Digital skills: what they are and when it is important to have them

For quite some time now, we have been hearing about digital skills in work contexts.

Also called digital skills, digital competencies are a set of skills that enable people to access, understand and consciously use the tools that the technological and digital world offers citizens, workers and businesses. Once considered ancillary, they are now framed as fundamental skills in order to be actively engaged in today’s social and employment landscape, and to be competitive and integrated.

Thus, understanding what is meant by digital competencies, and working to acquire them, ensures a competitive advantage.

Digital skills, what are they

Providing a definition of digital skills is the European Parliament, which, in 2006, identified digital skills as the ability to use “with familiarity and critical thinking information society technologies ( IST ) for work, leisure and communication.”

Digital skills thus consist of basic knowledge of ICT (Information and Communication Technology): the worker must know how to use computers to find, evaluate, store, produce, present and exchange information, to communicate and to participate in collaborative networks through the Web. It is from this definition that theDigital Italy Agency, in 2017, took its cue to divide digital skills into:

• basicdigital skills, for all workers and citizens;
• specializeddigital skills, possessed by professionals in specific fields;
• e-leadership skills, related to the use of technology in organizations.

Basic digital skills

To understand in detail what the basic digital competencies are, one can break down the digital competencies by competency areas, following the directions of the “Digital Competencies for PA” Syllabus.

The document prepared by the Office of Innovation and Digitization of the Department of Civil Service lists the knowledge and skills that every civil servant, non-IT, should possess in order to participate in the digital transformation of public administration. Specifically, the Syllabus divides digital skills into:

• computer data, information, and documents: the area of competence is related to the worker’s ability to collect, produce, catalog, and use documents, data, and information through computer technologies and digital tools;
• communication and sharing: the area covers the ability to communicate with citizens, businesses and public administrations using tools such as email, shared folders, video conferencing and instant messaging, autonomously choosing the best solution for the specific situation;
• security: the area covers the ability to protect the devices used, personal data and privacy, through a basic knowledge of the main cyber attacks and good preventive behavior standards.
• online services: the area covers knowledge of the concept of digital identity and the ability to access online services such as CIE, SPID and CNS;
• digital transformation: the section covers knowledge of the goals of digital transformation, the general planning outlines of Italy’s digital strategy, and an understanding of new and emerging technologies.

The specialized digital skills

Specialized digital skills are specific to IT and technology professionals. Determining what they are is the European e-Competence Framework 3.0, which provides the standard, recognized by the European Standards Committee, of competencies, areas and levels of competence of ICT managerial and technical activities. The Framework, open to all and continually being updated, has three levels. The first level divides an enterprise’s ICT processes into the competence areas Plan, Build, Run, Enable, Manage. The second level lists 41 competencies, which are divided into 5 levels of competence in the third level. By cross-referencing data, the Framework allows 30 European ICT occupation profiles to be outlined.

Digital e-Leadership Skills.

E-leadership skills concern the ability to use digital technologies within an enterprise and to introduce the necessary digital innovations into the company. Those who possess these skills are called e-leaders and are able to use digital tools to define innovation projects. In this case, the digital skills defined by the Digital Italy Agency are integrated with the leader’s soft skills and the typical skills of the sector in which the company operates.

Digital skills: when it is important to have them

In an increasingly technological society, in which digital takes on a relevant role not only for companies and workers, but also for citizens and individuals, it is clear that digital skills are not only about technological or IT jobs. Digitization is not only creating new jobs and new job roles, but it is also imposing the ability to transform and renew on traditional jobs. The technological challenge is not only about companies, then, but about all of society. And it requires the spread of a careful and widespread digital culture, starting with the youngest, students and future workers. Therefore, digital skills are necessary in every citizen’s daily life and work. While not everyone needs to know how to program apps or manage complex software, every worker, public and private, must now know how to communicate, produce, administer and process data and information through the use of the most innovative digital tools.

To gain greater awareness of their skills, and to understand how to make the most of their digital skills, Phyd provides its members with a team of experts in mentoring and tutoring.