Context analysis introducing the call for proposals …...the "digital divide", being the gap between individuals, households, businesses and geographic areas at different socio-economic

Enabel • Belgian Development Agency • Public-law company with social purposes

Rue Haute 147 • 1000 Brussels • T. +32 (0)2 505 37 00 • enabel.be

Context analysis introducing the

call for proposals on

“Closing the digital divide through

education, training and the world

of work”

BEL1707111-AP-04

Enabel • Belgian development agency • Public-law company with social purposes

Rue Haute 147 • 1000 Brussels • T +32 (0)2 505 37 00 • enabel.be

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Table of contents

1 General context ......................................................................................................... 3

2 The digital divide ....................................................................................................... 4

2.1 The digital divide: different factors and multiple dimensions .................................... 4

2.2 The development agenda ................................................................................................. 5

2.3 Stakeholders analysis ........................................................................................................ 6

3 Digital literacy............................................................................................................ 6

3.1 Definition of digital literacy ............................................................................................. 7

3.2 Potential of digital literacy for bridging the digital divide ........................................... 7

3.3 Scaling-up and/or replication of initiatives ................................................................... 8

4 Focus of the call for proposals ............................................................................. 11

4.1 General and specific objectives of the call ................................................................... 11

4.2 Target group identification and guiding principles .................................................... 12

4.3 Eligibility criteria ............................................................................................................. 12

4.4 Evaluation criteria ........................................................................................................... 13

4.5 Indicator for the Specific Objective .............................................................................. 13

5 Global Digital Literacy Framework, proposed by UNESCO ......................... 13

6 References ................................................................................................................ 15

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1 General context

Driven by digitalisation and modern technology, citizens, (future) workers and businesses

are confronted to keep up to speed with a fast-changing society and are constantly being

challenged to be innovative. Digitalisation is transforming the way current jobs are being

carried out, it will lead to new career pathways and create jobs in the digital economy. Even

though digitalisation holds a great potential for citizens and societies, not everyone has

access nor the ability to grasp these opportunities. These limitations can be referred to as

the "digital divide", being the gap between individuals, households, businesses and

geographic areas at different socio-economic levels with regard to both their opportunities

to access and abilities to make use of information and communication technologies (ICTs).1

Education, training and the world of work play a key role in overcoming the digital divide

and ensuring that everyone in our society can safely participate in and contribute to this

digital transformation.

By launching this call for proposals, the Wehubit programme aims to identify and support

the most innovative and promising digital solutions that will contribute to closing the

digital divide by improving digital literacy and skills, through education, training and the

world of work.

Why education and training? Lifelong learning

that focuses on talent and skills development

leading to increased employability is inevitable.

There is need for a flexible and responsive

education and training system for learners, teachers

and trainers, workers to acquire the appropriate

skills to function in a digital society.

1 Definition based on glossaries from OECD (https://www.oecd.org/site/schoolingfortomorrowknowledgebase/themes/ict/bridgingthedigitaldivide.htm ) and Eurostat (https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Glossary:Digital_divide)

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Why the world of work? To thrive in the world of work of today and tomorrow, workers

not only need to be ICT literate, but should possess of more advanced digital skills in order

to take full advantage of the potential of digitalisation for their profession, whether that be

in the digitally-enabled economy or in the digital economy. Therefore the world of work

needs to engage in digital skills development, both on demand and supply side.

2 The digital divide

2.1 The digital divide: different factors and multiple

dimensions

While there are many opportunities arising from digital transformation and digitalisation, a

number of barriers make the actual implementation of it quite challenging. Drawing on

research (mainly UNESCO, EC, ITU and World Bank), access and skills gaps are two key

factors contributing to the digital divide2:

Limited access to and lack of digital infrastructure (including

awareness)

While access to electricity, equipment (computers and other devices), internet connectivity

(broadband- and mobile-based) is improving in general, connectivity and access to digital

tools and infrastructure remains often out of reach for certain groups of people.

Skills gaps (for learners, for teachers and trainers, in the world of work

and at institutional level)

One of the biggest risks for digital transformation of society and the future of work, is the

lack of awareness and skills among citizens and workers. Digital skills are needed if

learners, teachers, trainers and the world of work (that includes enterprises and current

and future employees) want to keep abreast with the changing society. Nevertheless, data

on present digital skills levels in all layers of society show an evident gap3. New technologies

require a completely new skills set, not only focusing on basic ICT competences and basic

digital literacy, but also being aware of risks inherent to the use of new technologies (such

as data protection and cyber security). The evolution towards a more profound digitally-

enabled economy and the digital economy, requires from future employees more advanced

digital skills.

