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DigComp

The Digital Competence Framework for Citizens (DigComp) provides a common understanding of what digital competence is.  

"…the confident, critical and responsible use of, and engagement with, digital technologies for learning, at work, and for participation in society. It is defined as a combination of knowledge, skills and attitudes.” (Council Recommendation on Key Competences for Life- long Learning, 2018).

DigComp 2.2 areas

DigComp identifies the key components of digital competence in the five areas and 21 specific competences summarised in the figures above. The framework also describes eight proficiency levels, examples of knowledge, skills and attitudes, and use cases in education and employment contexts.

See the DigComp Framework document for the description of the 21 competences and this infographic to read about the key features of the eight proficiency levels.

What is DigComp for?

The DigComp project is implemented by the Joint Research Centre on behalf of the European Commission. It began in 2010 and, since then, awareness has steadily grown among Member States of DigComp as the EU-wide framework for framing digital skills policy, and developing and measuring digital competence.

DigComp has remained central to EU objectives of enhancing digital skills of the whole population. DigComp is an important tool to support the EU’s Digital Education Action Plan 2021-2027, which in turn contributes to the Commission’s priority ‘A Europe fit for the Digital Age’ and to Next Generation EU.

DigComp is used for multiple purposes, such as designing competence assesment tools, creating training courses and materials, and identifying professional digital profiles, in the contexts of employment, education and training, and social inclusion (see DigComp Implementation Guides for concrete examples).

Being digitally competent – a task for the 21st-century citizen

DigComp 2.2  (March, 2022) is the fourth iteration of the framework. The first version was published in 2013. Updates to DigComp reflect the evolving nature of digital competence. See DigComp Governance for a brief description of the previous framework versions and links to the reports.

  • The integrated DigComp 2.2 framework provides more than 250 new examples of knowledge, skills and attitudes that help citizens engage confidently, critically and safely with digital technologies, and new and emerging ones such as systems driven by artificial intelligence (AI).
  • The second part of the publication gives a snapshot of the existing reference material for DigComp consolidating previously released publications and references.
  • The annexes include a specific appendix on Citizens interacting with AI systems and on Remote/Hybrid work. Annex 4 is made available following the digital accessibility guidelines as creating accessible digital resources is an important priority today.

To join DigComp-related Communities of Practice (CoPs):

There are two CoPs to support implementation of DigComp in Member States – the DigComp CoP and the Digital Skills Certification CoP.

Both of these are hosted by All Digital, which offers different interest points on DigComp from policy, research, education and training to employability and human resources development, inclusion projects and others.

DigComp CoP and Digital Skills Certification CoP hosted by All Digital.

The CoPs are free and open to all stakeholders to join.