ECDL Foundation and ECDL Malta support EU’s Digital Agenda

The ECDL Foundation and ECDL Malta have launched a campaign to raise the profile of the European Commission’s Digital Agenda for Europe and have committed their support to high-level aims of the Agenda.

The European Computer ­Driving License (ECDL) and its international version ICDL, is the world’s leading end-user computer skills certification programme. ECDL Malta is responsible for operating ECDL certification programmes on behalf of the ECDL Foundation in Malta.

In a statement, the ECDL Foundation and ECDL Malta said they welcomed the EU Commission’s communication, A Digital Agenda For Europe, as a timely and necessary initiative designed to promote economic recovery, and to improve social circumstances through the creation of a more competitive, inclusive, and digitally streamlined Europe.

As the Digital Agenda rightly identifies, improved digital ­literacy and ICT skills’ development will have a critical role to play in the drive to invigorate the Maltese economy, nurture an innovative workforce, and to minimise the digital divide, and will be integral to the success of the policy of smart, sustainable and inclusive growth.

As the leading international digital skills certification authority, ECDL Foundation and its pan-European network of national operators have affirmed their commitment to the goals of the Digital Agenda, and have pledged to support its implementation, the statement said.

At a European level, the ECDL Foundation and its network are committed to the following:

Engage with five million citizens to ensure they have the opportunity to acquire digital skills and competence; decrease by three per cent the current number of 150 million people who do not have the skills to use the internet, and promote the use of e-government services and the benefits of e-commerce to these future e-citizens; promote digital skills development programmes in all levels of education; take special measures to ensure that marginalised groups such as the unemployed, older people, people with disabilities and those in remote locations are empowered to participate in the information society; and work with member states in the development of long-term digital literacy policies, using certification as a measureable outcome in the return on investment in digital skills programmes, and ensuring that ICT skills are incorporated in national education policies.

The ECDL Foundation recently launched a comprehensive campaign designed to raise the profile of the Digital Agenda, and to pledge its considerable expertise, and that of its extensive network of pan-European in-country operators, to ensure the successful implementation of the above goals which support the aims of the Digital Agenda.

As the ECDL Foundation national operator in Malta, ECDL Malta has pledged its support to both the aims of the Digital Agenda, and to the specific goals outlined by ECDL Foundation to ensure its successful implementation in Malta.

More information about the ECDL programmes in Malta is available at www.ecdl.com.mt, e-mail on info@ecdl.com.mt or phone number 2398 0132 / 2166 7706.