e-Competence framework (e-CF) — A common …...CEN/TC 428 Date: 2020 -04 prEN 16234-3: 2020 Secretariat: UNI e-Competence framework (e-CF) — A common European Framework for ICT

CEN/TC428

Date:2020-04

prEN16234-3:2020

Secretariat:UNI

e-Competenceframework(e-CF)—AcommonEuropeanFrameworkforICTProfessionalsinallsectors—Part3:Methodology

ICS:

CCMCwillprepareandattachtheofficialtitlepage.

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copyright - not for distribution - restricted use for the e-CF user Support Final W

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ContentEuropeanforeword....................................................................................................................................................3Introduction..................................................................................................................................................................41 Scope........................................................................................................................................................................6

2 Normativereferences.........................................................................................................................................63 Termsanddefinitions........................................................................................................................................64 Executiveoverview.............................................................................................................................................6

5 Essentials of the e-CompetenceFramework (e-CF): Fourdimensions and the transversalaspects..............................................................................................................................................................8

5.1 Dimension1:Fivee-Competenceareas–structuredfromorganisationalperspective........115.2 Dimension2:e-Competences–individualabilitiesmeetorganisationalneeds......................135.3 Dimension3:Fiveworkproficiencylevels–degreesofbeingcapableinadynamicand

changingworld............................................................................................................................................165.3.1 Theproficiencyleveldefinition.............................................................................................................165.3.2 RelationshiptolearninglevelsandtheEuropeanQualificationFramework(EQF)...........185.3.3 Suitableproficiencylevelforeachcompetence...............................................................................195.4 Dimension4:KnowledgeandSkills–thebridgetoeducationandtraining.............................215.5 Transversalaspects:Therelationshipbetweendimensionsandtransversalstatements...235.6 Thee-CFasEN16234–normativeandinformative..........................................................................24

6 The e-CF in the European ICT professionalism landscape: Professional concept and theEuropeanICTProfessionalRoleProfiles(CWA16458)................................................................25

7 Relationshipsandinterfacesbetweenthee-CFandotherframeworks.........................................287.1 Establishingrelationshipsandcreatinginterfaces:thegeneralapproach................................297.2 Overviewofe-CFinterfacescreatedwithotherframeworks.........................................................31

8 e-CF creation and maintenance: a combination of sound methodology and expertcontribution..................................................................................................................................................33

8.1 Creationofthee-CF:Thecompetenceconcept....................................................................................348.2 Creationofthee-CF:Thelevelconcept...................................................................................................348.3 Maintenanceofthee-CF:Essentialsfromtheupdateprocess........................................................369 Transferringframeworkgenericmethodstocompetenceframeworkconstructioninother

sectors.............................................................................................................................................................38

AnnexA(informative)...............................................................................................................................................40Bibliography...............................................................................................................................................................41

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Europeanforeword

Thisdocument(prCEN/TR16234-3:2019)hasbeenpreparedbyTechnicalCommitteeCEN/TC428“ICTProfessionalismandDigitalCompetences”,thesecretariatofwhichisheldbyUNI.

ThisdocumentiscurrentlysubmittedtotheCENEnquiry.

ThisdocumentwillsupersedeCEN/TR16234-3:2016.

Incomparisonwiththepreviousedition,thefollowingtechnicalmodificationshavebeenmade:

• Revision of the entire document in the light of the recent EN16234-1 revision, latest ICTProfessionalismdevelopments,inEuropeandglobally,relatingtothisstandardandfurthermulti-stakeholdersectorfeedback.

• Theunderpinningmethodologyofthestandardhasbeenmaintainedandcomplementedbyanewelement,namedTransversalAspects(TA).Themaindriverforthepresentationofthisdocumentis the requirement to explain modifications made to the standard, to meet a contemporaryenvironment,whilstmaintainingcontinuitywithearlierversions,

Thisdocumenthasbeenpreparedunderamandategiven toCENby theEuropeanCommissionand theEuropeanFreeTradeAssociationandsupportsessentialrequirementsofEUDirective(s).

ThisTechnicalReportisthethirdpartoftheEN16234series,whichismadeupofthefollowingfourparts:

• EN16234-1Part1:istheFrameworkofthee-CFpublishedasanEuropeanNorm(EN).

• TR16234-2Part2:istheUserguidepublishedasaCENTechnicalReport(TR).

• TR16234-3Part3:istheMethodologypublishedasaCENTechnicalReport(TR).

• TR16234-4Part4:providesaseriesofCaseStudiesillustratinge-CFpracticalusefrommultipleICTsectorperspectivesandpublishedasaCENTechnicalReport(TR)

Part1isfullystandalone,andpart2,3and4relyonpart1.

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Introduction

EN 16234-1 was established as a tool to support mutual understanding and provide transparency oflanguage through the articulation of competences required and deployed by Information andCommunicationTechnology(ICT)professionals.

Tosupportusersandguidedevelopersofapplicationstothisstandard,thefollowingnarrativeprovidesanoverviewof theunderpinningphilosophy andprinciples adoptedduring the standard’s constructionand maintenance. Understanding these guiding principles is equally vital for applying the standard inmultipleenvironmentsconcernedwithICTprofessionalism.

TheGuidingPrinciples:

Thisstandardisanenabler;itisdesignedtobeatooltoempowerusers,nottorestrictthem.Thisstandardprovidesastructureandcontent forapplicationbymany typesofusers fromorganizations intheprivateandpublicsector,ICTuserorICTsupplycompanies,educationalinstitutionsincludinghighereducation and private certification providers, social partners and individuals. In this broad applicationcontext,thisstandardisdesignedtosupportcommonunderstanding,nottomandatetheuseofeachandeverywordusedwithinit.

ThisstandardexpressesICTcompetenceusingthefollowingdefinition:‘Competenceisademonstratedability to apply knowledge, skills and attitudes for achieving observable results’. This holistic conceptdirectly relates to workplace activities and incorporates complex human attitudes and resultantbehaviours.Behaviourandattitudeareimportantinfluencesthatfacilitatesuccessfulknowledgeandskillsapplication. Within each competence, embedded attitudes are reflected in behaviour and enable thesuccessfulintegrationofknowledgeandskills.

Competence is a durable concept and although technology, jobs, marketing terminology andpromotional concepts within the ICT environment change rapidly, this standard remains durablerequiringmaintenanceapproximatelyeverythreeyearstomaintainrelevance.

Acompetencecanbeacomponentofajobrole,butitcannotbeusedasasubstituteforsimilarlynamed job titles, for example; the competence, E.2. ‘Project and Portfolio Management’ does notrepresent the complete content of a ‘Project Managers’ job role. Competences can be aggregated, asrequired, to represent the essential content of a job role or profile. On the other hand, one singlecompetencemaybeassignedtoanumberofdifferentjobprofiles.

Competenceisnottobeconfusedwithprocessortechnologyconceptssuchas,‘CloudComputing’or‘Big Data’. These descriptions represent evolving technologies and in the context of this standard, theymaybeintegratedasknowledgeandskillsexamplesinDimension4.

This standard does not attempt to cover every possible competence deployed by an ICTprofessionalnoraretheincludedcompetencesnecessarilyuniquetoICT.ThisstandardarticulatescompetencesassociatedwithICTprofessionalrolesincludingsomethatmaybefoundinotherprofessionsbut are very important in an ICT context; examples include, C.4. ‘Problem Management’ or E.3. ‘RiskManagement’. However, to maintain an ICT focus, this standard avoids generic competences such as‘Communications’ or ‘General Management’. Although very applicable these generic competences arecomprehensivelyarticulatedinotherstructures.Selectingcompetencesforinclusionwithinthisstandardisthereforeapragmaticratherthananexhaustiveprocess.Theselectionwasbasedonengagementwithabroadcross-sectionofstakeholderswhoprioritizecompetenceinclusionbaseduponindustryknowledgeandexperience.

This standard is structured across four dimensions. e-Competences in Dimensions 1 and 2 arepresented from the organizational perspective as opposed to an individual’s perspective. Dimension 3definese-Competence levelsand relates to theEuropeanQualificationsFramework (EQF), it is abridgebetweenorganizational and individual competences.Dimension4provides examples of knowledge and

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skillstothee-CompetencesinDimension2,theyarenotintendedtobeexhaustivebutforinspirationandorientationonly.

This latestversionof the standard incorporatesanewelement, transversalaspects; it recognisestherelevanceofanumberofcross-cuttingaspectsthatareimportantandprovideadditionalgenericICTrelated descriptors for successful application of e-CF competences in aworkplace context. Examples oftransversal aspects identified for context-specific and flexible application within this standard areAccessibility,EthicsandSecurity.

This standardhasa sector specific relationship to theEQF; competence levelswithin this standardprovideaconsistentandrationalrelationshiptolevelsdefinedwithintheEQF.TherelativitybetweenEQFlearning levels and the e-competence work proficiency levels of this standard has been systematicallydevelopedtoenableconsistentinterpretationoftheEQFintheICTworkplaceenvironment.ItshouldbenotedthatanexactequivalencyisnotpossibleduetothedifferentpurposesandcontextsofEQFande-CFbutrelevantrelationshipinformationisprovided.

Continuityofthisstandardisimperative; followingmaintenanceupdates it isessentialthatusersareprovidedwith a simple upgrade path.Users of this standard invest considerable time and resources toalign processes or procedures with it. Organizations deploying these downstream activities are reliantuponthisstandardandneedtobeconfidentofthecontinuedsustainabilityoftheirprocesses.Updatesofthisstandardneedtorecognizethisrequirementandprovideforcontinuity,enablinguseoftheexistingversionofthestandarduntilitisconvenienttoupgradetothelatestversion.

This standard is neutral; it does not follow the specific interests of a few major influencers, it isdevelopedandmaintainedthroughanEU-widebalancedmulti-stakeholderagreementprocess,undertheumbrella of the European Committee for Standardization. This standard is a key component of theEuropeanDigitalAgendaforICTProfessionalism;itisdesignedforusebyanyorganisationorindividualengagedinICTHumanResourceplanningandcompetencedevelopment.

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1 Scope

This Technical Report supports the methodology grounding for the development, implementation andmaintenanceofEN16234-1e-CompetenceFramework(e-CF)whichprovidesacommonreferenceof41ICTprofessionalcompetencesasrequiredandappliedattheInformationandCommunicationTechnology(ICT)professionalworkenvironment,usingacommon language forcompetences, skills,knowledgeandproficiencylevelsthatcanbeunderstoodacrossEurope.

This technical report supports methodological understanding of the e-CF by all parties interested andsupports Information and CommunicationTechnology (ICT) stakeholders dealingwith ICT Professionalcompetencesfrommultipleperspectives,inparticular:

—ICTservice,demandandsupplycompanies;

—ICTprofessionals,managersandhumanresource(HR)departments;

—vocationaleducationinstitutionsandtrainingbodiesincludinghighereducation;

—socialpartners(tradeunionsandemployerassociations);

—professionalassociations,accreditation,validationandassessmentbodies;

—marketanalystsandpolicymakers;and

—otherorganizationsandstakeholdersinpublicandprivatesectorsacrossEurope,

anditseekstoparticularlysatisfytheneedsofstakeholdersfromcompetenceframeworksconstructionandresearchenvironment.

2 Normativereferences

The following documents are referred to in the text in such a way that some or all of their contentconstitutes requirements of this document. For dated references, only the edition cited applies. Forundatedreferences,thelatesteditionofthereferenceddocument(includinganyamendments)applies.

• EN16234-1e-CompetenceFramework(e-CF).AcommonEuropeanframeworkforICTProfessionalsinallindustrysectors

• TR16234-2Userguidefortheapplicationofthee-CompetenceFramework(e-CF)

• TR16234-3CaseStudiesillustratinge-CFpracticalusefrommultipleICTsectorperspectives

3 Termsanddefinitions

ForthepurposesofthisdocumentthetermsanddefinitionsgiveninEN16234-1apply.

ISOandIECmaintainterminologicaldatabasesforuseinstandardizationatthefollowingaddresses:

• IECElectropedia:availableathttp://www.electropedia.org/

• ISOOnlinebrowsingplatform:availableathttp://www.iso.org/obp

4 Executiveoverview

The aim of this technical report is to describe the methodology underpinning the development,implementationandmaintenanceoftheEN16234-1,Europeane-CompetenceFramework(e-CF).

The objective of the EN 16234-1 is to provide a common, shared, European tool to support ITorganisations and educational institutions in the recruitment, assessment, competence needs analysis,learningprogrammedevelopmentandcareerpathdesignanddevelopment.Italsoaimstosupportpolicy

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makers to define policies related to digital skills development by education and in the workplace. AsEuropean stakeholders are the target audience for the EN 16234-1, the active involvement ofmultipleexpertsandstakeholdersfromthiscommunityprovideanessentialingredientinmakingandkeepingthee-CF,publishedasEN16234-1,fitforpurpose.

