Computer driving licence passes the test

Citation

(2001), "Computer driving licence passes the test", Education + Training, Vol. 43 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/et.2001.00443aab.008

Computer driving licence passes the test

Computer driving licence passes the test

Keywords: Computers, Skills

Around 100,000 Britons are currently studying for the European computer driving licence, a national forum on the qualification was told. Dr Rodger Hake, British Computer Society executive director, said the figure compared to 30,000 in 1999. Across Europe as a whole, around a million people are thought to be studying for the qualification. The European computer driving licence was designed to raise information-technology skill levels across Europe and to improve the confidence and productivity of IT workers. It provides a framework for people to gain official certification for a computer skill while also encouraging those who know more about computers to round off their abilities by learning new skills.

An estimated 500 people, representing the worlds of education and business, attended the second UK national forum on the European computer driving licence. This is roughly double the number who attended the 1999 event. Dave Carpenter, European Computer Driving Licence Foundation managing director, said: "It is recognized that there is a huge IT skills gap in Europe and North America and the European computer driving licence programme is a vital stepping stone to help to bridge that gap. There have been significant developments in European computer driving licence participation over the last 12 months in Britain and we know there is still so much potential. Countries like Sweden, Denmark and Ireland have achieved well in excess of 1 per cent penetration among their countries' populations during their longer period of time incorporating the syllabus".

Further information is available on the Internet at http://www.bcs.org.uk/ecdl