International Youth Day is an opportunity to recognise the role of young people in shaping the future and to reflect on how their ideas, skills and perspectives can contribute to addressing today’s challenges. This is particularly relevant in a rapidly evolving digital landscape, where young researchers and innovators are already contributing to the development of the solutions that will shape Europe’s digital future.
International Youth Day therefore also offers an opportunity to highlight the importance of creating meaningful opportunities for young people to participate in research and innovation, develop their skills and bring new perspectives to complex challenges. Supporting young people in these areas means creating environments where they can actively contribute, experiment with new ideas and take part in shaping the technologies and solutions that will influence the future. Early engagement with research and innovation can help young people develop the knowledge, confidence and experience needed to navigate an increasingly complex digital landscape, while allowing organisations and society as a whole to benefit from their creativity, curiosity and fresh perspectives. In this sense, investing in young talent is an investment in the capacity to build a more dynamic, inclusive and forward-looking innovation ecosystem.
Destination Earth (DestinE) offers an interesting example of how this contribution can take shape. The European Union initiative is developing a digital twin of the Earth system, bringing together advanced Earth system modelling, artificial intelligence, data and high-performance computing to better understand and respond to environmental challenges. Behind these technologies is also a growing community of young professionals bringing new skills, perspectives and ideas to one of Europe’s most ambitious digital initiatives.
Creating opportunities for young talent
Within DestinE, early-career scientists are already working on some of the initiative’s key technological and scientific components, contributing to areas including Earth system modelling, high-performance computing and the development of the Digital Twin Engine.
Their experiences show how involvement in DestinE can provide young professionals with the opportunity to apply their expertise to complex scientific challenges while working with technologies at the forefront of climate and weather research. At the same time, their perspectives contribute to the multidisciplinary environment needed to develop such an ambitious initiative.
This involvement extends beyond established research organisations. DestinE is also creating opportunities for students, early-career researchers and young companies to explore how its technologies and data can be applied in new ways.
In 2026, DestinE launched a Call for Participation inviting Master’s students, PhD candidates, post-docs and early-career researchers to showcase how they use DestinE tools, datasets and digital twin capabilities in their work. By bringing these experiences to the wider community, the initiative aims not only to increase visibility for individual researchers, but also to strengthen the emerging research community around digital twin technologies.
The same principle applies to innovation and entrepreneurship. Through initiatives supporting European startups , DestinE is opening pathways for young companies to develop services based on its data and infrastructure, helping promising ideas move towards practical applications and new markets.
These examples point to a broader consideration: supporting young people in the digital transition is also about giving them meaningful opportunities to participate in the development of technologies and research that will shape the years ahead.
For Europe, this is particularly important in strategic areas such as artificial intelligence, high-performance computing and digital twins. Building technological capabilities also means investing in the people who will continue to develop and advance them.
Through its work on Destination Earth, Trust-IT Services is part of the team implementing communication, dissemination and engagement activities for the initiative, together with partners EJR Quartz and Serco, under the coordination and oversight of the European Space Agency (ESA). In this role, Trust-IT contributes to making the people, opportunities and developments behind DestinE more visible and accessible to scientific, policy and innovation communities.
Looking ahead
International Youth Day reminds us that young people are already helping to build our digital future.
As Europe continues to invest in strategic digital technologies, creating opportunities for emerging researchers, entrepreneurs and professionals to participate will be essential. Their contribution can bring new perspectives to complex challenges while helping ensure that Europe’s technological development remains dynamic, collaborative and forward-looking.
Empowering young people means giving them the opportunity to help define it.