Attheoutsetfourbasecriteriafore-CFdevelopmentwereconsidered.FoundeduponinformedEuropeanstakeholderengagement,thefollowingwereconsidered:

1) aframeworkstructureoffourdimensions2) definitionsofcompetence,knowledge,skillandattitude3) derivationfromICTbusinessprocesses4) arelationshipbetweenthee-CFandtheEuropeanQualificationsFramework(EQF), inparticular

betweenrespectivelevels.

Theoutcomeswereasfollows:

• e-CF structure in four dimensions. The structure of existing frameworks was analysed andevaluated; final agreement was made for a four-dimensional approach. The structure isconstructed from competence areas (dimension 1) and competences (dimension 2), as distinctfrom job roles. The competence-based approach offers more flexibility and facilitates localcustomisation. Levels from 1-5, form dimension 3 and are assigned to each competence asappropriate. The number of the levels assigned to each competence varies,dependent upon thenatureandcomplexityof thecompetence.Knowledgeandskillsexamples formdimension4andprovidebrief,non-exhaustivesamplesassociatedwitheachcompetence.

• Definitionsofcompetence,skills,knowledgeandattitude.Applyingaconsistentapproach toICT stakeholder competence requirements, the definitions focus on organisational rather thanindividualcompetences.However,individualcompetencescanbeidentifiedwithindimension3ofthee-CFwhereproficiencylevelsaredefinedandincorporatepersonalautonomyandbehaviour.ItcanbesaidthatDimension3providesabridgebetweenorganisationalandindividualcompetence.Thee-CFleveltableprovidesadefinitionforeachperformancelevelandifrequiredcanbeusedasabasisforestablishinglevelrelationshipsotherrelevantframeworks.

• Business Processes. From the outset European stakeholders agreed to use, as a reference, ageneralICTprocessschema,compliantwithmanymodelsprovidedbyITcertificationinstitutions(e.g. Exin, Cobit). Themodel presents five process phases, Plan, Build, Run, Enable andManage,whereEnableandManagearecross-cutting themes.This initial reference toprocesses,providedthebasisfordimension1oftheframework.Itwasestablishedasanentrypointandnavigationaidto access competence descriptors and it is still relevant today within agile process models,includingthedevopslifecycle.

• Levels To provide a logical relationship to the EQF, some EQF indicators were extrapolated;“context complexity”, “autonomy” and “behaviour” to help formulate e-CF level differentiators.These indicators reflect organisational perspectives on competence. However, the EQF alsoincorporates further criteria including “responsibility”, but this element was omitted to avoidconfusionwithorganisationalaccountability,whichisnotrelevanttothedefinitionofcompetence(e-CF competence is independent of hierarchical structures). The e-CF, as a competenceframework,definesproficiencylevelsfromanorganisationalperspectivebut itsharessomelevelcriteriawiththeEQF,asaneducationframework.Thispositionsthee-CFtoofferaconsistentlinkbetweencompetenceandlearninglevels.

Furtherdevelopmentofthee-CFhasprovidedanadditionalkeycomponenttotheoriginalstructure

• TransversalAspects (new). In the latest version the e-CFa new elementhas been introduced;transversal aspectswhich recognise the relevance of a number of cross-cutting aspects that areimportant to an ICT Professional’s performance, independent of competence area. Transversalaspectsprovide additional generic descriptors contributing to the successful application of e-CFcompetences in the workplace. Transversal aspects such as, accessibility, ethics and security,providetheopportunitytoenhancecompetencedescriptionsthroughcontext-specificandflexibleapplication.

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Thecriteriaappliedduringconstruction, implementationandmaintenanceof thee-CF tomake it fit forpurposearebackedbysoundacademicfoundations.WithinthisdocumentrelationshipsbetweenbestITpractice,qualificationapproachesandstate-of-the-artcompetenceapplicationareexplained.Theoriginalmethodologyadoptedfore-CFdevelopmentremainsrelevantandwasincorporatedinthecreationofthelatest version. The revision was predicated upon a step-by-step, bottom up approach, focused uponstakeholders’ experience and practical implementation requirements. The application of a soundmethodological backbone supported by consistent definitions and e-CF founding principles havepermeatedallframeworkupdatinglifecycles.

Asummaryofmethodologicalsuccessfactors:

• Representationofexpertviewsfromstakeholders

• Achievementofconsensusonstructuralapproach

• Formalisationofdecisions

• Achievementofcombiningframeworkelementsintoastructuredresult

• Ensuringcontinuousimprovementandstabilitywhilstrespondingtoanevolvingenvironment

Frominitiation,e-CFdevelopmentwasbasedongatheringinformedinput.Itinvolvedsynthesisingtrends,structuring solutions, consensus building, raising awareness among stakeholders and finding commonviews. This has led to the establishment and maintenance of a common European language for ICTprofessionalcompetence,knowledge,skills,andcapabilitylevels.Whenconsensuswasdifficult,referencetoacademicresearchandcurrentmanagementthinkingandknowledgehasofferedclarification.However,thedrivingforcefore-CFmaintenancewastokeepitup-to-dateandinlinewithlatestICTbusinesstrendsandneeds,consistentandcomplementarytotheoriginaldefinitions.

5 Essentials of the e-Competence Framework (e-CF): Four dimensions and thetransversalaspects

Thee-CompetenceFramework(e-CF)providesacommonEuropean language for ICTworkplace-relatedcompetences,skillsandproficiencylevelsasrequiredandappliedbyorganisationsandprofessionals.Inthis way, all sector stakeholders, including public and private sector and individuals, have access to asharedreference.

Inparticular,thee-CFsupportsthearticulation,definitionanddescriptionof:

• jobs,roleprofiles,recruitmentoffersandneedsandothertypesofcompetencespecifications,

• trainingcourses,qualifications,certificationsandhighereducationcurricula

• careerpathsandprofessionaldevelopmentneeds,

• formalandnon-formallearningpaths,

• competencegapsanalysisattheindividual,teamororganizationallevel,

• educationandtrainingneedsattheindividual,teamororganizationallevel,

• criteriaforcompetenceassessmentandmarket-trendanalysis,etc.

• asharedreferencetogatherandpresentICTprofessionalcompetenceneedinformation,e.g.atnationalorlargecorporationlevel.

The e-CF is structured across four dimensions. The dimensions reflect areas of business and humanresourceplanningandincorporatejobandworkproficiencyguidelines.Additionally,transversalaspectsrecognisetherelevanceofanumberofcross-cuttingaspects,forexample,securityoraccessibilitythatareimportantintheICTworkplace.e-CFtransversalaspectsapplyacrosstheentireframework.

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Thee-CFisacompetence-basedstructurefacilitatingbothflexibilityandstandardisation.Thisisenabledthroughaframeworkstructuredinfourdimensions.Thesedimensionssupporte-CFunderstandingbyallstakeholders and enable connections to other frameworks (like EQF) or ICT technical models andstandards(likeCMMIorDevOps):

1. The fivee-CompetenceareasPLAN–BUILD–RUN–ENABLE–MANAGE fromdimension1,arepresented from the organizational perspective. The areas correspond to the ICT businessprocesses that form the core of the traditional waterfall model, Agile project or DevOpsenvironmentlifecycles.Dimension1assistsintheorganizationandnavigationofe-Competences.Furthermore, it is instrumental in HR assessment and training needs identification as well asclassification of e-Competences. It helps HR managers communicate with ICT and businessmanagersandmakecoherentdecisions.

2. A set of 41 e-Competenceswith a generic description of each formsDimension 2,which is alsopresented fromtheorganizationalperspective.Dimension2providesthecorebuildingblocksofthe framework.e-Competencessuchas A.3BusinessPlanDevelopmentorD.7DataScienceandAnalyticsaregeneric,customizableandapplicabletoanyindustryorbusinesssector.Withinthisstructure,thee-Competencedescriptorsrefertoandrepresentorganizationalneeds.

3. Dimension 3 of the e-CF provides defined proficiency levels specified individually for each e-Competence articulated within dimension 2. Proficiency levels indicate the degree of masteryrequired of an ICT professional to meet requirements in the performance of a competence.Proficiency levels range from e-1 to e-5 and relate to EQF levels 3 to 8. Proficiency levelspecifications incorporate behaviours and levels of autonomy and build a bridge betweenorganizationalandindividualcompetences.

4. Knowledge and skills embeddedwithin e-Competences are explicitly expressed inDimension 4.They are not exhaustive but only provided for inspiration and orientation. These examples areuseful in defining specific and precise outcomes for measurement within an organization’scompetenceassessmentprogram.Inaddition,theyofferinputsfortraininginstitutionstohelpindefininglearningoutcomesandtodesigntraininginitiatives.

5. From2019thee-CFincorporatestransversalaspectsthatrecognisetherelevanceofanumberofimportant cross-cutting aspects. They provide additional generic ICT related descriptors tosupport application of e-CF competences in the workplace. Examples of transversal aspectsidentified for context-specific and flexible application are accessibility, ethics and security. Theybuildafurtherbridgebetweentheorganizationalcontextandthatoftheindividual.

Figure1—EN16234-1:2019“e-CF”e-CompetenceexampleA.2.ServiceLevelManagement

Dimension 1e-Comp. area A. PLAN

Dimension 2

e-Competence: Title + generic description

A.2. Service Level Management

Defines, validates and makes applicable service level agreements (SLAs) and underpinning contracts tailored to services offered. Negotiates service performance levels taking into account the needs and capacity of stakeholders and business.

Dimension 3

e-Competence proficiency levels e-1 to e-5

Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5

– – Ensures the content of the SLA. Negotiates revision of SLAs, in accordance with the overall objectives. Ensures the achievement of planned results.

–

Dimension 4

Knowledge examples

Knows / aware of / familiar with

K1 SLA documentationK2 how to compare and interpret management data K3 the elements forming the metrics of service level agreementsK4 how service delivery infrastructures workK5 impact of service level non-compliance on business performance

Skills examples

Is able to

S1 analyse service provision records S2 evaluate service provision against SLAS3 negotiate realistic service level targets S4 use relevant quality management techniques S5 anticipate and mitigate against potential service disruptions

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Figure2—TransversalAspectsapplyingacrosstheentireframework

Figure3—EN16234-1:2019e-CompetenceFramework(e-CF)overview

Dimension 15 e-CF areas

Dimension 241 e-Competences identified

Dimension 3 5 e-Competence proficiency levels

e-1 e-2 e-3 e-4 e-5

A. PLAN A.1. Information Systems and Business Strategy Alignment

A.2. Service Level Management

A.3. Business Plan Development

A.4. Product / Service Planning

A.5. Architecture Design

A.6. Application Design

A.7. Technology Trend Monitoring

A.8. Sustainability Management

A.9. Innovating

A.10. User Experience

B. BUILD B.1. Application Development

B.2. Component Integration

B.3. Testing

B.4. Solution Deployment

B.5. Documentation Production

B.6. ICT Systems Engineering

C. RUN C.1. User Support

C.2. Change Support

C.3. Service Delivery

C.4. Problem Management

C.5. Systems Management

D. ENABLE D.1. Information Security Strategy Development

D.2. ICT Quality Strategy Development

D.3. Education and Training Provision

D.4. Purchasing

D.5. Sales Development

D.6. Digital Marketing

D.7. Data Science and Analytics

D.8. Contract Management

D.9. Personnel Development

D.10. Information and Knowledge Management

D.11. Needs Identification

E. MANAGE E.1. Forecast Development

E.2. Project and Portfolio Management

E.3. Risk Management

E.4. Relationship Management

E.5. Process Improvement

E.6. ICT Quality Management

E.7. Business Change Management

E.8. Information Security Management

E.9. Information Systems Governance

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The following subchapters offer an overview of the principles and concepts underlying the fourdimensions of the e-CF, it’s structure and the transversal aspects. The numeric order of sectionscorrespondstothesequenceofdimensions.However,dimension2formsthecoreofthee-CFcompetenceconcept.All other dimensions are closely related to dimension2 and therefore, itmaybeuseful, to aidunderstanding, to read Chapter 5.2 “Dimension 2: e-Competences – individual abilities meetorganizationalneeds”first.

5.1 Dimension1:Fivee-Competenceareas–structuredfromorganisationalperspective

The main function of Dimension 1 of the e-CF is to serve as a navigation and entry point to the e-CompetencesarticulatedinDimensions2,3and4.Thestructureofdimension1hasthesamefunctionasaclassificationindex,itmustbe

• easilyunderstandable

• translatableintootherconceptsand

• supportclassificationofcontent.