2 European Commission (2018), Digital Education Action plan, p. 5

3 OECD (2016)

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Challenges in implementation of digitalisation in education, training and employment, are

very often linked to vulnerable groups (youth, women, unemployed, refugees and

migrants). The above described factors contibuting to the digital divide often run across

specific lines of exclusion4:

Geographic location: people living in remote areas often lack access to digital

technologies because basic digital infrastructure such as fiber or 4G or even

electricity is not extended to the area (availability of equipment in a school that is

far away, limited broadband connectivity in refugee camps etc.);

Socio-economic background: in addition to the lack of physical access to some

of the digital technologies enabled by infrastructure, affordability often also

hampers access to connectivity and digital tools/ technologies (e.g. lack of

equipment such as feature phones, smartphones, laptops, cost of connectivity,but

also limited knowhow of the unemployed for example on the use of digital tools);

Girls and women: today women are less likely than men to know how to use

digital technology for basic purposes like sending text messages or knowledge of

basic software programmes. When it comes to employment, women hold less than

one quarter of all digital sector jobs. Even the women who do start tech jobs leave

them at twice the rate of men5. Among girls and women, there is often less interest

in digitalisation and STEM education remains a domain where generally a small

number of women are active in.

2.2 The development agenda

Even though there is no separate SDG on closing the digital divide, the importance of access

to internet and digital technologies, as well as the acquisition of ICT skills is recognised in a

number of SDGs. SDG 4, through target 4.4 and indicators 4.4.1. “Proportion of youth and

adults with information and communications technology (ICT) skills, by type of skill” &

4.4.2 “Percentage of youth/adults who have achieved at least a minimum level of

proficiency in digital literacy skills” considers ICT and digital skills to be part and parcel of

skills for employment, decent jobs and entrepreneurship. Whereas SDG 9 aims to

“Significantly increase access to information and communications technology and strive to

provide universal and affordable access to the Internet in least developed countries by

2020” by ensuring mobile network coverage (indicator 9.c.1), SDG 17 goes beyond this by

underlining the importance of actual subscriptions (indicator 17.6.2) and enhancing the use

of ICT technologies (17.8.1).

4 European Commission (2018), Digital Education Action plan, p. 5

5 https://www.ictworks.org/siri-gender-equal-technology-solutions/#.XcWp61dKg2w

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Next to the 2030 Agenda, the European Commission also underpins the importance of

digitalisation as a levy for development and more particularly for education, training and

decent work opportunities. Together with the DigComp Framework6 and the creation of a

Digital Economy Task Force, they developed an action plan to stimulate, support and scale-

up the use of digital and innovative practices in education, training and work.

2.3 Stakeholders analysis

There a number of potential beneficiaries when it comes to bridging the digital divide. In

light of the 2030 Agenda (SDG 4 ‘quality education for all’ and SDG 8 ‘decent work and

economic growth’ and their sub goals) and the inclusive movement “leaving no-one behind”

in international collaboration, we have identified youth, women, unemployed people,

refugees and migrants as a “vulnerable group” to be the subject of this call for proposals.

To overcome the digital divide, various stakeholders have a role to play. The government

has to provide a conducive environment for digitalisation7, by ensuring that digital literacy

skills are part of the standard curricula, by organising awareness raising activities on the

importance of acquiring digital skills and by ensuring lifelong learning opportunities for all

in this rapidly evolving society. Also schools, training centres and teachers/trainers have an

important responsibility in ensuring that youth acquire the appropriate digital skills, both

through teaching as well as by leveraging digital for quality education, and digital literacy in

particular. Finally, parents and peers, the community and civil society play a central role as

well in acquisition of digital skills. The above stakeholders either function as a service

provider or advocate for digital literacy, even challenging other duty bearers to fulfil their

obligations.8

3 Digital literacy

Digitalisation will affect how people live and interact, but also learnand work. It will

accelerate the changes in our society at a higher speed than ever before. According to the

World Economic Forum, all sectors and geographical regions will be affected, making

investing in one’s digital skills of the utmost importance. Keeping in mind the current

digital skills level and the multiple dimensions of the digital divide, there is a growing need

to promote and invest in digital literacy.9

6 DigComp 2.0: https://ec.europa.eu/jrc/en/digcomp/digital-competence-framework 7 Council of Europe (2018), Guidelines to respect, protect and fulfil the rights of the child in the digital environment, p. 13 8 UNESCO (2008), A human rights based approach to education for all, p. 88

