Strategies to Promote the Development of E-Competences in the Next Generation of Professionals: European and International Trends

Abstract

This study analyses the effectiveness of policies, strategies and programmes that promote the acquisition of e-literacies, focusing in particular on the younger generation who will be joining the labour force in the next five to ten years. Based on the benchmarking of different studies about the impact of information and communication technologies (ICTs) on students’ learning, this work proposes a re- definition of the term "e-competencies". Moreover, a set of best practices for the development of the future e-competent labour force are identified. Although the scope for this paper is primarily the countries of the European Union, worldwide studies are also considered.

Keywords: e-competencies, learning, technology, information literacy, 21st Century skills, media, literacy, ICT, e-learning, research, e-skills, UK, government, innovation, tools, competency, media-literacy, Europe, Jobs, Europass, EU, universities, employability and standards

JEL Classification: D83, J31, O31, O32, O33, O38