Digital applications in youth employment services

Abstract

This desk study evaluates contemporary digital applications and solutions used in youth services in these countries that relate to mapping out different career prospects and opportunities. The evaluation includes ongoing practices in the countries and particular regions involved in the project, which are in Germany, France, the Netherlands, Lithuania and Finland. The first task of the study is to find out what sources of knowledge young people currently use in a particular region when they need information on their options for planning their future careers, and how they currently search for information on interesting job opportunities, education, courses and other activities.

The basic aim of the desk study is to discover what kind of digital solutions the regional service providers currently provide for these purposes and how personalized the services are. Therefore, the desk study provides a stock of knowledge on the current state of digital services for young people in terms of career planning and the level of personalisation of those services in terms of how they meet individual needs. This knowledge is valuable when evaluating the applicability of the service model based on learning platforms in different regional contexts.

The desk study provides knowledge for service developers to assess the regional and infrastructural preconditions for implementing this service model in the countries and regions involved in the project. The study provides tools to assess the level of personalisation of currently used digital youth services and develop a digital service, which meets individual needs and interests and provides opportunities to make choices according to individual preferences. These elements promote the well-being of young people and when applied in, for example, youth employment services for disadvantaged young people, they will improve the skills and hence the employability of disadvantaged young people.