SOFIA, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- The development of digital skills would be crucial to the economic future of Bulgaria, the country's Minister of Education and Science Krasimir Valchev said here on Thursday.
In the future, the world would experience large-scale digital transformations, much larger than those that have occurred so far, Valchev said at a hearing in the National Assembly.
This meant that most of the professions would require in-depth digital skills -- not just user skills, but skills of digital creators and abilities to interact with machines, Valchev said.
"Whether Bulgaria will successfully go through the process of large-scale digital transformation that is ahead, whether it will be a developed country, whether it will have a high added value, depends on whether the country will develop enough skills in the field of digital creativity," the minister said.
In this sense, there was no hesitation that his country should invest in increasing the number of software professionals and expanding training in in-depth digital skills, he said.
Of course, these digital skills should be related to the specific skills of the particular professions, Valchev said, adding that in agriculture for example, a mechanic needed to have digital skills, but he also had to know his machine.
He said that there was a great shortage of IT specialists even today. The good news was that due to the high salaries, this sector managed to keep young people in the country, Valchev said.
