OCG Journal 03/22 Digitale Grundbildung

Gute Partnerschaft seit 25 Jahren
von Linda Keane
ICDL and OCG: A Digital Skills
Partnership for Austria
CEO der ICDL Foundation Damien O‘Sullivan bei ECDL goes ICDL in Linz
Foto: Hermann Wakolbinger
In the mid-nineties the world experienced
a period of rapid technological
transformation as personal computers
appeared in workplaces and in homes. A
European initiative called ECDL (European
Computer Driving Licence) was launched
in 1997 as a 7-module certification
course to upskill Europeans in the use
of a personal computer and common
office applications of the time. Damien
O’Sullivan, ICDL Foundation CEO recalls
“OCG was one of the original group of
computer societies that launched ECDL
and has been an influential partner in
the ICDL community to this day”.
The definition of digital competence has
evolved since then and so too has ECDL,
with 30 modules available through Workforce,
Professional, Insights and Digital
Student programmes. Now known as
ICDL, this global digital skills certification
is present in over 100 countries and
regarded as the digital skills standard.
ICDL Foundation (the ICDL programme
certifying authority) is headquartered in
Dublin and has regional offices in Belgium,
Rwanda, Singapore, and Panama.
National operators, such as OCG, have
brought ICDL to over 16 million candidates
and counting.
In fact, OCG has been among the top
performing ICDL national operators and
a leading example of how to implement
ICDL for the benefit of all members of society.
Initiatives that stand out include:
• OCG cares, a response to the refugee
crisis in 2015, where ECDL training
courses assisted refugees integration
into society.
• ECDL certification enabled sports professionals’
transition from elite sport to
the labour market.
• OCG won the ICDL 2018 Best Practice
Award in the workforce category for incorporating
ECDL into company apprenticeship
programmes such as REWE (the
largest retail chain in Austria).
• ECDL gave VET (Vocational Education
and Training) sector teachers the confidence
to introduce digital media into
their teaching practice.
A major accomplishment of OCG was to
successfully implement ECDL in the public
education system. Since 1998 ECDL
has been offered in different types of
schools throughout Austria, supported by
the Austrian Federal Ministry of Education,
Science and Research (BMBWF). It
is offered on a voluntary basis but many
schools incorporate ECDL into their IT
curricula, lately embracing newer modules
such as Computing.
ICDL’s ongoing appeal is due, in part, to
the relevance and currency of its modules.
ICDL Programmes Standards Group
brings subject matter experts and national
operators such as OCG together to
select, design and build new modules
and syllabi. In 2008 the Global ECDL Forum
was held in Vienna in recognition of
OCG’s contribution to regional development
and in more recent years Austria is
represented on the board of ICDL Foundation.
Austria is considered a mature market
due to its long association with ICDL but
with such success comes the challenge
of keeping ICDL fresh and engaging new
audiences. OCG carried out a broad study
of Austrians’ computer skills in 2014
to demonstrate the relevancy of ECDL to
the wider public. 1,260 people between 15
16 OCG Journal | 03 • 2022