BRUSSELS, March 13, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

European e-Skills Week 2012 Campaign - backed by the European Commission - has launched its official website - eskills-week.ec.europa.eu. The motto of this year's campaign being: e-Skills: there is a job waiting for you.

The European e-Skills Week is promoted by DG Enterprise and Industry in the context of the European Commission Communication on 'e-Skills for the 21^st Century', and complements other Europe 2020 flagship activities including the 'Digital Agenda for Europe' and 'An agenda for new skills and jobs' which are addressing the mismatch between education system and labour market by improving the employability of young people in Europe.

The European e-Skills Opening Event takes place in Brussels on 19 March. The Closing Event takes place on 30 March in Copenhagen. And, hundreds of events will take place during e-Skills Week and to May 2012. Information on the different events, career and training opportunities in each participating country, plus chances to meet the stakeholders from industry and education who have joined the campaign is on the website.

The e-Skills Week Project Passion competition provides an exciting opportunity for young people to create their own awareness campaigns about the value and importance of e-Skills to improve chances of getting a job. Project Passion is open to people between the ages of 16-26. Entrants must create an original, quirky, innovative communication that demonstrates how e-Skills can help young people get a job, fuel innovation, or drive creativity. Thousands of euros in prizes,plus an assortment of digital goodies are up for grabs including: Xbox/Kinect, Nokia Lumia, and paid internships/ shadowing opportunities in global companies to kick-start careers.

Entries will be judged by: Jean Marie Dru, Chairman TBWA Worldwide, Philippe Cayla, President of Euronews Development, EURONEWS, Pekka Isosomppi, Director, Corporate Relations and Responsibility Nokia, Sylvie Laffarge, Director Corporate Citizenship & Public Affairs, Microsoft Europe. Nils Fondstad, Associate Director at eLab, INSEAD, Professor Jean-Pierre Beaudoin, Associate Professor, Celsa, Sorbonne, and Dr Shakuntala Banaji, Lecturer, London School of Economics. 

The Project Passion entry deadline has been extended to 30 June 2012. Help others discover how they can get e-Skills. Enter here.

e-Skills Week is delivered by DIGITALEUROPE, the industry association representing the European Digital Economy, European Schoolnet, a network of National Ministries of Education together with partners across Europe. Find out more about e-Skills Week here.

SOURCE DIGITALEUROPE