9 EC (2018), The digital education action plan

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3.1 Definition of digital literacy

Adopting the UNESCO definition, digital literacy and skills in this Call for Proposals refer

to the ability to access, manage, understand, integrate, communicate, evaluate

and create information safely and appropriately through digital technologies for

social and economic participation in life. It includes competences that are variously referred

to as computer literacy, ICT literacy, information literacy and media literacy.10

An also often referred to framework when it comes to functioning in a digital and fast-

changing society are the 21st century skills. The 21st century skills are defined as the

skills needed to fully participate in training and education, social life but also in your

professional career. They are usually grouped into 3 main areas:

Learning and innovation skills: critical thinking and problem solving,

communications and collaboration, creativity and innovation;

Digital literacy skills: information literacy, media literacy, information and

communication technologies (ICT) literacy;

Career and life skills: flexibility and adaptability, initiative and self-direction, social

and cross-cultural interaction, productivity and accountability.

Alongside the 21st Century Skills concept, the European Commission has developed the

Digital Competencies framework and identified 5 main digital skills clusters: i)

information and data literacy, ii) communication and collaboration, iii) digital content

creation, iv) safety and v) problem-solving. UNESCO widened the scope of the DigComp

and added a 6th skills cluster to it (career-related competences) and in doing so, established

the Global Digital Literacy Framework (annexed to this introductory note). All competences

that are included in the Global Digital Literacy framework are considered to be the subject

of the call (one or multiple skills clusters).

3.2 Potential of digital literacy for bridging the digital

divide

Programmes focusing on increasing digital literacy and skills have proven to

be an effective element in closing the digital divide. These programmes have the

potential to lead to better quality and more demand-driven education and training, creating

employment opportunities, higher income and productivity which eventually can lead to

poverty reduction. It also has a potential impact on health and economic independence of

individuals. In addition, digital skills can improve security of vulnerable groups (both on-

10 UNESCO (2018), A global Framework of Reference on Digital Literacy Skills for Indicator 4.4.2,p. 6

(http://uis.unesco.org/sites/default/files/documents/ip51-global-framework-reference-digital-literacy-skills-2018-en.pdf)

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and offline) and increase their engagement in politics and community. 11 The indicative list

of initiatives under 3.3 shows the enormous potential to it.

3.3 Scaling-up and/or replication of initiatives

While the importance of closing the digital divide and the role of digital literacy and skills to

this end is increasingly recognised, most digital literacy and digital skills projects remain

small scale, one-off or do not target the most excluded groups. A number of initiatives have

been successfully piloted, but have not yet been scaled-up or replicated. The list below

provides an overview of barriers and challenges for scaling-up or replication of such

initiatives, some being in integral part of the digital divide:

Inadequate or limited digital skills by duty bearers (lack of digital of teachers and

school administrations, government etc.)

Difficult access to digital devices, connectivity and related infrastructure

(equipment, connectivity and electricity)

Gender stereotypes (the gender digital divide)

Social and cultural norms, values and attitudes (ICT or digital is not seen as a valid

professional choice, which can result in limited commitment of the target group)

Regulatory and policy challenges (absence of recognition of the importance of

digitalization and digital skills)

Inadequate or low quality training offer, not meeting the needs of the (future)

labour market

Limited awareness and sensitisation on the importance of digital literacy and the

opportunities of digitalisation

Lack of local content realizing the full opportunities of digitalization for excluded

groups

Up-front costs of long-term investments for development/fine-tuning of digital

solutions

Limited finances

The road from design from an innovation to scaling-up or replication is not linear and

requires numerous iterations. All applicants will have to demonstrate they have gone

11 UNESCO (2018), A global Framework of Reference on Digital Literacy Skills for Indicator 4.4.2,p. 24-25

(http://uis.unesco.org/sites/default/files/documents/ip51-global-framework-reference-digital-literacy-skills-2018-en.pdf) and European

Commission. (2017). Commission Staff Working Document, Accompanying the document Communication from the

Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the

Committee of the Regions A renewed EU agenda for higher education SWD(2017)264

https://ec.europa.eu/education/sites/education/files/he-swd-2017-165_en.pdf and UNESCO (2019), I'd blush if I could: closing

gender divides in digital skills through education (https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000367416) and G20, Japan(2019), Bridging the Gap Between Digital Skills and Employability for Vulnerable Populations, p. 4

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through the “inspiration-ideation-implementation” stages, as described in the guiding

principles for this call12.