Easilyunderstandable:

The ‘index’ of e-Competences must reflect the perspective of organisations, business processes,organizational structure, work organisation etc., so that all types of users (from organizations in theprivate and public sector, ICT user or ICT supply companies, educational institutions including highereducation and private certification providers, social partners and individuals) are able to follow thestructure

Translatableintootherconcepts:

As a library indexprovidesguidanceand relationshipsbetween classifications, e-CFDimension1offersstructuredrelationshipstojobprofiles(seechapter6.1),linkstolearningorcertification(e.g.curriculaorexaminationrequirements)andtootherframeworks,e.g.theEQF(seechapter5.3.2and7)aswellasICTtechnicalandmanagerialstandards(seebelowandchapter7).

Supportclassificationofcontent:

Similartoalibraryindex,thecontentofDimension1canonlyfulfilitsnavigationfunctionifitissuitableforclassifyingthecontent,thee-Competences.

TomeettheserequirementsICTmainbusinessprocesseswereidentifiedfrombusinessprocesses,whichareinturn,composedofworkprocesses,theconnectionbetweenthecapabilitiesoforganisationsandthecompetencesofICTprofessionals(seealsoDIGIFRAME[1],p.22ffand[15],p.13f)canberepresented.

• “Capabilityistheabilityofanorganisationtosystematicallyandrepeatedlymobiliseprocesses[...]towards achieving specific outcomes”. The capability of an organisation can be represented bybusinessprocesses,becauseabusinessprocessis“abundleofactivitieswhichneedsoneormoredifferentinputsandwhichgeneratesavalueoutcomeforthecustomer”(see[2],[3],[4]).

• Competence (seenextClause) isdefinedas “thedemonstratedability [ofan individual] toapplyknowledge,skillsandattitudesforachievingobservableresults”.Competencecanberepresentedby work processes (see next chapter). A work process is “a bundle of typical activities from apersonor a team,mostly characterizedby chronological sequence. It describes requirements aswellasresponsibilitiesandincludestypicaloutcomes”(see[5]).Everyworkprocessisapartofabusinessprocess(insomespecialcasesworkandbusinessprocessare identical).Therefore, therelationshipsbetweenbusinessandworkprocessesarealwaysvalidandconstant(see[4]).

Asbusinessandworkprocessesbringtogetherthedemandsonbusinessanduponindividuals,influencedbychallenges,tasks,activities,resultsandoutcomes,processesareideallysuitedtounderpincompetencestructure.

Usingprocessesasabaseprovides:

• modelsforflexibleorientation

• description of activities from different perspectives, e.g. individual or teamwork processes,departmentorenterprisebusinessprocesses;

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• descriptions of different kinds of activities, e.g. software development, customer service oradministration;

• comparisons across organisations (Enterprise or SME's)within the same business sector, asprocesses form patterns. Processes give the opportunity to describe general activities andreducerelianceuponcompanyspecificssuchasorganizationalstructures.

Based on these characteristics, processes are ideally suited as a shared basic reference for classifyingorganisationalcapabilitiesaswellasindividualcompetences1.However,itisstillnecessarytosubstantiatetheprocess-modelandtherelationshipbetweendifferentkindsofprocesses,workplacerequirementsandICTareas.

Inthecontextoftheoriginale-CFdevelopment,manydifferentkindsofgeneralandICTspecificprocessmodels were analysed and compared, searching for typical activities and processes. The models werebased upon product life cycle management, systems and/or software life cycles, systems or softwareengineering/development, IT process improvement and quality, IT infrastructures and ICT workingprocesses(e.g.CMMI[24],ITIL[25]).Thecomparisonrevealed:

1. In themajority of cases, the structure of processes used are similar. Consequently, two ICTspecificmodels,CMMIandITIL,werestudiedasabasisfordevelopingandmaintainingthee-CF.

2. The main components of the ICT business process are PLAN – BUILD – RUN – ENABLE –MANAGE. Build and Run are core areas whilst Enable and Manage comprise cross-cuttingthemes, referring and relating to the core. Plan andEnable represent strategic areas,withinorganisations, that conceive, decide, design and establish products, services, actions andpolicies. Build and Run comprise of daily organisation administration and improvementactivities.

Figure4—ThefivemainbusinessprocessesPLAN–BUILD–RUN–ENABLE-MANAGE

1Fromamethodological,socialpsychologicalperspective,workandbusinessprocessescanbenamedandusedasboundary objects: “Boundary objects are objects which are both pliable enough to adapt to local needs and theconstraintsofmultiplepartiesemployingthem,yetrobustenoughtomaintainacommonidentityacrosssites.Theyareweaklystructuredincommonuseandbecomestronglystructuredin individualsiteuse.Theseobjectsmaybeabstractorconcrete.Theyhavedifferentmeaningsindifferentsocialworlds,buttheirstructureiscommonenoughtomore thanoneworld tomake them recognizable, ameansof translation.” (see [6], p. 509, and also [7], [8]).Aboundaryobjectrendersco-operationbetweendifferentpeopleandorganizationspossiblebyallowingtomaintainandtocrossboundariesatthesametime.

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3. To ensure coherence with existing concepts, business processes were matched with ICTspecificprocesses.All processes fromCMMI (DEV/1.22006)and ITIL (v32007/2005)werecategorized in this way for describing, fulfilling and defining ICT business processes in onestep.

4. PLAN–BUILD–RUN–ENABLE–MANAGErepresentandcontainallsubstantiveworkplaceactivities across all ICT areas. Thus, competences can be described in the same way for avarietyofareassuchassoftwareinfrastructure,systemintegration,communicationequipmentandservices.

ICTbusinessprocessesprovidedthefoundationforthedevelopmentofthee-CFframeworkstructurein2007,andbyusingPLAN–BUILD–RUN–ENABLE–MANAGEinDimension1,thee-Competenceswerecategorized using these categories. This method was very useful for identifying, distinguishing andassigningthefirste-Competences.Laterupdatesofthee-CFdemonstratedthatassigningane-Competencecategory, is not an exact science and is open to interpretation influenced by context and reliant uponjudgment.

Despitethis,Dimension1reflectsatraditionalprocessperspectivebaseduponthewaterfallapproachandthe concept is sufficiently generic, that the e-Competence areas PLAN – BUILD – RUN – ENABLE –MANAGEalsofunctioninmodernagileandDevOpsenvironments(see[1],p.45).

Figure5—e-CFstructureappliedinwaterfallandAgile/DevOpslifecycle

Furthermore,withtheDigitalCapabilityReferenceFramework(see[1],p.51ff)thelinkbetweenthee-CF,especially Dimension 1 and 2, and over 40 IT frameworks (for IT Development, IT Management,Architecture, Project Management, Business Management, see [1], Appendix A for longlist) is updated,furtherelaboratedandclearlyestablished.Consequently,theconceptofusingprocessesasastructureandnavigationalaidfore-Competencesisvalidated.

5.2 Dimension2:e-Competences–individualabilitiesmeetorganisationalneeds

The aim of the e-CF from the outset was to offer a common language describing the abilities of ICTProfessionalsapplicableacrossall industrysectors.ThiscommonlanguageshouldbeunderstoodacrossEuropeandbyallpossible stakeholders (ICTservice,userandsupplyorganisations,multinationalsandSME’s, ICT managers, HR departments, individuals, educational institutions including higher educationand private certification providers, social partners, market analysts, policy makers and otherorganisations in thepublic andprivate sectors). Thus, this common language shouldbe independentofexisting company-specific job descriptions or national qualifications/certifications. To meet these

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requirements of comprehension and independence, an approach of describing and structuring e-Competenceswasdeveloped.

Theconceptof“competence”goesbacktotheancientGreecewithameaningof“authority”or“capability”.Theformerrefersto“possessingtheresponsibility,licenceorrighttodecide,produce,serve,act,performorclaim”, the latter refers to “having theknowledge, skillsandexperience toperform” [9].Themoderndevelopmentandgrowthoftheterm“competence”canbesubstantiallyattributedtoDavidMcClelland’sresearchinthe1970sand80s.Heconsidered“competence”asanattributeofindividuals:“Eachpersonalcharacteristicwhich(usuallycombinedwithothers)allowstheeffectiveexecutionofaparticulartaskinagiven organisation.” [10] At the beginning of the nineteen nineties, competence perspective from theorganizationalpointofviewarose.WithG.HamelandC.K.Prahaladthe“corecompetence”[11]assumedastrategicmeaningforthecompany; itrepresentsthe intangibleasset fortheircompetitiveadvantage. Inthe last ten years, the debate in Europe has been dominated by a shift within education systems torecognising competence relationships to learning outcomes. Questions regarding the evaluation andcertificationofindividualcompetencesplayasignificantroleinthiscontext.Overall,itcanbearguedthatthereisnocurrentuniformunderstandingoragreementontheconceptofcompetence.Differentmodelscoexist,dependingonperspective,objectivesandunderlyingphilosophyofthecompetenceconstruct.

Forpragmaticreasonsthee-CFisbasedonaholisticgenericunderstandingofcompetence,expressedasfollows:

Competence is a demonstrated ability to apply knowledge, skills and attitudes for achievingobservableresults.2

However,thestructureofe-Competenceswithinthee-CFneedsfurtherexplanationandisbaseduponthethreemodeltypesarticulatedbelow(see[12]):

1. Competencemodelsreferringprimarilytothecharacteristicsofindividuals,basedondifferentpsychologicalorpedagogicaltheories.

In thesemodels, competence is attributed to cognitiveactivity,which isdefinedas “capacityand readiness for action and interpretation” or competence is conceived as an ability thatreflectthecapacityoftheindividual,describingwhatitisnecessaryforthemtodoornottodo.Inthesemodels,competencestronglyrelatestoindividualcapacity,ability,skills,knowledge,motivationandattitude.Competencemeasurements and indicators areusuallybasedon thetaxonomyofBloom[13].

Competence models based on organisational capability (see [1] and above) and businessstrategy.

2. Competenceisunderstoodhereas“arealitythatallowsthedirectionofeffortsinthecompanyto be a set path, and therefore requires certain abilities from its participants.” [12] Socompetences strongly relate to organisational functions, business processes and therelationshipbetweenorganisational changesandpersonaldevelopment from learning in theworkplace. Competence indicators are observable business results and the deliverables (seealsochapter6.1abouttheICTprofessionalroleprofiles)necessaryforit.

3. Thecompetencemodelbasedonworkplacerequirements,describedbyworkprocesses.

4. This definition was consistent with the first (2008) version of the EQF [14] which definescompetence as “the proven ability to use knowledge, skills and personal, social and/ or

2 This definition was consistent with the first (2008) version of the EQF [14] which defines competence as “theproven ability to use knowledge, skills and personal, social and/ or methodological abilities, in work or studysituationsandinprofessionalandpersonaldevelopment”.

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methodological abilities, in work or study situations and in professional and personaldevelopment”.

Thesemodelshaveasimilarapproachasthemodelsbasedonbusinessstrategies,buttheyfocusontheindividual perspective. Accordingly, competence here is perceived as the connection betweenrequirements from work processes and an individual’s capabilities to fulfil these requirements.Competenceindicatorsareobservableworkresults.

These three models, from different perspectives, were adopted and adapted to form the basis for theidentificationandpopulationofe-Competences,thebuildingblocksofthee-CF.

Theorganisationalperspectiveandassociaterequirementsplayedadecisiveroleintheselection,namingand structuring of the e-Competences. Each are related to themain ICTbusiness processes (see above,chapter 5.1). All identified e-Competences that are usually described through work processes andactivities representing typical requirements, but in a generic way. In this way e-Competences wereconstructed as customizable and applicable to any industry or business sector. Two examples of thisapproachfollow:

• Example1–A.3BusinessPlanDevelopment:Addressesthedesignandstructureofabusinessor product plan including the identification of alternative approaches as well as return oninvestmentpropositions. It considers thepossibleandapplicablesourcingmodels.Presentscostbenefitanalysisandreasonedargumentsinsupportoftheselectedstrategy.Ensurescompliancewith business risk and technology strategies. Communicates and sells business plan to relevantstakeholdersandaddressespolitical,financial,andorganisationalinterests.

• Example2–D.7DataScienceandAnalytics:Usesandappliesdataanalytictechniquessuchasdata mining, machine learning, prescriptive and predictive analytics to apply data insight toaddress the organisation’s challenges and opportunities. Identifies, extracts and integratesheterogeneous data from a wide range of sources respecting ethical aspects and guaranteeingcompliance with data privacy regulations. Assesses existing data and identifies new datarequirementsincludingsocialnetworksandopendatafororganisationalbenefit.

