Webinar: Human-centric development of digital & AI skills

A webinar hosted by Catalonia (Spain) was held on July 9th, 2026 on behalf of the Community of Practice for Industrial Modernization and AI ? Human-Centric Digital & AI Transformation. The session, which drew approximately 50 participants, highlighted the key essense of human-centric development of digital & AI skills, drawing on case studies from Catalonia, Western Greece, Hiroshima Prefecture (Japan), and Sisak Mosalvina (Croatia) as well as cross-regional expert panel insights. There was a consensus that skill development should be available to both students and working professionals. This could only be possible by ensuring broad, lifelong access to digital and AI skills which requires collaboration among public institutions, educators, businesses, and civil society. Another shared view was AI should be used to enhance human capabilities rather than replace human judgment which should be used with the ultimate aim of empowering individuals and driving innovation that benefits everyone.

La reunión comenzó con las palabras de apertura de Meritxell Bassolas, Head of Innovation Unit, CVC-UAB (Catalonia) y Hidefumi Imura, Coordinador de país para Japón, IURC. Professor Hidefumi Kimura, country coordinator for Japan within the IURC, provided welcoming remarks, emphasizing that the success of digital and AI transformation depends not only on technology but on people, their skills, and their capacity to adapt. He stressed the importance of developing hybrid professionals who understand both technology and business needs, and called for practical discussion on how regions can design effective support systems.

A keynote speech by Meritxell Bassolas showed that the key to success in AI skills development is a combination of training and a structured mechanism for applying those skills.

Established in 2023, Catalonia?s AI innovation network integrates 25 institutions and over 77 research groups to enhance regional competitiveness, societal advancement, and talent retention. The initiative accelerates technology transfer by equipping research entities with market validation methodologies, technical training, and strategic business development resources. This infrastructure supports a specialized AI accelerator program designed to transition technical concepts into commercially viable enterprises, preparing participants for engagement at premier global venues such as the Mobile World Congress. To date, the network has successfully trained 40 professionals in advanced AI competencies, upskilled more than 70 individuals in leadership capacities, generated over 180 proprietary technologies, and facilitated the launch of 4 spin-off corporations. Consequently, the network functions as a strategic AI Hub, effectively positioning regional intellectual capital and talent for international market integration.

Case Study 1: Panagiotis Aivaliotis, Executive Director of the Teaching Factory Competence Center (TF-CC) Western Greece, works with the University of Patras and the industrial sector to support the adoption of AI and advanced technologies in manufacturing.

The center’s four technological areas are: digital production and digital automation; advanced manufacturing processes; mixed reality and sensing; and industrial IoT platforms and communications. Its training model is hybrid, combining theoretical instruction with hands-on training. To date, more than 250 engineers have been trained at the center, with training materials certified by TÜV Nord. The center’s mechanism follows a sequential approach: familiarization with technologies, training on industry-driven applications, co-design of technical services with industry, and deployment of specific industrial applications. Example outputs include operator awareness systems using safety radars and AI cameras for pedestrian detection, ergonomics analysis using smart sensors and AI, tailor-made safety scenarios using virtual reality, and collaborative robotics training covering human-robot interaction, workplace design, and perception skills.

Case study 2: In Japan, Yasutaka Tarui, Deputy Director, Innovation Promotion Team, Bureau of Commerce, Industry and Labor, Hiroshima Prefecture is rolling out three key initiatives: the Hiroshima Ai Club to train high school students, the Hiroshima Ai Sandbox to connect companies with Ai developers, and the HIroshima Ai Lab to promote research in Ai.

Hiroshima AI Club is an extracurricular program for high school students run through industry?academia?government collaboration, where young company employees serve as AI coaches by providing on-demand courses, company visits, workshops, and coaching. Each fiscal year ends with the ?Hiroshima AI Pitch,? a competition for ideas to address social issues. The program has reached 50 schools and 500 participants, with 80% of students reporting improved AI knowledge and skills, and it is complemented by the Hiroshima DX Human Resource Development Scholarship, which helps promote local employment?69% of recipients find jobs within the prefecture.

The Hiroshima AI Sandbox is a platform that links companies and local governments facing social challenges with AI developers. Selected projects receive subsidies covering half of development costs (up to 100 million yen), and the program has produced strong results, with 251 matches in its first term and 195 in its second. One notable success is an AI system that automatically responds using the voices of families of dementia patients, easing the burden on both patients and their families.

The Hiroshima AI Lab is located within the prefectural office, brings together prefectural employees and outside experts to research how AI can help solve regional challenges; early work includes an image-based diagnostic system that aggregates mountain slope data to prioritize inspections in areas at high risk of collapse.

Case Study 3: Marin Gali?, a full stack developer at the DRON-IN Center for Innovation and Artificial Intelligence in Sisak-Moslavina, Croatia, presented the center’s work on drone technology and AI. The project, now in its third year, is primarily funded by the EU and aims to educate future Python and AI developers, drone operators, and drone builders. Core AI capabilities taught include object detection, voice control, gesture control, and smoke/fire detection. They also teach possible applications such as: AI-equipped drones to handle urgent emergencies, focusing on rapid pharmaceutical deliveries to hard-to-reach islands and autonomous smoke and fire detection that alerts Croatian coastal fire stations.

Panel Discussion: Barriers and Success Factors in Developing Digital and AI Skills

The moderated panel discussion was facilitated by Gemma Galvez, Innovation Manager at the AI network in Catalonia. Panelists were Luca Arcangeli, Project Manager at an innovative cluster in Emilia-Romagna, Italy, y Theo Dugros, ITHACA Project Manager in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of France.

Luca Arcangeli noted that Emilia-Romagna hosts approximately 70% of Italy’s high computing power, including one of Europe’s most powerful supercomputers in Bologna. He identified two main barriers to AI adoption for SMEs, which form the core of the regional economy: the “wait and see paradox” (uncertainty about return on investment for generative AI tools) and cultural resistance among workers fearful of job displacement. He emphasized the need for a “third way” ? a human-centric, bottom-up, ecosystem-based approach to AI adoption, contrasting with the top-down competition between the US and China.

Theo Dugros argued that education systems should aim for “AI literacy for everyone,” meaning not making everyone a programmer, but ensuring citizens understand what AI can and cannot do, its biases, and its limitations. He stressed that AI should be seen as a civic competence. He advocated for modular, flexible, and accessible lifelong learning systems that accommodate working adults, including employer incentives, public co-investment, and specific support for at-risk groups such as older workers and lower-wage earners. Looking ahead, he identified judgment, creativity, problem framing, emotional intelligence, adaptability, ethics, and AI fluency (the ability to collaborate with, delegate to, and critically evaluate AI) as the most valuable human skills in an AI-powered future. He also stressed the importance of measuring inclusion and wellbeing as metrics to ensure they are not deprioritized.

Oscar Prat, Business and Academia Support Expert at the IURC, synthesized the discussion around a quadruple helix perspective (governance, business, civil society, and education), emphasizing the importance of application over generation of core technology for middle powers. He highlighted the risk of overcapacity in AI investment, drawing a parallel to the solar panel and automotive industries in China.

In conclusion, Meritxell Bassolas closed the webinar by summarizing the discussions – the ultimate goal is to ensure Ai skills empower individuals, strengthen social inclusion, and foster innovation that benefits everyone.