ROTTERDAM, 6 January 2026 – More than 1,600 Rotterdammers have boosted their digital skills in recent months through courses and trainings funded by the City of Rotterdam. The municipality says a new round of funding opens for 2026, so organisations can run fresh projects that help you keep up in an increasingly digital city.
The municipality links the results to its digital skills and resilience subsidy scheme (subsidieregeling Digitale vaardigheden en weerbaarheid), which supported 16 projects ranging from smartphone lessons for older people to digital training for recognised refugees, as well as AI art projects with young people.
1,600 Rotterdammers joined city-funded digital courses
Digital life touches almost everything now: work, school, healthcare, and even how you stay in touch with friends and family. The municipality’s point is simple: if you can participate online, you get more chances.
At the same time, Rotterdam still has a digital gap. Some people miss out on opportunities because the basics are hard, or because online life can feel unsafe, confusing, or overwhelming.
Digital participation in Rotterdam starts with basic skills
One example comes from Foundation Health Educators (stichting Voorlichters Gezondheid), which used the subsidy to help 34 women in Rotterdam Feyenoord become more confident online.
The training covered safer internet use, applying for a DigiD, and logging into services like hospital portals to view a medical file, alongside learning how AI can support practical tasks such as writing a job application letter.
Rotterdam Feyenoord training taught DigiD and safer internet use
The same foundation links digital confidence directly to independence, especially when you need to handle healthcare, official logins, or online forms without relying on someone else.
It also shared a real-life reminder of why donor and patient systems matter: in a situation close to home, a baby needed resuscitation, operations, and blood transfusions to recover, and that experience underlined how much depends on functioning medical systems.
Digital skills subsidy Rotterdam opens for 2026 applications until 16 February
The City of Rotterdam (gemeente Rotterdam) says the subsidy is meant to support small-scale and innovative initiatives that add to existing services, reaching people who need extra digital support. Projects can focus on educational activities, training volunteers who support those activities, and initiatives that build knowledge and awareness around artificial intelligence.
Alderman Faouzi Achbar connects the scheme to the city’s wider Digital inclusion programme (programma Digitale Inclusie), with the aim of removing barriers so people who want to take part in digital life can do so.
Organisations can apply by 16 February 2026
Organisations planning projects that will run in 2026 can submit an application up to and including 16 February 2026. The municipality points to this page for details on the scheme and how to apply: www.rotterdam.nl/subsidie-digitale-vaardigheden-en-weerbaarheid-aanvragen
If you are involved with a community group, neighbourhood initiative, library network, youth organisation, or training provider, this is the kind of link worth forwarding to the person who handles funding, because the next round is already on the clock.
