What are digital competences?
The European Pillar of Social Rights: Investing in Lifelong Learning
The European Pillar of Social Rights emphasizes the fundamental right to quality and inclusive education, training, and lifelong learning. This is essential for individuals to acquire and maintain the necessary skills to fully participate in society and smoothly transition into the labor market. It also underscores the right to receive tailored assistance for improving employment or self-employment prospects, access to training and re-qualification, continued education, and support for job searches. Central to this vision is the promotion of competences, aligning with the broader goals of establishing a European Education Area that leverages education and culture as catalysts for employment, social equity, active citizenship, and fostering European identity.
Skills and Competences: Cornerstones for Individual and Societal Well-being
In order to sustain current living standards, promote high employment rates, and enhance social cohesion in an evolving society and workforce, individuals must possess a relevant set of skills and competences. Facilitating access to these skills and competences across Europe is crucial for personal fulfillment, well-being, employability, and social integration. Such efforts contribute significantly to reinforcing Europe’s resilience amidst rapid and profound societal changes.
A Cornerstone Document: The Key Competences for Lifelong Learning Recommendation
In 2006, the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union issued a Recommendation on key competences for lifelong learning. This urged Member States to integrate the provision of key competences into their lifelong learning strategies, including efforts to achieve universal literacy. The recommendation highlighted the importance of utilizing the ‘Key Competences for Lifelong Learning — A European Reference Framework’ as a guiding tool. Since its inception, this recommendation has served as a cornerstone document shaping competence-oriented education, training, and learning initiatives.
The Importance of Digital Skills in the Digital Age: A European Perspective
Among the key competences that the Council of Europe considers fundamental, digital skills occupy a prominent position. This organization acknowledges the crucial importance of digital competences in the context of contemporary society, increasingly influenced by digital technology. Digital skills are seen as one of the pillars upon which the preparation of European citizens to tackle the challenges and seize the opportunities of the digital society is based. The Council of Europe promotes the adoption of standards and guidelines for digital competences to ensure that individuals can effectively and responsibly use digital technologies for various purposes, such as learning, work, and active participation in society. Furthermore, the Council of Europe emphasizes the importance of integrating digital competences into educational and training systems at all levels, in order to adequately prepare European citizens for the continuously evolving digital world. Digital skills are considered essential to ensure the full participation of citizens in the digital society and to foster the socio-economic and cultural development of Europe in the global context. Digital competence encompasses the confident, critical, and responsible utilization of digital technologies across various domains such as learning, work, and societal participation. It involves proficiency in information and data literacy, communication and collaboration, media literacy, digital content creation (including programming), safety (including digital well-being and cybersecurity competences), understanding of intellectual property rights, as well as problem-solving and critical thinking skills.