ICT for the employability and integration of immigrants in the European Union: A Qualitative Analysis of a Survey in Bulgaria, the Netherlands and Spain

Abstract

This report shows the role played by Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in supporting the employability and integration of immigrants in Europe in three European countries, framed in their migration history, migration policies, integration policy and levels of integration of migrants in the country. This study complements the findings obtained in the report entitled ICT for the employability and integration of immigrants in the European Union: Results from a survey in three Member States. The research found that age, education, employment status and type of occupation are drivers of digital inequalities; ICTs constitute an important resource for employability and integration of immigrants in the three countries, and specific groups of immigrants such as older and less educated are isolated from the digital world, and that immigrants they are not making more advanced uses of ICTs. Policy strategies go toward increasing access and the digital literacy of isolated groups and in particular for newly arrived migrants, as to provide on-line access to relevant information and on-line services for migrants through user friendly multi-lingual websites.