Theorganisationalperspectiveisalsoemphasisedinthate-Competencesoftenrevealobservableresults.ThisisparticularlyclearinthecaseofEuropeanICTProfessionalRoleProfiles(seechapter6.1),whicharecharacterized by the identification of typical e-Competences in combination with a list of deliverables,eitherintermsofbeingaccountable,responsibleorintermsofcontribution.Deliverablesdescribetypicaloutcomesofataskinaworkingcontext.

Fromtheindividualperspective,e-Competencesexpresscomplexbehaviouralrequirementsandlevelsofautonomy.Thisbecomesevidentwhene-Competencesaredescribedaccordingtoe-CFproficiencylevels(Dimension 3 of the e-CF, see next chapter 5.3). Proficiency levels indicate the degree ofmastery thatallowsanICTprofessionaltomeetrequirementsintheperformanceofane-Competence.Proficiencylevelspecificationsofeache-Competencebuildthebridgebetweenorganizationalandindividualcompetences.

Furthermore, e-Competences encompass social and personal abilities and embed knowledge, skills andattitude.ExamplesofknowledgeandskillsembeddedaremadeexplicitinDimension4(seechapter5.4).Theseexamplesprovideinputsfortraininginstitutions.Theybuildthebridgebetweenworkplace-relatede-Competences and outcome-orientated educational opportunities. Attitudes reflect the way an ICTprofessionalintegratesknowledgeandskillsandappliestheminacontextuallyappropriatemanner.Theyareembedded inDimension2,3,4 and in transversal aspects.Attitude represent the individualhumanelementofane-Competence.Owingtothewiderangeofpossibleandvalidhumanresponsesthatmaybeincorporatedwithin a competence, attitudes are not explicitly described but are impliedwithin overallstatements.Therearenumerousexamples throughout the frameworkandhereare threeexamples; ‘actsystematically’(C.6.level3)impliesbeingmethodicalor‘identifyprojectrisks’(E.2.skillexample)impliesbeingcautiousand‘Providesleadership’(E.9.level4)impliesbeingresponsible.

Attitudes are also embedded in and represented by transversal aspects. They build a further bridgebetween organizational, customer and context requirements on one hand and individual competenceapplication on the other hand. Transversal aspects (see chapter 5.5) recognises the relevance of cross-cuttingaspectslikeAccessibility,EthicsandSecuritythatareimportantandprovideadditionalgenericICTrelateddescriptorsforsuccessfulapplicationofe-CFcompetencesinaworkplacecontext.

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Tosummarise:

• e-Competences, as the building blocks of the e-CF, integrate different perspectives andrequirements. Every e-Competence is a composite of personal attributes (attitudes, capabilities,values, etc.) which complement and integrate themselves in conjunction with other elements(abilities,knowledge, skills,behaviour, experience, etc.) thatare related to contextsofworkandorganisationalcapabilities.

• e-Competences enable ICT professionals to solve problems efficiently and effectively incooperationwithotherprofessionalsandtoachieveobservableresults.Inaddition,competenciesenablethemtodealwithchangingprofessionalcontexts.

• Furthermore, the necessity and the ability for further development are integrated in e-Competences. ICT professionals operate in changing environments, they deal with changingcontextsandthereforethewillingnessandtheability to learn(everywhere,butespecially in theworkplace)arepartofeverycompetence.

5.3 Dimension3:Fiveworkproficiencylevels–degreesofbeingcapableinadynamicandchangingworld

Competencescanbespecifiedmorepreciselybythedegreeofperformancecapabilityoftheindividual.Inthee-CF,ICTsectorspecificdegreeofindividualperformancecapabilityarecalledthe“proficiencylevel”.These levels describe a degree of mastery that allows an individual to function independently in theperformance of a specific knowledge application, skill domain or competence. The e-CF defines twodifferent descriptions of proficiency level: the general level parameter (EN 16234-1, Annex A) and theproficiencylevelsdefinedindividuallyforeachcompetence.TheyformDimension3ofthee-CF.

5.3.1 Theproficiencyleveldefinition

Ingeneralcompetencesaredemonstratedabilitiestoapplyknowledge,skillsandattitudesforachievingobservable results. For each competence, different levels of performance are possible. So, proficiencylevelsdescribethedegreeofmasteryrequiredbyaprofessionaltomeetdifferentlevelsofperformance.Proficiency levels aremade up of five criteria. Onemain criterion, coming from the organisational andenterprise perspective, is the degree of mastery of complexity. Because complexity, including highdynamicsandrapidchanges, isoneof themost importantcharacteristicsofmodernworldandmodernwork [16], even in the ICT sector. Further criteria for performance levels such as personal autonomy,behaviour and influence arise from the individual workplace perspective. The necessary degree ofmastery of complexity results from the complexity of the context. It extends from structured tounstructured and frompredicable tounpredictable.Naturally, themoredynamic andunpredictable thecontexts are, the higher the related competence level. The same applies to individual autonomy andinfluence, also resulting in typical behaviour (an observable outcome), e.g. planning or supervisingrequires a higher level of competence than applying or maintaining. Table 1 shows the criteria forcompetencelevelgraduationinthee-CF:

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Table1—Thefoure-CFlevelparametersinfluencingthee-CFleveldescriptionsfrome-1toe-5

ContextComplexity

Autonomy Influence Behaviour e-CFLevelDescriptions

Unpredictable–unstructured

Demonstratessubstantialleadershipandindependencein

context

DeterminesStrategy

Conceiving,transforming,innovating,…

…Recognisedinsideandoutsidetheorganisationforinnovativesolutions…

↟ ↟ ↟ ↟ ↟

Structured–predictable

Demonstrateslimitedindependencewherecontextsaregenerally

stable…

Implementsinstructions Applying,adapting

Abletoapplyknowledgeandskillstosolvestraight

forwardproblems

Tobeabletodescribeproficiency levels, thecriteriamustbegradedindifferentiatedways.Baseduponprevious studies ([17], [18], [19], [13]), initially competences can be grouped into levels by using therelationshipbetweentypicalworkoractivitiesandcontextcomplexity:

• “Doing”, “making”: related to concrete actions and referred to either predictable orunpredictable contexts. E.g.: doing, using, applying, adapting, developing, deploying,maintaining,repairing,findingbasic-simplesolutions;

• “Co-ordinating”, “operating”:relatedtoconcreteactionsandreferredtoeitherpredictableorunpredictablecontextssubjecttochanges.E.g.:scheduling,organizing,integrating,carryingon,findingstandardsolutions;

• “Observing”, “analysing”, “listening to”, “controlling”, “driving”: related to “conceptualizing”andreferredtoeitherpredictableorunpredictablecontextssubjecttochanges.E.g.:surveying,designing, managing, supervising, monitoring, evaluating, improving, finding non-standardsolutions;

• “Choosing”, “communicating”, “enhancing”: related to “conceptualizing” and “by definition”referred to unpredictable contexts. E.g.: decision-making, team-building, personnel forming,performancesreviewing;

• “Conceiving”,“visioning”,“foreseeing”:relatedto“conceptualizing”and“bydefinition”referredtounpredictablecontexts.E.g.:planning,transforming,andinnovating.

Degreesofindividualautonomyrelatetocontextcomplexityandrangefrom“limitedindependencewherecontextsaregenerallystable”upto“substantialleadershipandindependencewherecontextsarenovel”.Degreesofinfluencerepresentafurthercriterionforthedescriptionofproficiencylevels.Theyaretypicalapplicable to workplace and organisational contexts and rage from “implementing instructions” to“determining[enterprise/organisation/department/ICT/...]strategy”.

However, it isnecessary to combineall criteria todefineeachof the five ICT sector specificproficiencylevels.Thisthenleadstotheresultingleveldescriptors,supplementedbythetypicalobservablebehaviourforeachproficiencylevel.

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Table2—EN16234-1TableA.1–e-Competencelevelse-1toe-5

Levels e-CFLeveldescriptor e-CFlevelparametersinfluencingthee-CFleveldescriptor

Influence Complexity Autonomy Behaviour

e-5

Overallaccountabilityandresponsibility;recognisedinsideandoutsidetheorganisationfor

innovativesolutionsandforshapingthefutureusingoutstandingleading

edgethinkingandknowledge.

Determinesstrategy

Unpredictable–unstructured

Demonstratessubstantialleadershipandindependencein

contextswhicharenovelrequiringthesolvingofissuesthatinvolvemanyinteractingfactors.

Conceiving,transforming,innovating,findingcreativesolutionsbyapplicationofawiderangeoftechnicaland/ormanagement

principles.

e-4

Extensivescopeofresponsibilitiesdeployingspecialisedintegration

capabilityincomplexenvironments;fullresponsibilityforstrategicdevelopmentofstaffworkinginunfamiliarandunpredictable

situations.

Providesexecutiveleadership

Demonstratesleadershipandinnovationin

unfamiliar,complexandunpredictable

environments.Addressesissuesinvolvingmanyinteractingfactors.

e-3

Respectedforinnovativemethodsanduseofinitiativeinspecifictechnicalorbusinessareas;

providingleadershipandtakingresponsibilityforteam

performancesanddevelopmentinunpredictableenvironments.

Consults Structured–unpredictable

Worksindependentlytoresolveinteractive

problemsandaddressescomplexissues.Hasapositiveeffectonteam

performance.

Planning,makingdecisions,supervising,buildingteams,formingpeople,reviewingperformances,findingcreativesolutionsbyapplicationofspecifictechnicalorbusinessknowledge/skills.

e-2

Operateswithcapabilityandindependenceinspecified

boundariesandmaysuperviseothersinthisenvironment;

conceptualandabstractmodelbuildingusingcreativethinking;usestheoreticalknowledgeandpracticalskillstosolvecomplexproblemswithinapredictableandsometimesunpredictablecontext.

Appliesandadapts

Worksundergeneralguidanceinan

environmentwhereunpredictablechangeoccurs.Independentlyresolvesinteractive

issueswhicharisefromprojectactivities.

Designing,managing,surveying,monitoring,evaluating,improving,findingnonstandard

solutions.Scheduling,organising,

integrating,findingstandardsolutions,interacting,

communicating,workinginteam.

Structured–predictable

e-1

Able to apply knowledge and skillsto solve straight forwardproblems;responsible for own actions;operatinginastableenvironment.

Implementsinstructions

Demonstrateslimitedindependencewherecontextsaregenerallystablewithfewvariable

factors.

Applying,adapting,developing,deploying,maintaining,repairing,findingbasic-simple

solutions.

Pleasenote:Proficiencyleveldescribedifferentdegreesofindividualperformancecapability,buttheydonotdefineratingorrankingwithinanorganisation.

Appropriateornecessarylevelrequirementsdependupontheenvironmentalcontext(organisationalandbeyond) plus the situational requirements and the specific combination of competences of theprofessional.

5.3.2 RelationshiptolearninglevelsandtheEuropeanQualificationFramework(EQF)

The European Qualifications Framework (EQF) is a common European reference framework forqualifications.ThepurposeoftheEQFistocomparequalificationsandlearningoutcomes,emanatingfrom

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differentcountriesandnationaleducationsystems.Forthispurpose,theEQFdefineseightlearninglevelsusingdescriptorsfor“Knowledge”,“Skills”,and“ResponsibilityandAutonomy”[20].

ThegeneralstructureofEQFlearninglevelsande-CFproficiencylevelsaresimilarandfurthermorebothframeworksincorporatecontextcomplexityandautonomytodifferentiatelevels.Bothperspectives–thee-CFandtheEQF–areinterrelated,asqualificationscontributetopersonalandcompetencedevelopment.Despite different foundations, it is possible to build a bridge between the two frameworks by relatingcomparablelevels.

Thee-CFdescribescompetenceasbeingneededandappliedintheworkplacewhichexcludesEQFlevels1and2astheyarenotrelevanttoICTsectorworkplacecompetence

ThedifferentiationbetweenEQFlevel4and5istoosmalltobereflectedine-CFlevelsandforthisreasontheyarecombinedintothesinglee-Competencelevele-2.

Table3—EQFande-Competencelevelsrelationships

e-Competencelevel relatedtoEQFlevel

e-5 8

e-4 7

e-3 6

e-2 4and5

e-1 3

e-CFlevelse-3ande-4offerastraight-forwardrelationshiptoEFQlevels6and7

e-5levelrelationshiptoEQFlevel8ismorenuanced.EQFlevel8focussesuponveryadvancedknowledgeat the cutting edge. In comparison, e-CF level 5, requires in depth experience and ability to actindependentlyincomplexandnovelsituations,implyingextensiveknowledgealthoughnotnecessarily‘atthecuttingedge’.Although thisdemonstratesnon-equivalenceofknowledge,by taking intoaccount theadditionale-CFlevel5criteria,itisfeasibletorelatee-CFlevel-5toEQFlevel-8.

