What do we mean by digital skills?
UNESCO describe digital skills as
…a range of abilities to use digital devices, communication applications, and networks to access and manage information.
Jisc provides a useful breakdown of these skills in their Building Digital Capabilities Framework.
Jisc has also developed Role profiles, available on their Individual Digital Capabilities page, which outline the more specific capabilities which are important for individuals with different roles in an educational institution.
You may also hear terms such as digital literacy and digital fluency.
Developing your digital literacy or fluency is usually a lifelong process, which involves frequent use of digital technologies. An individual with strong digital fluency will be able to use technology for creation, innovation and problem-solving. Gaining digital skills is a key building block in developing these desirable qualities.
Why work on improving your digital skills?
Firstly, people with more advanced digital skills usually earn more money.
The AWS Global Digital Skills Study (2022) found that workers with advanced digital skills earn, on average, 65% more than those lacking digital skills. You don't need to be a technical master to start seeing the effect on income. Even those with basic digital skills were found to earn, on average, 14% more than those without.
Secondly, it may well increase your job satisfaction.
72% of workers who use advanced digital skills rate their job satisfaction as an 8 or higher on a scale of 0 to 10, compared to 43% of workers with basic digital skills and 48% of those with intermediate digital skills. (AWS Global Digital Skills Study, 2022)
This BBC article describes why digital literacy is now a workplace non-negotiable.