The aim of the e-Competence Framework for ICT Users project is to develop and validate a framework shell and populate the framework with an initial five e-Competence Areas with the assistance of project-created framework development guidelines.
The e-Competence Framework for ICT Users ranges in depth from foundation to advanced levels, and is able to range in breadth from common, generic software domains to specialised technology domains, thus having the potential to provide a complete coverage of ICT user proficiency levels and e-competence areas. For the purpose of this project, five common e-competence areas have been selected for development (See e-Competence Framework for ICT Users).
Up to now, much of the activity around the creation of frameworks relating to ICT has focused on the practitioner and that the reason why this work has been important for the ICT sector, but by necessity has excluded ICT users, who constitute a much larger and more heterogeneous group.
Due to the scale and complexity of the group involved, the development of a complete framework, containing all key competences relating to ICT in the workplace or home, is a considerable task. A previous project – End-User e-Skills Framework Requirements – chose to first assess the current landscape of end user e-skills frameworks in Europe and to gain an understanding on the need for and possible structure and uses of a future end user framework. The results of this project suggests that there would be a high level of support (81 % of survey respondents said it was Extremely Important to Moderately Important to have an end user e-skills framework) for an end user e-skills framework. In addition, a clear picture on how that framework should look, as well as useful tools that could stem from the framework, were identified by that project.
The desire for the framework to have a competence focus led to the framework being renamed and subsequent discussions within the CEN ICT Skills Workshop Plenary meetings have led to a proposed name of the “European e-Competence Framework for ICT Users”.
