Staff at the European Commission’s DG Research & Innovation (DG RTD) received ECDL certificates, recognising their digital skills, at a ceremony attended by ECDL Foundation CEO Damien O’Sullivan, and DG Research & Innovation Deputy Director General, Patrick Child.

ECDL Foundation has worked with DG RTD on the project with the aim of helping staff to better serve European citizens through their expanded skills and knowledge. The ECDL programme is recognised around the world as the standard for digital skills, and offers the European Commission’s employees a valuable opportunity to develop professionally and to improve skills that will help them throughout their careers.

The initiative aims to train and certify over 200 staff in the European Commission to the ECDL standard. Employees will be certified in the fundamentals of using computers and working online, as well as using word processing and spreadsheet software.

Speaking at the ceremony, Damien O’Sullivan said, “Digital competence has never been more important. In the public and private sectors, employees are required to use an increasing range of digital applications and to increase their effectiveness and efficiency through digital innovation.” He continued, “The initiative here at the European Commission recognises the need for organisations to set a digital skills standard and to upskill and certify employees to that standard. I would like to congratulate the staff today for achieving ECDL certification, and I encourage them to continue to engage with ECDL to expand their digital skills in new areas such as Online Collaboration, IT Security or Project Planning.”

The European Computer Driving Licence was started in 1997 with funding from the European Union’s ESPRIT research programme. Since then, ECDL has grown to be delivered in more than 100 countries and in 40 languages worldwide. It is recognised in the qualifications systems of many countries, including the UK, Ireland, France, Romania and Italy, and used by a large number of government ministries and agencies. More than 14 million people worldwide have received ECDL certification.

For more information about the ECDL programmes view our website. ECDL Malta may be contacted here.