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Captain Connect, a Black woman hero in a teal mask, mustard jacket and coral cape, holds a laptop and helps a young man step onto a glowing bridge of code linking an African city to a Baltic old town, where a diverse team of developers works together.
AI-generated illustration
Draft · awaiting review by the project

Captain Connect

“I build bridges between talent and opportunity.”
Project
Digital Explorers · Tech talent and knowledge exchange between the Baltic States and partner countries
Fund
AMIF · Migration Partnership Facility
Period
2019 to 2026, in three phases · Phase II ongoing
Countries
Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Nigeria, Kenya, Armenia, Iraq
Led by
OSMOS Global Partnerships (Lithuania)
The problem

Talent here, jobs there

Europe's digital economy needs more skilled tech workers, while young ICT specialists in countries such as Nigeria, Kenya and Armenia are looking for international experience. Companies and talent rarely find each other.

The mission

Building bridges

Digital Explorers matches talent with companies. Participants take part in advanced digital skills training, hackathons and business missions, then move into internships and jobs, either with tech companies in the Baltic States or in their home countries. Companies gain new talent and new partners. The Iraq edition added a six-month data analytics programme with mentoring and job fairs.

Superpowers in numbers
€4.96MEU contribution (AMIF) across three phases, of €5.22M total
130people trained in advanced digital skills
119ICT specialists matched with companies (56 in the Baltics, 63 at home)
48companies on board (17 Baltic, 31 outside the EU)

Budgets from the Migration Partnership Facility, as reported by the European Commission; totals are the sum of the three phases. Training, matching and company figures refer to the most recent phase. The Commission gives November 2026 as the end of phase II, while the MPF project page gives February 2026.

Who's behind it

The team

  • Lead: OSMOS Global Partnerships (Lithuania)
  • Phase II partners: ESTDEV, Estonian Centre for International Development (Estonia), and Startin.LV, Latvian Startup Association (Latvia)
  • Iraq edition: Turing College and Five One Labs (training), with universities and public institutions from Iraq, the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and Lithuania
  • Funded through the EU's Migration Partnership Facility, implemented by ICMPD
Documented results

What it achieved

  • 130 participants trained in advanced digital skills in the most recent phase.
  • 56 ICT specialists matched with companies in the Baltic States and 63 with opportunities in their home countries.
  • 17 Baltic and 31 non-EU companies involved.
  • In the first phase (2019-2021), around 30 young Nigerian professionals joined leading Lithuanian tech companies, working on automation systems and big data.
  • One edition ran as a Female Track, dedicated to women in tech.
Become a hero

Want to build the next one?

Find open EU calls on migration & digital skills on the Funding & Tenders Portal ↗, or see how EU funding works.

Sources

Check it yourself

  1. European Commission, DG Migration and Home Affairs: Digital Explorers connects young professionals with European tech companies
  2. Migration Partnership Facility: Digital Explorers I
  3. Migration Partnership Facility: Digital Explorers II
  4. Migration Partnership Facility: Digital Explorers Iraq edition
  5. Digital Explorers official website
Visit the project website ↗

Co-funded by the European Union. Hero illustration AI-generated. This page is an independent summary, not an official EU publication.