Due to different focuses, EQF for learning levels and e-CF for work proficiency levels one to one leveldirect matches cannot be claimed. However, the overall relationship offers a general orientation andapproximationtoprovideaconsistentbridgeandsharedlanguagebetweenICTProfessionalcompetencedemandandICTqualificationsupply.

5.3.3 Suitableproficiencylevelforeachcompetence

Proficiency levels are defined individually for each competence and they build a bridge betweenorganizational and individual competence. From the organizational perspective, proficiency levelsdescribemeaningfulrequirementsofthecompetence.Fromtheindividualperspective,proficiencylevelsdefinethedegreeofcompetencerequiredofanICTprofessionaltomeettherequirement.

Proficiencylevelsaredefinedanddescribedfromtwoviewpoints:

• by determining the degree of autonomy, behaviour, complexity and influence typical of an e-Competencelevel(seetheleveltable,above,clause5.3.1),and

• the provision of examples, relating to demonstrable abilities and describing typical observableresultsofaspecificlevelofane-Competence(seethecompetencedefinition,above,chapter5.2).

Typicalexamplesareproficiencylevelsofthee-CompetenceE.8.InformationSecurityManagement.Threelevelse-2toe-4existforthiscompetence.

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Table4—Example:Leveldescriptorsofe-CompetenceE.8.InformationSecurityManagement

Dimension1e-Comp.area E.MANAGE

Dimension2e-competence:Title+genericdescription

SHALLAPPLY

E.8.InformationSecurityManagement

Manages information and systems security policy accounting for technical, human,organisationalandotherrelevantthreats,inlinewiththeITandbusinessstrategyandreflectingtheriskcultureoftheorganisation.Deploysandmanagestheoperationalandspecialist(fore.g.forensics,threatintelligenceandintrusiondetection)resourcesneededtoensurethecapacitytomanage security incidents, and makes recommendations for the continuous improvement ofsecuritypolicyandstrategy.

Dimension3

e-Competenceproficiencylevelse-1toe-5,relatedtoEQFlevels3to8

SHALLAPPLY

Level1 Level2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5

--

Systematicallyscans theenvironment toidentify anddefinevulnerabilitiesand threats.Records andescalates non-compliance.

Evaluates securitymanagement measuresand indicators anddecides if compliant toinformation securitypolicy. Investigates andinstigates remedialmeasurestoaddressanysecuritybreaches.

Provides leadershipfor the integrity,confidentiality andavailability of datastored oninformation systemsandcomplieswithalllegalrequirements.

--

For instance: “Monitoring” is a typical behaviour for level e-2 performance. Level 2 of E.8 starts with“Systematically scans”. The level of autonomy is marked by “Works under general guidance in anenvironmentwhere unpredictable change occurs” so Level 2 of E.8 determines “Records and escalatesnon-compliance.”Inaddition,theidentificationandescalationofvulnerabilitiesaredemonstrableabilitiesandrefertoobservableresultssuchasidentifiedvulnerabilitiesandrecordedviolations.

Level 4 of E.8 is not only an example of influence level “Provides executive leadership” but also ofcomplexity level “Unpredictable – unstructured” with the resulting level of (necessary) autonomy,“Addresses issues involving many interacting factors”: “Provides leadership for the integrity,confidentiality and availability of data stored on information systems and complies with all legalrequirements.”Atlevel4of“InformationSecurityManagement”,“integrity,confidentialityandavailabilityofdata”aretheobservableresults.

Notingtheseexamples,itbecomesclearerwhyonlytwoorthreelevelsaredefinedformostcompetences:Itisveryunusual,inreality,foracompetencetobedescribedatmorethreelevelsasthiswouldresultinextending the competence description beyond its (dimension 2) definition. The following example isprovidedforclarification:

Thee-CompetenceA.1.“InformationSystemsandBusinessStrategyAlignment”isdefinedas“Anticipateslong term business requirements, influences improvement of the organisation’s process efficiency andeffectiveness. Determines the IS model and enterprise architecture maintaining consistency withorganisational policy and ensuring a secure environment. Recognises potential risks and businessrequirements[...]”.

Thiscompetencethereforeembracesaveryhighdegreeofcomplexityandrequiresaveryhighdegreeofautonomy.Fromthisexampleitcanbeobservedthat“StrategyAlignment”isanactivitythatonlyalignswiththehighestcompetencelevels.

Proficiency levels of e-Competences are cumulative, each level inherits the characteristics of the lowerlevels,inotherwords,higherlevelsincludethefeaturesoflowerlevels.

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5.4 Dimension4:KnowledgeandSkills–thebridgetoeducationandtraining

Knowledgeandskillsembeddedwithine-Competences(Dimension2)aremadeexplicit inDimension4.Knowledge represents abodyof factswhich canbeapplied in a fieldofworkor study, skills representabilities to carry outmanagerial or technical tasks. Skillsmay be cognitive involving the use of logical,intuitiveandcreativethinking)orpractical(involvingmanualdexterityandtheuseofmethods,materials,toolsandinstruments).KnowledgeandskillsmentionedinDimension4areexamples.Theyareprovidedto add value to the competence descriptor and are not intended to be exhaustive. Table 5 and table 6providetwoexamples,forfurtherreferenceseealsochapter5.2.

Table 5 — Example: Knowledge and skills specifications in dimension 4 of e-Competence A.3.BusinessPlanDevelopment

Dimension1e-Comp.area

A.PLAN

Dimension2e-competence:Title+genericdescriptionSHALLAPPLY

A.3.BusinessPlanDevelopmentAddresses the design and structure of a business or product plan including theidentificationofalternativeapproachesaswellasreturnoninvestmentpropositions.Considersthepossibleandapplicablesourcingmodels.Presentscostbenefitanalysisandreasonedargumentsinsupportoftheselectedstrategy.Ensurescompliancewithbusiness risk and technology strategies. Communicates and sells business plan torelevantstakeholdersandaddressespolitical,financial,andorganisationalinterests.

Dimension4KnowledgeexamplesKnows/awareof/familiarwithMAYAPPLY

K1businessplanelementsandmilestonesK2presentandfuturemarketsizeandneedsK3 competition and SWOT analysis techniques (for product features and also theexternalenvironment)K4valuecreationchannelsK5profitabilityelementsK6theissuesandimplicationsofsourcingmodelsK7financialplanninganddynamicK8newemergingtechnologiesK9riskandopportunityassessmenttechniques

SkillsexamplesIsabletoMAYAPPLY

S1addressandidentifyessentialelementsofproductorsolutionvaluepropositionsS2definetheappropriatevaluecreationchannelsS3buildadetailedSWOTanalysisS4 generate short and long-term performance reports (e.g. financial – incl. TCOanalysis,profitability,usageandvaluecreation)S5identifymainmilestonesoftheplanS6identifyareasofoperationalandinformationrisk

Table6—Example:Knowledgeandskillsspecificationsindimension4ofe-CompetenceD.7DataScienceandAnalytics

Dimension1e-Comp.area

D.ENABLE


D.7.DataScienceandAnalyticsUses and applies data analytic techniques such as data mining, machine learning,prescriptiveandpredictiveanalyticstoapplydatainsighttoaddresstheorganisation’schallenges and opportunities. Identifies, extracts and integrates heterogeneous datafromawide rangeof sources respectingethical aspects andguaranteeing compliancewith data privacy regulations. Assesses existing data and identifies new datarequirementsincludingsocialnetworksandopendatafororganisationalbenefit.

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Dimension4KnowledgeexamplesKnows/awareof/familiarwithMAYAPPLY

K1dataminingandprocessingtechniques(e.g.textmining,regression,statistical,classification,association)K2visualisationtoolsK3machinelearningalgorithms(e.g.decisiontrees,regression,valuedecomposition,geneticalgorithms)K4foundationsofopendataandmeta-dataK5dataanalyticstoolsandservices(e.g.predictiveanalytics,prescriptiveanalytics,graphdataanalytics,qualitativeanalytics)K6dataarchitecture,datatypesanddataformatsK7datastorage(e.g.databases,datawarehousesanddatalakes)K8datalifecycleandorganisationalworkflowK9ethicalissuesK10legalregulations(IPR,GDPR)K11fairdatamanagementprinciples(findable,accessible,interoperable,reusable)

SkillsexamplesIsabletoMAYAPPLY

S1applyanalyticsandstatisticalmethodsforlargedatasetsS2applyandimplementsdatacurationanddataqualitycontrolsS3maintaindataintegrityandinteroperabilityS4usecloud-baseddatastorage,processingandvisualisationservicesS5usebigdataanalyticsplatformsS6applyrelationalandnon-relationaldatabasesS7applyETLprocesses

The traditional aim of conventional learning is to impart knowledge and skills. At school, for instance,children learnhistoryandmaths, atuniversity students attend lectures, they readand study to acquireknowledge and in vocational training, learners practice skills using physical tools. These activities areregularly recognized by the awarding of qualifications. Alternatively expressed, qualifications mainlyrecognize knowledge and skills acquisition. In contrast, competences articulate abilities, where anindividual is able todo somethingwithin a specific context. Competences areholisticunits that includecomplex behaviours. Specifically, within the e-CF, competence is a demonstrated ability to applyknowledge, skills and attitudes for achieving observable results. Attitudes reflect the way, ICTprofessionals integrate knowledge and skills and apply them in a contextually appropriatemanner andskills also encompass behavioural skills, which are used to successfully engage with situations in theworkplace.Behaviouralskillsmayrefertoworkquality,socialinteractionoremotion.Examplesinclude,communication, empathy, attention to detail and integrity. In conclusion, in relation to competence,knowledgeandskillsarenecessaryandvaluablebutareinsufficienttocharacterizecompetence.

Figure6—principalrelationshipsfromknowledgeandskillstocompetence

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Thefollowingisalsoimportantforunderstandingandusingthee-CF.Thee-CF,inordertoofferacommonlanguage, must be as independent as possible from company-specific job descriptions, nationalqualifications or certifications (see above, chapter 5.2). Furthermore, the competence concept (see alsochapter 5.2) integrates the different perspectives of individuals, organisations and the workplace.Therefore,competencedescriptionsarebroadandgeneric.

The identification of knowledge and skills, is predicated upon a specific perspective and reflects thecontext of the viewpoint. For example, it is important to understand basics and acquire theoreticalknowledgeduringstudies.Intheworkplace,thefocusismoreoncompanyandprocess-relatedknowledgeandthedevelopmentofpersonalskills.

Therefore,inrecognitionofthebreadthofknowledgeandskillsarisingfromthesemultipleperspectives,thee-CFonlyprovidesexampleswhicharenotassignedtolevels.Instead,examplesofferinspirationandorientation for the identification of further context specific knowledge and skills assignment. Theadvantageof this approach is thatknowledgeand skills can representbothe-Competencesandmaybetranslatedintolearningoutcomestobeachievedthroughlearningortrainingpaths.Consequently,skillsand knowledge represent the opportunity to provide a bridge between workplace competences andeducationortrainingprogrammes.

5.5 Transversalaspects:Therelationshipbetweendimensionsandtransversalstatements

Thee-CFisdesignedtobeunderstoodfromtheviewpointofmanystakeholders;tofulfilthisremitandtoprovideacommonlanguageformultipleusers,itadoptstheprinciplethat‘lessismore”tofocusonwhatmatters.Thisapproachisbalancedwiththeneedtoalsoencompasscomplexconceptsthatareessentialfor the fulfilment of each competence. Transversal aspects support this aim by providing additionalimportantdetailwhilstkeepingdimension2competencestatementstoamanageablelength.

Thecompetencedefinitionadoptedbythee-CFadopts ‘attitude ’asan importantdefiningcharacteristic.Attitude is not explicitly delineated in the framework but is embedded within e-CF statements.Transversalaspectsprovidefurtherattitudinalreferencestoenhanceandelaboratetherepresentationofthesecomplexhumanbehaviourswithincompetencedescriptions.Asdescribed later, two terms, ‘beingaware of’ and ‘behaving proactively’ are used to describe the ways in which transversal aspects aredeployedandtheyprovideelaborationoftheattitudeexpectationforeachcompetence.

