The Tech Partnership has been asked by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) to define the standards for basic digital skills – the skills that everyone needs for life in a digitally-enabled world; for getting into employment; and for success in the world of work.
Recognising the need for a universally accepted baseline in this area, the Government has commissioned the Partnership to produce a set of standards that clearly describe the entry level digital skills required by business and industry. The Partnership is creating these standards with input from Doteveryone and the Tinder Foundation, drawing on their substantial experience in this area. The work takes forward a recommendation from a recent government commissioned review of publicly funded digital skills qualifications.
The standards will then be publicly available to form the basis for all kinds of digital skills development activities: for individuals, they will help to establish the most important basic skills to develop as they move into employment, while training providers can use them to create learning plans and qualifications that will have a real impact on jobseekers' prospects. In the workplace, the standards will provide a framework for skills development that reflects the growth of digital across virtually every job role, and will support the digital transformation of the workplace.
In a pioneering move, the draft standards break the required skills down into two broad categories: basic technical skills, which include managing information, exploiting technology and increasing productivity; and behavioural skills, including critical thinking, teamwork and business awareness. Both categories are centred on safety and security, reflecting the needs of a cyber-aware world.
The draft standards are now out for consultation with employers, educators and other stakeholders. Anyone with an interest in digital skills is urged to make their voice heard: the draft can be downloaded and comments can be submitted via an online survey.
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