Whereas the Digital Competencies Framework outlines the different types of competencies

that will be considered in this Call for Proposals, the following typology of digital skills and

initiatives based on the level and intended use of these digital skills are to be used as a

guideline for scaling-up or replication of initiatives:

Basic digital and mobile literacy: initiatives that promote digital skills

development to enable people to fully participate and engage in society and fulfil

personal needs in the digital age. These initiatives focus on acquiring foundational

skills, empowering people and understanding digital rights. This skills set includes

among others: basic use of a computer and mobile phone, programmes for

browsing and information gathering, critically evaluate online information, etc.

Digital literacy for education, training and the world of work: initiatives

that promote basic/intermediate digital skills development, other than basic digital

and mobile literacy, that enable people to have better educational outcomes (on

both teaching and learning side: more interactive, differentiated and personalised)

and smoothen the transition to the world of work. This skills set includes among

others: working with office programmes, sharing and engaging through digital

platforms, development of basic digital teaching and learning tools, digital

marketing, using digital platforms and other digital tools used in a digitally-

enabled working environment etc.

Digital skills for employment:

o For the digital economy: initiatives that promote advanced digital skills

development to participate as a technical expert in the digital economy. This

includes intermediate/advanced skills to design, develop and further adopt

digital solutions (hardware/software) such as UX design, App design, web

design, full stack developer, as well as highly advanced skills to design,

develop and innovate with frontier technologies such as AI, remote sensing,

machine learning, etc. They are considered to be required to enter specific

technical professions such as software developer etc.

o For digital transformation management: initiatives that enable,

define and coordinate the implementation of digital transformation

strategies in e-government (including e-services) and the digitally-enabled

economy. To be able to understand, recognize and seize new

entrepreneurship opportunities in the digital economy, a specific set of

advanced business analysis skills is required to understand needs of users

12 https://www.wehubit.be/en/about-us#policy-anchor

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and understand the aplication oppportuntities of new digital technologies

used on the workfloor (being up to date with latest technological advances).

All of the above-mentioned skills sets, can be acquired through the below list, which is a

non-exhaustive list of initiatives that are considered appropriate for scaling-up or

replication, linked to the skills sets of the Global Digital Competencies Framework:

the integration of digital skills development in initial education and

training (e.g. integration of digital and mobile literacy/digital skills development

in curricula and school progammes, digital teacher platform, online learning

modules on digital literacy, digital sills needs identification in collaboration with

employers and private sector) and/or in teaching progammes (e.g. an application to

promote basic ICT literacy for students, teachers and trainers, smart schools,

coding week) etc.;

the integration of digital skills development in continuous education and

training (including on-the-job training in companies) through up- and re-skilling

programmes (e.g. short-term and longer term TVET-courses, all forms of rapid

skills development and learning in informal learning spaces (STEAM/STEM, coding

schools, innovation labs, boot camps) etc.;

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promoting innovation: innovation can occur both in product and approach and

can help to address challenges of scaling-up or replication of initiatives (e.g. using

innovative technologies such as blockchain, virtual or artificial intelligence, cloud

computing and robotics etc). The focus of this call will be on the potential impact of

the innovation, applicants are invited to demonstrate the impact in their proposal.

often-but-not-always targeting a specific vulnerable group: focusing on a

vulnerable group will immediately have an impact on an important dimension of

the digital divide (e.g. girl coding schools, STEM labs in refugee camps,

programmes focusing on ICT skills umemployed people, application working to

lower cultural barriers in ICT etc.);

in collaboration with the private sector: initiatives that include private sector

engagement, both for identifying the digital skills on offer, in line with (future)

labour market needs (e.g. private sector involvement in defining digital skills

training offer, work-based learning) and for actual digital skills provision (e.g.

numerous training initiatives from telecom providers such as the GSMA platform or

targeted actions from telecom operators and other players from the private sector,

etc.);

including communities and building resilience of the wider society: this

can help in lowering or even removing the barriers to scaling-up or replication of

initiatives (e.g. community-based ICT networks, digital skills lab for local

communities, mobile solution for working on cultural barriers to study and work in

ICT, etc).

4 Focus of the call for proposals

4.1 General and specific objectives of the call

The general objective of the call for proposals is to increase the use and access to

digital solutions offering better living conditions in the partner countries of the

Belgian development cooperation.

The specific objective of the call for proposals is to support the upscaling or replication of

initiatives that close the digital divide for vulnerable groups (youth, women,

unemployed, refugees and migrants) by improving digital literacy and skills through

D4D initiatives in education, training and the world of work.

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4.2 Target group identification and guiding principles

The target group of this Call for Proposals are not-for profit or public organisations that

want to replicate or scale-up their digital solutions linked to the subject of this call.