Competence statements within dimension 2 of EN 16234-1 “e-Competence Framework (e-CF) aresupported in dimension 4 by examples of knowledge and skills to provide additional clarity to thearticulation of the 42 ICT statements. The use of ‘examples of knowledge and skills’ reflects theimpracticabilityofincorporatingeverypossiblescenariowithincompetencestatements.

Transversal statements provide generic expansion of dimension 2 descriptions and contain furtherattitude,knowledgeandskillselementswhichcomplementdimension4examples.

Competencesareverybroadstatementsencompassingnumerousactivitiesthatincludeelementsofskillsandknowledge thatmaybecommontomanyotherdescriptions.Forexample, it is commonlyacceptedthatdatasecurityisapervasiveissuethatmustbeconsideredregardlessofanITprofessional’sactivity.Aspecific reference to security requirements could be incorporated within each of the 42 competencestatements.However, it isalso important thatall competencesareconductedwithin theconfinesof thelawandspecific textcouldbe incorporatedtoaccount for this imperative.Asthe listof these importanttopics continues it can be concluded that collectively, their incorporation would obscure fundamentalunderstandingofthecorecompetencemeaning.7topicsofimportantrelevancetoeverycompetencearelistedbelow:

• Accessibility(T1)

• Ethics(T2)

• ICTlegalissues(T3)

• Privacy(T4)

• Security(T5)

• Sustainability(T6)

• Usability.(T7)

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Theprovisionoftransversalstatementsoffersashort-handnarrativereducingduplicationandreinforcingtheimportanceoftheseessentialelementswithinallcompetences.However,therelativeimportanceandcontextual relevance of each transversal aspect varies across the competence range. For example; it isobvious that the ‘Application Development’ competence (B1) must incorporate skills and knowledgerelevant to the prevention of unauthorised application access, or in other words, involve the need to‘behave proactively’ with regard to security. However, it is also commonly accepted that security is asystemic requirement and must be addressed at every IT process stage. In consequence, attention tosecurity is inherent in every competence and is addressed by use of the term ‘being aware’ of securityrisks.

As a further example; ethics is an important aspect of A.1. Information Systems and Business StrategyAlignmentandtherefore ‘behavingproactively’ isarelevantstatement linkingethics toA.1. InformationSystemsandBusinessStrategyAlignment.However,whendeployingthecompetenceB.5.DocumentationProduction,‘beingawareof’ethicsisthemostlikelywayofapplyingthistransversalstatement.

Thestructureofeachtransversalaspectconsistsofatitlefollowedbyagenericdescriptiontobeappliedaccording to context. Each transversal aspect is relevant to every competence however, itmay vary inrelative importance and intensity. To accommodate this variance across the breadth of 42 e-CFcompetence descriptions, the transversal approach incorporates the use of two alternative precedingstatements;‘beingawareof’or‘behavingproactively’withregardtothetransversalaspectdescription.

By design, the terms ‘being aware’ or ‘behaving proactively’ in conjunction with the seven transversalaspects,offerflexibleterminologyforexpandedcompetencearticulation.

Furthermore,theestablishmentofan‘ITProfession’reliesupontheestablishmentofaprofessionalcodeof ethics and a foundational body of knowledge both of which can be readily related to ‘TransversalAspects”of thee-CF.Additionally,owing to thegeneralised formatof thedescriptionsa linkagemaybeestablishedwiththefundamentalsofotherprofessionalbodies.

5.6 Thee-CFasEN16234–normativeandinformative

TheEuropean e-CompetenceFramework is published as aEuropeanNorm. It is therefore important todifferentiate between the parts of the framework providing the standard and the flexible elementsprovidedforinspirationandfurtherelaborationwithinthecontextoftheframeworkapplication.

• Dimension1, structuredbythe fivemainbusinessprocessesPLAN–BUILD–RUN–ENABLE–MANAGE provides the entry point to the framework. Themain purpose of this dimension is toprovide navigation and structured access to the e-Competences articulated in dimension 2.Allocatingane-Competencetoaspecifice-Competenceareaisnotanexactscience.However,forpragmaticorientationandframeworkusage,itisimportanttoassigneachcompetencetoalogicalareaofthestructure.

• Dimension2, composedof a generic title andcomprehensivedescription,provides theheartofthee-Competencestandard.

• Dimension3,levelassignments,definedbythee-CFleveltable,providethesecondelementofthestandard’sdefinitions.However,itisnecessarytounderstandthatlevel3descriptorsarederivedfromstakeholderagreedexamplesofthecompetenceperformanceappliedateachlevel,whilstthedefinition of the dimension 3 standard is provided by the e-CF level table backing each leveldescription.

• Dimension4,knowledgeandskillsexamples,areanunstructuredelementoftheframeworkandarenotprovidedasastandard.Knowledgeandskillsexamplesarisefrommulti-stakeholderandexpert views, they are provided to further illustrate, inspire and reflect typical competencecontent.

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• TransversalaspectsprovidefoundationalelementsofITProfessionalcompetenceperformance.They offer standard generic references which may be exploited by framework users within aspecificcontext.

Figure7—e-Competenceexample–standardcontentversusexampleelements

6 Thee-CF in theEuropean ICTprofessionalism landscape:Professional conceptandtheEuropeanICTProfessionalRoleProfiles(CWA16458)

TheEuropeane-CompetenceFrameworkprovidesa cornerstone for ICTprofessionalism inEuropeandthewiderdigitalskillslandscape.Thee-CFfitsintothebroaderconceptofICTProfessionalismcomposedof four main building blocks consisting of competences; bodies of knowledge; professional ethics;educationandtraining.

Figure8—Thee-CFbeingoneoffourmainbuildingblocksforICTProfessionalisminEurope

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InEuropeanICTProfessionalismpractice,Textunderdevelopment–e-CFconnectedwiththeforthcomingEuropean Foundational Body of Knowledge for the ICT Profession, ICT Professional Ethics Framework,European ICT Professional Role Profiles. All these interconnected basic concepts and frameworkssupportedbypracticalguidanceonhowto implementandapplytheminorganisation,qualificationandpolicyenvironment.

Figure9—e-CFconnectedwithotherpillarsofICTProfessionalismforEurope

Fourevolutionsofthee-CFhaveculminatedintheestablishmentasaEuropeanstandardpositioningitasacommonreferencepointforthecomplementarydevelopmentofallaspectsofICTprofessionalism.

CENTC428isresponsibleforallaspectsofstandardisationrelatedtomaturingtheICTProfessioninallsectors, public and private. It harmonises activity related to the four major building blocks of ICTProfessionalism:(1)competencesrepresentedbythee-CF(2)educationandtraining,(3)CodeofEthicsand(4)BodyofKnowledge(BoK).

The European ICT Professional Role Profiles make a key contribution to increased transparency andconvergence of the European ICT Skills landscape and to maturing the ICT Profession overall.Incorporatingthecompetencesofthee-CompetenceFrameworkstandardasamaincomponentofprofiledescriptions,the30ICTProfessionalRoleProfilesprovideagenericsetoftypicalrolesperformedbyICTProfessionalsinanyorganisation,coveringthefullICTbusinessprocesses.

Figure10—EuropeanICTProfessionalRoleProfilesFamilyTreeoverview

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TheEuropeanICTProfessionalRoleProfilesprovideasoundstartingpointandinspirationfortheflexiblecreationofmorecontext-specificprofiles,baseduponorganisationalrolesor individual jobdescriptionsfromabroadvarietyofcontexts.

Table7—EuropeanICTProfessionalRoleProfilesexample(8)EnterpriseArchitect

Profiletitle ENTERPRISEARCHITECTROLE(8)

Summarystatement Designs andmaintains the holistic architecture of business processes andinformationsystems.

Mission Maintains a holistic perspective of the organisation strategy, processes,information, security and ICT assets. Links the mission, strategy andbusinessprocessestotheITstrategy.Ensuresprojectchoicesareintegratedconsistently, efficiently and in a sustainable manner according to theenterprise’sdigitalstandards.

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Deliverables Accountable Responsible Contributor

• EnterpriseArchitecture

• BusinessPlan• NewSolutionandCriticalBusinessProcessIntegrationProposal

• KnowledgeorInformationBase

• BusinessProcessDefinition

Maintask/s

• AligndigitalandICTstrategiesandplanningwiththeorganisation’sbusinessgoals

• Anticipatefuturebusinessneedsandplanforhowarchitecturewillsupport/enableit

• Streamlinebusinessprocesses,functions,proceduresandworkflowsandapplyaconsistentimplementationapproach

• Managestakeholderengagementinthedevelopmentofnewprocessesandsystemsandverifiesfeasibility

• Conduct post-implementation reviews to evaluate benefits accruedfromnewprocessesandsystems

• Buildandmaintainstandardsandenterprisearchitecturemodelandprinciples,forexampleprocessmapping

• Evaluate the impact of changes within the ecosystem of theorganisation (including political, technical, social, regulatory, legal)ontheenterprisearchitecture

e-Competences

(frome-CF)

A.1.ISandBusinessStrategyAlignment Level5

A.3.BusinessPlanDevelopment Level4

A.5.ArchitectureDesign Level4

A.7.TechnologyTrendMonitoring Level5

E.8.InformationSecurityManagement Level3

KPIarea Quality and consistency of enterprise architecture aligned with businessobjectives

Byapplyinge-CFcompetencestoICTprofileconstruction,theEuropeanICTProfessionalRoleProfilesalsoprovideatoolandentrypointfore-CFapplicationtoindividualsandorganisationswhowishtoworkwiththee-CFstandard.

7 Relationshipsandinterfacesbetweenthee-CFandotherframeworks

TheWorldEconomicForumconcludeintheirreport‘TheFutureofJobs2018’thatgloballabourmarketswill undergo a major transformation initiated by digitisation in the coming years [21]. To sustainproductivity growth, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) concludesthathavingpolicies to reduceskillmismatches, isakeyareaof importance.Thatsamereport identifies

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frameworks as important instruments to help channel scarce resources and lower the cost of businessfailures[22].

This standard addresses these important topics through the identification of generic global digitalcompetences that apply to ICT professionals and organisations. However, from the outset of e-CFdevelopment, there was awareness that there are numerous frameworks available across Europe andglobally, each createdanddrivenbydifferentmotivesanddesigned toaddressdifferent specific issues.The disparate nature of these structures is, inmost cases, a positive attribute thatmakes each uniqueframework fit for its intended purpose. Some frameworks with extensive scope and coverage mayconvergewiththeperimetersofothersormayatfirstsightbeperceivedtocoversimilartopics.Thiscanbeviewednegativelyowingtotheriskofconfusingpotentialusers,however,iffullyunderstood,itisoftenthecasethatframeworksaremutuallyenrichingandsupportive.

Therefore,therelationshipofthee-CFtootherframeworksissystematicallydescribed(seeAnnexBofEN16234:1-2019) and is compared, related and/or positioned to seven other frameworks, standards orframework types. They include, the European Qualifications Framework (EQF), DigComp, the DigitalCompetenceFrameworkforCitizensandISOstandardsofrelevancetothescopeofthee-CF.Thelistisnotexclusive and grows as new frameworks are designed or uncovered, therefore the essentialmethodologicalaspectsofhowtocompareandmanage,includingsomehintsforpracticalapplication,areofferedbelow.

7.1 Establishingrelationshipsandcreatinginterfaces:thegeneralapproach

The common practice used in describing framework relationships is referred to as mapping wherebyelements of one framework are compared to the elements of another, attempting to establish anequivalenceof content.This canbeusefulwhen there is considerable contentoverlapandcomparisonsarerequiredtosupportintegrationofresults.

Mappingisparticularlyusefulwhenithasthepotentialtoadddetailedcontenttothee-CF.Therearetwoapproachesthatcanbetakentoachievethisoutcome;

• Ononehand, connections canbe established at the ICT-technical level. As ICTprofessionalsdeal with ICT technology, they need to take corresponding ISO standards into account.Therefore, dependent upon the relevant e-competence andworking environment, standardscanunderpinandexpandcompetencecontent(Dimension2),Knowledge&Skills(Dimension4)and/orthetransversalaspects(seeabove,chapter5andEN16234-1:2019,chapterB.8).

• A further possibility is to map results based upon framework structures/process such asdimension 1 of the e-CF. If the framework to be mapped is based on a similar construct,connectionscaneasilybeestablished.ThishasbeenachievedforimportantITorganisationalandmanagement frameworks such as CMMI, Agile/DevOps, TOGRAF, ITIL, PMBOK (see [1],Appendix B and p. 51ff). In addition, a meta model has been created ("Digital CapabilityReferenceFramework”-”DIGIFRAME")thatcombinesorganisationalcapabilities,individuale-Competences and roles and IT organisational andmanagement frameworks in an applicableway(see[1]).

