Many jobs now entail the use of technology. This requirement continues to grow, even in sectors considered traditional or non-technical. Online tools and mobile apps today perform a huge range of functions which were once paper-based.
The workplace is digital, and in today’s competitive environment, employers highly value digital skills. Having the certified ability to use devices and tools confidently and productively is an effective way for workers to set themselves apart.
Designed to build the critical digital skills of the modern workplace, ICDL Workforce is a tiered programme that will help employees with effective use of technology.
It starts with the Essential Skills modules that are important for many other ICDL programmes. The Office Applications modules develop skills that are commonly used in working life. Complementing these skills are the Good Practice modules, which ensure safe, legal and productive use of technology in the workplace.
The modules in ICDL Workforce are:
Essential Skills
Office Applications
Good Practice
“… in the near future, 90% of jobs — in careers such as engineering, accountancy, nursing, medicine, art, architecture, and many more — will require some degree of digital skills.”
— Andrus Ansip, European Commission Vice President for Digital Single Market, ‘Digital skills, jobs and the need to get more Europeans online’
Boosting workplace productivity
Digital skills are proven to boost productivity. Workers lose approximately 2.5 hours of the working week dealing with ICT problems. Research in Singapore shows that workers could save at least 17% of this lost time by following structured training and certification with ICDL.
With better understanding of how to use software and online tools comes increased confidence. People who have achieved an ICDL certification report that they are more autonomous because they don’t need to seek help to resolve simple issues. This makes them more effective employees.
A competitive workforce
Empowering people with important digital skills makes them more employable because employers know that skilled workers are more productive. An internationally recognised certification is the ideal way to demonstrate the acquisition of these essential and transferable skills.
Our research shows that people tend to overestimate their abilities. The Perception & Reality report gives examples of digital skills gaps in the five countries studied (Europe and Asia) and shows that holders of a computer skills certificate (ICDL) did significantly better than average.
Did you know?
ICDL is mapped to the DigComp framework (European Union), the National Register of Professional Qualification (France), the National Qualifications Framework (England), and the Workforce Skills Qualification Framework (Singapore).
France
ATFormation trains the teams of Fac-similé Grand Sud (CANON group)
Homogenising the skill levels across the group’s agencies to allow all teams to operate with the same efficiency, on the same processes, wherever they are.
Rwanda
University students complete ICDL certification as part of their degree
In 2019, 1,207 candidates from the University of Tourism, Technology and Business Studies (UTB) received their ICDL certificates.
China
ICDL is part of the Ministry of Education’s new vocational education reform policy
The ‘1+X’ policy encourages vocational students to graduate with one or more occupational skills-based certifications in addition to their diploma.
