The Digital Skill toolkit provides stakeholders with guidance on developing a digital skills strategy. It is intended for policymakers, along with partners in the private sector, non-governmental organizations, and academia. Its overarching aim is to facilitate the development of a comprehensive digital skills strategy at country level. It is also possible to use this guide to focus on selected priorities that require a fresh approach.
How to use this guide
This toolkit provides policymakers and other stakeholders with practical information, examples, and step-by-step guides to help develop a national digital skills strategy. It can also be used to develop policies and programmes to address specific priorities. There are 12 chapters:
- Chapter 1 provides a checklist for developing a national digital skills training programme – which ensuing chapters flesh out in detail.
- Chapter 2 provides an overview of digital skills.
- Chapter 3 covers a range of stakeholder engagement models that can be used to develop a digital skills strategy, recognizing digital skills are necessary across sectors.
- Chapter 4 provides guidance on making an inventory of existing policies and programmes.
The next six chapters guide the reader through specific strategies designed to develop digital skills:
- Chapter 5 covers basic and intermediate skills.
- Chapter 6 covers advanced skills.
- Chapter 7 addresses strategies for under-represented groups.
- Chapter 8 examines campaigns as an effective awareness raising strategy.
- Chapter 9 highlights the opportunities of using existing online training resources.
- Chapter 10 offers various options for assessing the progress of digital skills programmes.
- Chapter 11 offers sample digital skills roadmaps.
- Chapter 12 looks at future developments and emerging trends.
The topics in the toolkit include:
- engaging the right stakeholders,
- inventorying and assessing existing policies,
- developing strategies for varied proficiency levels,
- creating strategies for under-represented groups such as women and persons with disabilities,
- organizing campaigns and joining regional or international initiatives, and
- monitoring and updating the strategy.
The toolkit converts complexity into manageable tasks and includes examples of programmes and frameworks from around the world to serve as models and inspiration.
Countries can use the toolkit in its entirety and develop a comprehensive digital skills strategy or they may focus on a specific area and develop policies and programmes that will advance digital skills for this purpose – for example how to target under-represented groups.
The tools in this guide were created to stimulate discussion, and were not intended to account for every possible context or pathway towards a digital skills strategy. In practice, digital skills strategies will take different formats – top-down, bottom-up; multi-sectoral entry channels; single entry channel, and so on: readers are advised then that the toolkit has not been designed as a rigid roadmap.
You can download this toolkit for free here.