However,inothercases,mappingbetweenthee-CFandotherframeworksproducesmoretenuousresultsor is not possible as the relationships between each of the selected structures are too complex. This isparticularlyrelevantwheretheframeworktobemappedalsoreferstoICT-skillsorqualifications.Typicalexamplesare

• Qualification and training frameworks (like EQF, National and other QualificationFrameworks)

• ICT/digitalrelatedcompetence/skillframeworks(likeDigComp,SFIA)

• Labourmarketframeworks,especiallyESCO

When relating such frameworks or identifying interfaces between them, their particular aims andpurposes (e.g. orientation towards workplace or education or technology or organisational capability),concepts, target groups, perspectives, particular framework underpinning philosophy and principles,becomecrucialtooverallfeasibilityoftheundertaking.

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Ingeneral,itisrelativelyeasyandstraightforwardtorelatetwoframeworkswithsimilarphilosophyyetdifferentlevelsofabstraction,e.g.anationalqualificationframeworkwiththeEQForacompanyspecificcompetencematrixwiththee-CF.

However, relating two frameworkswith different underpinning philosophies and principles is complexandproducesinconclusiveresults.Thisisevenmorethecasewhenbothframeworksareonahighlevelofabstraction.

Despitethesechallenges,itisveryusefultoexploreandelaboratespecificinter-relationshipstorevealtheoverallorientationandapplicationofdifferentframeworks.Thefollowingstepsareofferedasapracticalapproach;

• highlight the main differences between philosophy and principles of the two (or more)frameworks,

• defineconnectingpointsandinterfacesbetweenthem(iftheyexist)and

• exploretheopportunitiestolearnonefromtheother.

A template has been established to position the e-CF in relation to other frameworks and to identifyinterfaces. The following table “Comparison of principles applied by framework NN and of the e-CF”servesasatoolforcomparison.

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Table8—ComparisonofprinciplesappliedbyframeworkNNandofthee-CF

7.2 Overviewofe-CFinterfacescreatedwithotherframeworks

Aspreviouschaptersshow,lookingintoexistingframeworkswasanessentialfirststepwhencreatingthee-CFstructure.Once itwas finalised in its firstversion, thee-CFprovidedsystematic relationshipswiththreemajornationalITProfessionalFrameworks,

• CIGREFnomenclatureofjobprofiles(France)

• SFIAskillsfortheInformationAge(UK)

Philosophy andprinciples

e-CF OtherFramework

Scope ICTProfessionals (…)

Targetgroups Stakeholders dealing with ICT Professionalcompetencesfrommultipleperspectives,inparticular:

—ICTservice,demandandsupplycompanies;

— ICT professionals, managers and human resource(HR)departments;

— vocational education institutions and trainingbodiesincludinghighereducation;

— social partners (trade unions and employerassociations);

— professional associations, accreditation, validationandassessmentbodies;

—marketanalystsandpolicymakers;and

—otherorganizationsandstakeholdersinpublicandprivatesectorsacrossEurope.

(…)

Aimsandpurposes “a common European language for ICT workplace-relatedcompetences, skills and proficiency levels as required andappliedbyprofessionalsofthesector.”

(…)

Basisstructure businessprocessesdealwithICTsystems:plan,build,run,enable,manage

(…)

Understandingof...

competence “Competenceisademonstratedabilitytoapplyknowledge,skillsandattitudesforachievingobservableresults”.“This is a holistic concept directly related to workplaceactivitiesandincorporatingcomplexhumanbehaviours...”

(…)

levels “Fivee-Competenceproficiencylevels[…]focusspecificallyon“demonstratedabilities”inpracticalworkexperiences.”“…levelscanbedefinedthroughthreedimensions:1.Autonomy[...]2.Contextcomplexity[...]3.Behaviourhererepresentinganobservableoutcome...”

(…)

(…) (…) (…)

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• TheGermanAdvancedITTrainingSystem(AITTS)andVETProfessions.

Theserelationshipshavebeenupdatedandcontinuouslyenrichedby thecreationof interfaces tootherrelevantframeworksfromthedigitallandscape,orbye-CFinitiativeorinitiatedbytheframeworkownersthemselves.

Most recently, Annex B of EN16234-1:2019 provides a series of up-to-date and mutually agreedrelationshipreportsabouttheconnectionsandinterfaceswithaseriesofstructures,manyoftheme-CFcomplementary:

• EuropeanQualificationsFramework(EQF)

• ESCO,theEuropeanClassificationforskills,competencesandoccupations

• DigComp,theDigitalcompetenceFrameworkforCitizens

• P21’s Framework for 21st Century Learning as an example of making behavioural skills inconnectionwiththee-CFexplicit

• SFIA,SkillsfortheInformationAge

• EuropeanICTProfessionalRoleProfilesincludingupdateofthelatestICTProfilesversionbythenewEN16234-1:2019competences

• RelatedISOstandardsandstandardisationinitiatives

Inaddition,arecentstudyonDigitalOrganisationalFrameworksandICTProfessionalismprovidesaveryuseful overview of how the e-CF embraces and connectswith current ICT industry standards,many ofthemrelatedtoe-CFsub-processes,specificcompetences,etc.

Figure11—e-CFasamajorumbrellainterfacetomultipleICTindustrystandards

A further systematic relationship with EuroINF, the European Quality label providing AccreditationcriteriaforInformaticsDegreeprogramsiscurrentlyunderinvestigation.

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8 e-CF creation and maintenance: a combination of sound methodology andexpertcontribution

Developmenthistory.In2005,furthertotherecommendationsoftheEuropeane-SkillsForum,theCENICTSkillsWorkshopmembersagreedthatnationalICTframeworkstakeholdersaswellasEuropeanICTindustry representatives – both human resources and ICT experts – should consider developing aEuropeane-CompetenceFramework.Encouraged and accompanied by the EuropeanCommission, ICT framework stakeholders coming fromtheFrenchassociationof largeICTdemandcompaniesCIGREF,theSFIArepresentingsectorassociatione-Skills UK and the AITTS representing German social partners IG Metall and BITKOM met withrepresentativesfromEuropeanlargercompanies(Airbus,Michelin)andtheappliedresearchfoundationFondazionePolitecnicodiMilano forakick-offearly2006 inorder toputthis intention intopractice.Duringan intensive follow-up, theydesigned aprogramme towork towards aEuropeane-CompetenceFramework under the umbrella of the CENWorkshop on ICT Skills. These effortswerewelcomed andrecognized in the Communication of the European Commission on “e-Skills for the 21st Century:Fostering Competitiveness, Growth and Jobs” of September 2007 and the Competitiveness CouncilConclusionsofNovember2007.Inorder to achieve aEuropeanagreementanduseful results at an international andnational level, theEurope-wide involvement of further ICT sector players and stakeholders from business, politics andeducationhasbeencrucialtotheframeworkdevelopmentphilosophyandstrategy.Whilstatthepoliticallevel itwas important toget the largermulti-stakeholderpublicof theEuropeanICTsectorengaged, attheexpertworking level, focuswasplaceduponHRand ITmanagementknow-how fromtheEuropeanICTindustry.The European e-Competence Framework version 1.0 was published in 2008 from the outcome of twoyears e-Skills multi-stakeholder, ICT and human resources experts’ work from multiple organizationlevels(CWA15893-1andCWA15893-2).TheEuropeane-CompetenceFrameworkversion2.0waspublishedin2010,nowalsowithdimension4fullydeveloped,anditwasaccompaniedbyanupdateduserguideandanewlydevelopedmethodologydocumentation.Presented inCWA16234-1,CWA16234-2andCWA16234-3, thesecondversionof theframeworkbuiltuponthee-CFversion1.0,takingintoaccountthefirste-CFapplicationexperienceandfeedback from ICT stakeholders across Europe. An easy to use on-line tool was published to supportnavigationthroughtheframeworkanduser-specificprofilebuildinginEnglishlanguage.The European e-Competence Framework version 3.0 was presented in 2014 by the CWA16234:2014document, being the result of the CEN ICT skills Workshop Project “e-CF support and maintenance –towards e-CF version 3.0” (2012-2013). Version 1.0 was focused upon pioneering development ofdimensions 1,2 and 3 and version 2.0 provided theframework developed in all four dimensions.Version 3.0 project activity was guided by the overall maturity of the e-CF, reviewing frameworkunderlyingprinciples,content,pluspracticalacceptanceandusebydeployingstakeholders.Within CEN/TC 428, CWA 16234:2014 was transferred into the European Standard EN16234-1:2016,substitutingandidenticincontentwiththepreviouslypublishedCWA.TheEN16234e-CFstandardisamajorcontributiontotheEuropeanUnion’sSkillsagendaandthedigitalskillsandjobscoaltion,providingakeypillarofICTProfessionalismforEurope.

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8.1 Creationofthee-CF:Thecompetenceconcept

Identifying, clustering and describing ICT-competences required access to considerable expertise,experienceandindustryknowledgefromthee-CFexpertsandtheEuropeanICTstakeholders.Tofocusthisexpertise,threeprincipleswereadopted:

(1) Criteria for including competences:Alldecisionsaboutnewcompetence inclusionweremadebythee-CFexpertsandalsotheEuropeanstakeholders.Criteriawerebasedonthevalueandinterestintheproposednewcompetenceanditsexploitationpotential.Forinclusionacompetenceneededtobewidelyusedandpractised(notjustafashionabletrend)andbecapableofintegrationintothee-CFframework in a consistent and coherentway. For example, anewcompetence about “Green-IT”,wasinvestigated for inclusion in the e-CF 2.0. Green-IT can be considered as a fashionable trend withunspecified substance. However “Sustainable development”, the competence finally adopted ascompetenceA.8, ismoretangibleandcanbeexpressed in termsofenvironmental impactandenergyconsumption.

(2) Relationshipsbetweentasksandcompetences:Differentiationbetweencompetenceandtaskisimportant to ensure competence framework integrity. Competence is described as an observablebehaviour showing a “demonstrated ability to apply knowledge, skills and attitudes for achievingobservable results”. . A task is an action or a set of actions required carrying out a job activity. Thedefining difference between a task and a competence is the vital inclusion of personal and socialcomponentssuchasattitudes,whicharevital integral ingredientsofcompetence.Withinversion2ofthe e-CF particular attention was given to ensuring that competence descriptors incorporate thenecessary personal and social elements. For instance the following are examples of terminologyintroduced to reflect these requirements; “make sound decisions”, “systematically develop”, “actscreatively”,“providesleadership”,etc.Thisattentionwasalsofocusedonexistingcompetencescarriedoverfromversion1ofthee-CF.

(3) Granularity of competences: Competences represent holistic, comprehensive and long lastingconcepts and therefore shall be of a low level of granularity. However, it is not easy to define orbenchmark low, medium or high graduations of “granularity”. In consequence, the application ofcommon sense and the fruits of discussions between stakeholders and experts pragmaticallydetermined competence description granularity. In general, competence granularity should be lowerthan skill granularity, as skills are competence components; but higher than a role profile.However,somegranularitycompromiseshadtobemade,forinstance,makingacompetencehigherthanidealtoenablelogicalconnectionsbetweensomeotherjobprofilesandframeworks.

8.2 Creationofthee-CF:Thelevelconcept

Manycompetence,educationorknowledgebasedframeworksuse levelstodifferentiateperformanceorcapability through theuseofdefinedcriteria.Forexample,mosteducationalqualificationsarenotexpressedbyasimplepassorfailmarkbutaresignifiedbyagrade,representedbyanumberorletter,toidentifylevelofachievement.

Thee-CFusesproficiencylevelstoidentifyworkplacecompetencerequirements.

Typically,ITprofessionalsprogressthroughanorganisationalcareerpathalignedwiththeirgrowthina combination of attributes such as of knowledge, skills, experience and maturity. Career pathstructures differ between organisations but broadly follow similar routes, starting from a lowexperience,knowledgeandskillsbase, rising insteps to thehighest levelofcapability.Forpragmaticreasonsthee-CFhasadoptedafive-stageprogressionroutetoreflecttypicalindustrystructures.

In support of this alignment with organisational role structures, e-CF level descriptors deploy thelanguageofITorganisationstodifferentiatecompetencelevels,asdescribedbelow;

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Table9—e-CFleveldescriptorsdeployingITorganisationlanguage

e-CFLevels e-CFLeveldescriptor

5 Overallaccountabilityandresponsibility;recognised insideandoutsidetheorganisationforinnovativesolutionsandforshapingthefutureusingoutstandingleadingedgethinkingandknowledge.

