Addressing the digital skills gap for fu

　　The DQ framework has been used within the #DQEveryChild digital citizenship educational program to strengthen fundamental digital skills (the first level of the DQ framework) in over 1 million children in more than 80 countries(Fig. 2). The program was centred on the DQ World online learning platform, and evaluation of student learning outcomes demonstrated that the competencies are learnable using this program. Numerous government agencies, non-profit organizations, and schools have begun adopting the DQ framework, as demonstrated by successful case study examples in various countries such as Mexico, Turkey, and Thailand.

　　The #DQEveryChild program set an important precedent for enhancing digital skills among students, and we believe that the greatest potential of the DQ framework lies in fostering an innovation ecosystem in which different stakeholders can work together to build and deploy a wide range of digital skills education and training programs that are tailored to specific needs and learning objectives. The newly launched 1 Billion Digital Skills Project, led by the Coalition for Digital Intelligence, embodies this vision and is a call to action for committed stakeholders to work together to empower 1 billion people, especially K12 students, teachers, and parents, with digital skills within 10 years. The project is built on the belief that digital intelligence is a universal human right and can enable the sustainable development of nations with more inclusive growth, wellbeing, and prosperity. To achieve this goal, the project seeks to bring together various stakeholders such as content developers, initiative leaders, academic researchers, and educators to achieve the following objectives:

　　1. Build a global network of partners that are committed to developing and implementing digital skills education and training programs based on the DQ global standards and to inspiring cooperation. A recent example is the new partnership between the DQ Institute, Alannah & Madeline Foundation, and Accenture to enable 11- to 14-year-old children in Australia and New Zealand to earn an eSmart Digital Licence that is based on Accenture’s Skills to Succeed and incorporates the eight competencies of the DQ framework.

　　2. Develop a program certifcation system to evaluate digital skills programs and drive alignment with DQ global standards. This system will provide information about what types of competencies are taught in diferent programs to guide curriculum planning.

　　3. Develop microbadge credits that students can earn when they complete learning objectives within certifed digital skills programs. The credits can incentivize learning and provide evidence of learning accomplishments, and such approaches can also be extended to teacher training and parent awareness.

　　4. Create an online assessment platform where individuals and organizations can measure digital skill levels across competencies based on microbadge credits. The results can provide guidance for developing globally accepted performance standards to evaluate digital skills education and training outcomes as well as to measure the impact of specifc initiatives.

　　5. Support ongoing improvement of the DQ global standards based on performance outcomes, student and teacher feedback, stakeholder input, and academic research. Further conceptual development of the DQ framework and quotient will strengthen the pedagogy of digital skills education and training programs. There is also a need to develop rigorous methods for evaluating the educational efficacy of diferent programs to achieve specifc learning objectives. Such feedback can also be used to improve programs and to identify best practices within the DQ framework.

　　Conclusions and outlook

　　The widespread digitalization of the educational sector is happening now, and we must ensure that this transformation occurs inclusively while stemming the tide of rising inequality. Such outcomes would go a long way towards ensuring sustainable development of the digital economy and its potential to transform the lives of countless individuals through digital skills education. We believe that online learning will play an increasingly important role in the K12 education system. We must do more to support student success in the digital world, and these efforts should focus on empowering students with a core set of digital skills. The digitalization of the education sector is the latest example of broader trends in the global economy as a whole and the efforts we describe here can also be applied to teacher training as well as to workforce training in general. Online and offline options are no longer dichotomies; the digital world is becoming increasingly fused into our daily lives and we must make a concerted effort to ensure that all individuals are supported with digital skills education and training to thrive in this digital age.