ITU and Regional Cooperation Council were pleased to co-organize the webinar on Towards the Development of National Digital Skills Strategies: Digital Skills Assessment Guidebook, held on 1 June 2020, from 10:00 to 11:30. This webinar was organized within the framework of the ITU Regional Initiative for Europe on ‘Accessibility, affordability and skills development for all to ensure digital inclusion and sustainable development’ as well as RCC Multi-stakeholder Working Group on Digital Skills.
The objective of this webinar was to seek the engagement of stakeholders in the development of the National Digital Skills Strategies across the Europe Region, including the Western Balkans economies. This webinar was built upon the Digital Skills Assessment Guidebook, officially launched on 28 May 2020.
The Guidebook aims at assisting the Member States in determining the existing national supply of digital skills, to assess the skills demanded from industry and other sectors to identify skills gaps, and to develop policies to address future digital skills requirements.
The Guidebook, which draws on and complements the ITU Digital Skills Toolkit published in 2018, is designed for use by policy-makers and other stakeholders, such as partners in the private sector, non-governmental organizations and academia, who may need to undertake skills assessments at the national level.
Digital skills are fast becoming essential for people to navigate ordinary day-to-day activities such as using a mobile phone to transfer money to family members via digital financial services, using the Internet for remote education classes and to research, prepare and deliver coursework, and acquiring basic skills for staying safe online. In the workplace, digital skills are required for an ever-growing number of jobs, and even in traditionally manual sectors like agriculture, digital applications are beginning to make inroads, with a corresponding requirement for some level of digital literacy.
The guidebook comprises the following five chapters:
- Chapter 1 reviews existing work on national digital skills assessments, discussing the advantages and disadvantages of digital skills assessment tools that can be employed as part of a national-level assessment.
- Chapter 2 provides a step-by-step approach for assessing the current supply of digital skills.
- Chapter 3 provides a step-by-step approach for determining a country's current level of demand for digital skills and identifying any skills mismatch.
- Chapter 4 addresses future technology trends and how to conduct digital skills anticipation exercises.
- Chapter 5 contains a summary and conclusions.
In the Appendix, readers can find additional resources and tools which policy-makers and stakeholders can use in developing ideas suited to their specific country or context.
DRAFT AGENDA
Opening Segment
- Ms. Doreen Bogdan-Martin, Director, Telecommunication Development Bureau, ITU
- Ms. Tanja Miscevic, Deputy Secretary General, Regional Cooperation Council (RCC)
Digital Skills Assessment Guidebook
- Ms. Susan Teltscher, Head of Capacity and Digital Skills Development, ITU
- Ms. Halima Letamo, Training and Development Officer, Capacity and Digital Skills Development, ITU
Interventions by Countries and Open Discussion
- Ms. Pranvera Kastrati, Senior Expert on Economic & Digital Connectivity, Regional Cooperation Council Secretariat
Way Forward for Implementation
- Mr. Jaroslaw Ponder, Head of ITU Office for Europe
Webinar Presentation (NEW)