4 Extensive scope of responsibilities deploying specialised integration capability in complexenvironments;fullresponsibilityforstrategicdevelopmentofstaffworkinginunfamiliarandunpredictablesituations.

3 Respectedforinnovativemethodsanduseofinitiativeinspecifictechnicalorbusinessareas;providing leadership and taking responsibility for team performances and development inunpredictableenvironments.

2 Operateswithcapabilityandindependenceinspecifiedboundariesandmaysuperviseothersin this environment; conceptual and abstract model building using creative thinking; usestheoreticalknowledgeandpracticalskillstosolvecomplexproblemswithinapredictableandsometimesunpredictablecontext.

1 Able toapplyknowledgeandskills tosolvestraight forwardproblems;responsible forownactions;operatinginastableenvironment.

It is important to note that although e-CF level descriptors incorporate responsibilities, neither e-CFcompetencesnore-CFlevelsexplicitlydefineextentofresponsibilities.e-CFdescriptorsareprovidedtooffera“realworld”perspectiveontheotherwisesterilecontentofthefiveleveldefinitions.

e-CF level definitions are based upon a combination of four components, ‘Influence’, ‘Complexity’,‘Autonomy’ and ‘Behaviour’. These criteria are further delineated and applied to each e-CF level toprovideanobjectiverepresentationofeach.

Table 2 of this document, identic with EN16234-1:2019 table A.1., illustrates in detail the four keycharacteristicsandhowtheyareblendedtodefineeache-CFlevel.

Toprovide further clarification; e-CF levels are representedbydimension3 tables alignedwith eachcompetence(describedindimension2).Theselevelstatements,withinthetables,aresuppliedforeachrelevant level of competence, normally restricted to two or three, however, a small minority ofcompetences have four associated levels. The level statements provide contextual examples ofcompetence criteria based upon the four defining characteristics of influence, complexity, autonomyandbehaviour.

Taking competence D.4. Purchasing as an example, the competence (dimension 2) description is asfollows.

Table9—e-CompetenceexampleD.4.Purchasingdimension2


D.4.PurchasingAppliesaconsistentprocurementprocedure,includingdeploymentofthefollowingsub processes: specification requirements; supplier identification; proposalanalysis; evaluation of the energy efficiency and environmental compliance ofproducts; suppliers and their processes; contract negotiation; supplier selectionand contract placement. Ensures that the entire purchasing process is fit forpurpose,complianttolegalrequirementsandaddsvaluetotheorganisation.

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Theassociatedlevelstatementsareasfollows:

Table10—e-CompetenceexampleD.4.Purchasingdimension3

Dimension3e-Competenceproficiencylevelse-1toe-5,relatedtoEQFlevels3to8SHALLAPPLY

Level1 Level2 Level3 Level4 Level5

--

Understands andapplies theprinciples of theprocurementprocess; placesorders based onexisting suppliercontracts. Ensuresthe correctexecution oforders, includingvalidation ofdeliverables andcorrelation withsubsequentpayments.

Exploits specialistknowledge to deploythe purchasingprocess, ensuringpositive commercialrelationships withsuppliers. Selectssuppliers, productsand services byevaluatingperformance, cost,timeliness and quality.Decides contractplacement andcomplies withorganisationalpolicies.

Provides leadershipfor the applicationof theorganisation’sprocurementpolicies and makesrecommendationsfor processenhancement.Applies experienceand procurementpractice expertiseto make ultimatepurchasingdecisions.

--

Oncloseexaminationitcanbeobservedthatthelevel2statementalignswith‘appliesandadapts”,

“structured predictable”, “works under general guidance” and “designing, managing, surveying andevaluating”,criteriagenericallydefinedaslevel2characteristics.Likewise,examinationoflevel3and4statementsrevealtheunderlyingcharacteristicsassociatedwitheachlevel.

In summary, the five e-CF proficiency levels are derived from four criteria, influence, complexity,autonomy and behaviour and are expressed in dimension 3 of the e-CF through the use of examplestatements. To provide further clarity each level is contextualised by the articulation of an ITorganisationandworkplacealigned‘e-CFleveldescriptor”.

8.3 Maintenanceofthee-CF:Essentialsfromtheupdateprocess

Each update of the e-CF significantly benefits from the success of previous e-CF implementations.Valuable contributions are provided by experienced and qualified contributors from European ICTbusiness and HR environments. Many stakeholders and experts contribute on a voluntary basisanticipating that the outcome will provide added value to their daily business and work activities.Contributors to theEN16234-1 revision come frommultiplework perspectives and countries acrossEurope and globally, in particular from IT organisations, associations, research, qualification andcertificationinstitutions.

Thisstrongexpertandstakeholderinvolvementonmultiplelevels,forsuccessiveframeworkupdates,is consistent with the high levels of ICT multi-stakeholder feedback, on the standard, which hascontinuously increased. Itprovidedanexcellentbasis for furtherengagementwith theEuropean ICTmulti-stakeholdercommunityforthelatestEN16234-1revision.

Projectprogress,qualityverificationandmarketrelevanceofworkinprogresswasconductedinclosecooperation with ICT and HR business representatives andmultiple European stakeholders. It wasassuredbyafour-levelapproachtotechnicalENdevelopmentandTC428approval:

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1. The CEN nominated expert team, composed of 8 members in total, was responsible forprEN16234-1DRAFTdevelopment.

2. TheexpertteamwassupportedbyhighlyqualifiedexternalexpertsfromICTbusinessandtheHR environment; enriching the expert team perspectives on a voluntary basis by providingadditional insight, experience and expert opinion. They joined the expert team members inexpertworkgroupmeetingsandcontributedtoworkinprogressbetweenmeetings,dependingontheirlevelofinterestandavailability.

3. Based on the above input, the CEN nominated expert team was enabled to develop matureproposalstotheTC428“DigitalCompetencesandICTProfessionalism”.This initiatedthenextimportantprocessstepoffurthercommentingandresultoptimizationincloseinteractionwiththeCENTC428membersenabledbytheTC428Secretariat.

4. Finally, dissemination support by TC428 Communitymembers and interaction of the projectteamwitharound500stakeholdersfromEuropeandparticipantsfromoverseas(invitationtoparticipate in theEN16234-1:2016 “e-CF”user feedbackon-line survey,prEN16234-1DRAFTcommenting phases) assured interaction beyond the TC428 coremembership for the largestpossibleconsolidationandacceptanceofresults.

Theon-linesurvey,CENnominatedexpertteamandexpertworkgroupmeetings,TC428meetingsandfurther technical multi-stakeholder feedback gathering workshops were visible milestones andimportantstepsforoverallprojectprogress.

Detailed feedback received from more than 250 stakeholders across Europe and abroad wassystematically evaluated and considered within the EN16234-1:2019 revision process. Manytechnical suggestionswerebackedbye-CFuserpractical experience thatprovidedhighvalue to theupdateactivity.

Care has also been taken to ensure that existing users of thestandard were able to adopt t h e n ew version EN16234-1:2019without hinderance. The missionwasto limitchangesbutenhancethe framework to ensure relevance and conformance with latest ICT business trends and needs.Further consideration focused upon ensuring continued ease of application for multiple ICTstakeholdersincompliancewiththee-CFFoundingprinciples.

ThestandardupdateEN16234-1.2019wascharacterizedbythefollowinghighlights:

— Reviewoftermsanddefinitions

— Reviewofallexistingcompetencesinthelightoflatestbusinessandtechnologytrends

— Addingthreenewcompetencesinthelightoflatestbusinessandtechnologytrends(A.10UserExperience,C.5SystemsManagement,D.7DataScienceandAnalytics)

— Mergingthreepreviouslyco-existingcompetencestoone(D.5.SalesDevelopment)

— Elaboration of a new e-Competences descriptions by the provision of a complementarytransversal concept (aspects of cross-cutting relevance to any successful ICT professionalcompetenceperformanceincontext)

— AddinginAnnexB,

• a report relatingand/orpositioning this standardagainstother relevant structuresandconceptsinasimilarfield(EQF,ESCO,DigComp).

• Inaddition,P21isreferencedasoneexampleformakingbehaviouralskillsexplicit.• AreportestablishingrelationshipsofthisstandardwithSFIA.

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• AnewrelationshipwiththeEuropeanICTProfessionalProfiles(CWA16458-1:2018)is provided: the competence content of each Professional Profile, including levelassignment,hasbeenalignedwiththisstandard.

• Relationships with relevant ISO standards have been systematically checked withregardtomutualconsistencyinstructure,terminologyand/orcontent.

9 Transferring framework generic methods to competence frameworkconstructioninothersectors

Sinceintroductionin2006,thee-CompetenceFramework(e-CF)hasbecomeanestablishedEuropeancompetence standard and provides the foundation stone for the development of the European ITProfession.

Interesthasbeenexpressedfromotherindustrysectorsregardingtheapplicationoftheframeworktoa wider, non-IT audience. The design and structure of the e-CF lends itself to wider usage and isappealing to industry sectors employing professional staff in many fields such as accountancy,legislationandconstruction(tonameafew).Thefollowingguidanceisofferedtoassistintheadaptionandmodificationofthee-CFtoprovideacompetenceframeworkforotherindustries.

1. The firstessentialaspect for thedevelopmentandestablishmentofasector framework isthecommonunderstandingofcompetenceandanagreementofthestakeholderaboutthecompetence concept. It is possible (but not necessary) to use the definition of the e-CF:competenceas“demonstratedabilitytoapplyknowledge,skillsandattitudesforachievingobservableresults” (seeabovechapter5.2).However,otherdefinitionsofcompetenceareavailableandcouldbeadopted.Theessentialingredientsforacompetencedefinitionmustinclude (1) behaviour, attitudes or ability and (2) task and requirement context.Importantly,itisnecessarythatcompetenceencompassesmorefundamentalelementsthanreferencetoformalqualificationsorcertifications.

2. Thesecondessentialaspectisthedefinitionanddelimitationofthesectororareaandtargetgroupsforwhichtheframeworkistoapply.Thisisusuallylinkedtotheidentificationofthemain objective to be achieved by the development of the framework. There are verydifferent possibilities for the industry or the sector. It can be an established sector (e.g.automotiveindustry)oracross-sectionalarea(ICTprofessionalsinallsectors).Also,itmaybethatpartsofanindustry(e.g.maintenanceandrepairofcars)oraspecifictopic(e.g.datascience) can be considered. The basic structure of the framework should then bedeterminedonthebasisoftheindustryorareadelimitation.ItcouldbeaprocesslikePLAN–BUILD–RUN–ENABLE–MANAGEorsimilar.Otherstructuresarealsoconceivable.Itisdecisive that a meaningful connection can be established between the understanding ofcompetenceandthecontext(company,organisation,workareas,professionalactivitiesorsimilar)inwhichtheframeworkistobeapplied.

3. The third essential aspect relates to the relationship between competence identification,competence description and differentiation between competences. It is about the breadthanddepth, thedegreeof abstractionand thegranularityof competencedescriptions.Thisshouldofcoursebeasuniformaspossible.Butthemostimportantandchallengingaspectistochoosetherightdegreeofgranularity.Thiscannotbedonetheoreticallyandinadvance,rather,initialcompetencedescriptionsmustbecreatedandcomparedwitheachother.Thisisaniterativeprocesswhichincludesdiscussionsandtestswiththerelevantstakeholders.It is necessary to establish the appropriate level of granularity, of abstraction and thebreadth and depth of the competence descriptions. The result be a compromise betweendifferent requirements, such as comprehensibility, practicability, uniformity and manymore.

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4. The fourth essential aspect is the common understanding or concept of levels ofcompetence.Itispossiblethatlevelswillnotberelevantandnotestablished.Aboveall,itisimportanttobeawareofthedifferencesbetweenthepossiblelevelconcepts.Thereareatleast three different understandings of competence levels: as learning levels (like Bloom[13]),asdevelopmentallevels(likeDreyfus/Dreyfus[23])andasproficiencylevels(likeine-CF).Normally,learninglevelsarenotappropriateforasectorframeworkofcompetences,they relate more closely to education and training and qualification frameworks. Bothdevelopmentandskill levelscanbemeaningfullydefined forcompetenceswithinasectorframework,however,itisimportantnottomixthetwoconcepts.

5. Thefifthessentialaspectofdesignistherelationshipofthecompetenceframeworktootherstructures and frameworks, especially to the existing systemof formal qualifications. Thedistinction between competences (especially workplace-related competences) andqualifications is not self-evident. Therefore, on the one hand, it is necessary to clearlyidentify differences such as relationships to formal qualifications (school, VET, HE,trainings) and on the other, such a delimitation, support the understanding of thecompetence and level concept of the framework as well as its overall structure andobjectives.

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