Supported projects are requested to be aligned with the programme’s guiding principles13.

As such, the proposals must clearly demonstrate that the proposal:

Promotes the use of digital technologies as an enabler for sustainable development;

Is aligned with the Belgian D4D Policy Note;

Integrates the Principles for Digital Development;

Is including a digital innovation that has gone through the “inspiration – ideation –

implementation” steps, and is presented for scaling-up or replication of an existing

business model;

Applies the Human-Rights based approach by strengthening the capacities of

rights-holders (students, workers, etc.) to make their claims, and of duty-bearers

(schools, training centres, employers, etc.) to meet their obligations.

4.3 Eligibility criteria

Rules applicable to this call for proposals are defined in the guidelines of the call for

proposals BEL1707111-AP-04. Only the guidelines constitute the reference document.

Criteria listed hereunder are not comprehensive and are presenting a summary of those

referring to the applicant:

To be eligible for grants, the applicant must satisfy the following conditions:

be a legal person; and

be a public actor or be a private non-profit actor; and

Your organisation (or your co-applicant) needs to be established or represented in

the country where the action is implemented. To us it means that you are locally

registered with the authorities, that you have local staff and that you are directly

implementing activities in the country; and

be directly responsible for the preparation and management of the action with the

co-applicant(s) and not be acting as an intermediary; and

have already managed a grant amounting to 40% of the amount applied for. A

certificate of satisfactory performance signed by the donor is mandatory and

constitutes proof thereof; and

dispose of financial statements certified by an independent body (audit or statutory

commissioner). Those statements must not be older than 2 years.

13 See the guidelines and https://www.wehubit.be/en/about-us#policy-anchor

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The applicant may act on its own or with one or more co-applicants.

4.4 Evaluation criteria

The guidelines and its annexes present the entire selection process which encompasses a

two-round selection. The evaluation grids used during the two rounds are made available

on our website during the call for proposals.

4.5 Indicator for the Specific Objective

The contribution of and progress towards the specific objective will be measured through

the following result indicator, based on the indicator 4.4.2 of the SDGs.

“Percentage of vulnerable groups who have achieved at least a minimum level of proficiency

in digital literacy skills, as proposed in the Digital Literacy Global Framework through D4D

initiatives in education, training and employment”.

5 Global Digital Literacy Framework, proposed by

UNESCO

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6 References

Council of Europe (2018), Guidelines to respect, protect and fulful the rights of the child in the digital environment

European Commission (2017), Commission Staff Working Document, Accompanying the document Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions A renewed EU agenda for higher education SWD(2017)264 https://ec.europa.eu/education/sites/education/files/he-swd-2017-165_en.pdf

OESO (2016), https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/sites/df80bc12-en/1/2/4/index.html?itemId=/content/publication/df80bc12-en&_csp_=53a91137adce4a3a859955ebb548509c&itemIGO=oecd&itemContentType=book

European Commission (2018), The digital education action plan

European Commission (2018), DigComp 2.0: https://ec.europa.eu/jrc/en/digcomp/digital-competence-framework

OESO (2016), https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/sites/df80bc12-en/1/2/4/index.html?itemId=/content/publication/df80bc12-en&_csp_=53a91137adce4a3a859955ebb548509c&itemIGO=oecd&itemContentType=book

ITU, digital skills toolkit, https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Digital-Inclusion/Documents/ITU%20Digital%20Skills%20Toolkit.pdf

UNESCO (2008), A human rights based approach to education for all (https://unesdoc.unesco.org/in/documentViewer.xhtml?v=2.1.196&id=p::usmarcdef_0000154861&file=/in/rest/annotationSVC/DownloadWatermarkedAttachment/attach_import_10ba9f24-ec6f-4710-8494-9882a0c28573%3F_%3D154861eng.pdf&locale=fr&multi=true&ark=/ark:/48223/pf0000154861/PDF/154861eng.pdf#%5B%7B%22num%22%3A489%2C%22gen%22%3A0%7D%2C%7B%22name%22%3A%22XYZ%22%7D%2C-168%2C653%2C0%5D

UNESCO (2018), A global Framework of Reference on Digital Literacy Skills for Indicator 4.4.2 (http://uis.unesco.org/sites/default/files/documents/ip51-global-framework-reference-digital-literacy-skills-2018-en.pdf)

UNESCO (2019), I'd blush if I could: closing gender divides in digital skills through education (https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000367416)

https://www.ictworks.org/siri-gender-equal-technology-solutions/#.XcWp61dKg2w