate from 2005 to 2009 and lecturer until 2016.

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Valentina Guerra

Valentina Guerra is Director of SMEunited Social Affairs and Training departments since June 2023. She is responsible for the daily management of the departments and oversees a variety of policy files including EU labour law, social protection, migration, occupational health and safety, equality and training policy.

She is also responsible for SMEunited participation in European social dialogue.

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Mairéad Nic Giolla Mhichíl

Dr. Mairéad Nic Giolla Mhichíl is co-ordinator of the DigiAdvance Project which addresses digital skills gaps in the SME sector through the provision tailored training in key digital technologies for SME owners, managers and employees and is funded under the Digital Europe Programme of HaDEA, European Commission. 

Mairéad is director of Micro-Credential Strategy and Innovation and Head of DCU Studio, an innovation and digital transformation unit in Dublin City University in Ireland. She is a recognised policy and implementation expert in these domains and leads out on Micro-Credentials for the ECIU University Alliance and she is a member of the National Steering Committee of the MicroCreds initiative in Ireland.

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Thomas Oberholzner

Thomas Oberholzner is an economist and Director of the Austrian Institute for SME Research, a non-university research centre based in Vienna. He has over 30 years of experience analysing the situation and development of the SME sector in Europe and Austria. 

His research covers topics including entrepreneurship, business innovation, competitiveness, skills needs and the evaluation of related policy measures and strategies. In this context, Thomas also advises policy institutions on the design and implementation of policies in the fields of SMEs and the business sector. 

 

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Sara Riso

Sara Riso joined Eurofound in 2006 in a research role and is currently Senior Research Manager in the Working Life Unit. Her work focuses on research projects examining digitalisation and its impact on work organisation and working conditions.

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Ants Sild

Ants Sild is a consultant and lecturer on digital skills development and National Skills Frameworks, and educational strategies. He serves as Chairman of the Board of BCS Digital Skills Academy (BCS Koolitus AS), the leading Estonian Digital Skills Training company, also the Official Awarding Body of Occupational Qualifications in IT in Estonia dsa.bcskoolitus.ee

Ants has a Master’s degree and holds a PhD in Electrical Engineering.

 

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Jasper Van Loo
Coordinator, Department for VET and skills, Cedefop

Jasper Van Loo is coordinator of Cedefop’s department for VET and Skills.

He currently coordinates the labour market and skills analysis work of the agency. He is also part of the team investigating EU skills trends using online job vacancies.

He has a master degree in quantitative and general economics and holds a Ph.d. in social sciences.

Event details

Event Date(s)
02/12/2025
Event Type
Virtual event
City
Virtual event
Event venue
Virtual event
Participation
Open event
Cedefop involvement
Co-organiser

Downloads

How SMEs go digital - Cedefop and Eurofound presentation

EN

Privacy statement

EN

Cedefop events code of conduct

EN

Contacts

Contact
Jasper Van Loo
Send a message to Jasper Van Loo
Contact
Christina Karkanti
Assistant
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