Fit4Internet Project
Founded on an initiative by the Federal Ministry for Digital and Economic Affairs in 2018, fit4Internet is responsible for building up the recent Austrian national coalition as the first Austrian Digital Skills and Jobs Coalition member. The non-profit association aims to increase digital literacy in Austria and enable society to participate in, and benefit from the effects of digitalisation, primarily targeting young people, the labour force, jobseekers and older people.
The website provides a range of self-assessment tools (f4i-tools), designed to determine the level of digital competence according to 4 subject areas: everyday life, the workplace, safety, and artificial intelligence understanding. The tools' methodology is based on self-assessment and knowledge-based questions, which users provide answers to. Upon completion of the self-assessment process, users also have the possibility to download a free short version, or a more detailed report for a fee. The self-assessment tools evaluate digital skills against 6 competence areas, categorised in competence levels from 1 to 8:
- Foundations and access.
- Information and data literacy.
- Communication and collaboration.
- Digital content creation.
- Safety.
- Problem solving and continuing learning.
Fit4Internet also focuses on enhancing basic skills in mobile internet use throughout the Austrian society and workforce and developing the Austrian DigComp framework so that it reflects the Austrian context and involve all Austrian citizens. The website also incorporates an online repository of trainings in different formats (face-to-face, blended and online), free and for a cost, from a variety of providers. Additional sections and features include: multimedia information modules on the digital competencies and on digital applications in everyday life, as well as an online learning module on Artificial Intelligence. Information on the latest developments and trends when it comes to digitalisation across sectors is also available through the initiative's website.
The Fit4Internet initiative is relatively recent, but has so far achieved considerable results: launched in January 2020, the Fit4Internet training repository collects more than 85 courses on offer in either German or English. It has supported the organisation and active participation of Austrian society in EU-wide and national initiatives - Youth Hackatons, CodingDay4Kids, EU Code Week, and many others. Through active engagement of its stakeholders throughout economy, politics and society, Fit4Internet today brings together more than 28 associated members and has ran more than 10,000 digital competence tests. The Fit4Internet training catalogue comprises of courses with different teaching and learning formats, which support the development of skills for broad target groups, making it easily scalable and replicable in other contexts.
