October 2025
There is a problem with terminology.
DigComp is meant to help define "digital" skills of citizens, as a step towards helping citizens to improve these skills. But what are "digital" skills?
Now, on the one hand, this is easy: "digital" is, in common understanding, everything which is related to computers and the Internet, or, if you want: to electronic processing of data.
However, the term "digital" technically refers to a certain way of handling information (or data), namely handling them in discrete units, e.g. 1-10, or, as in the most common technology used in computers these days, simply 0 and 1, or "no electrical current or charage " vs. "there is electrical current or charge". This then is juxtaposed to other technologies of processing data that are not based on discrete packages (0 or 1) but rather operate with continuous increase or descrease of the strength of a signal (be frequency, or amplitude, e.g. of electrical signals, sound waves, light beams, or whatever). We call this analogue technology.
This causes a conflict. In everyday understanding, "digital" means computers and internet. But computers are not necessarily based on digital signals in the technical sense of the word. They could be based on analogue technology.
However, when we speak of "digital competences" or "digital skills", we clearly mean the ability to deal with contemporary data processing machines: computers, smartphones, vending machines for train tickets, banking services via the internet, etc. - basically everything related to using the internet or computers (even if not connected to the internet).
Hence, the word "digital" in "digital skills" means something different than in "digital technology". This is okay as long as they who use the word know what they are speaking about.
Often they aren't.
A very good example for this conflict is the use of the "digital" vs. "analogue" dichotomy in the Austrian version of DigComp. In this derivative of the official EU DigComp, the five areas of "digital" competence are supplemented by an additional one to cover very basic skills related to computer and internet technolog such as switching on a device, using a mouse, using a keybaord etc. One topic addressed there is: "Do you know the difference between analogue and digital?" What could the Austrian authors have had in mind with this? Thinking about this, I come to the conclusion, that they cannot have meant the technological difference of discrete versus continuously modulated signals. This would be way to deep into the technician's toolbox. Rather, they must have meant "Are you able to tell if a machine belongs to the area of "computers and internet", and when not?", e.g. making a difference between an ATM machine (which has a computer inside, and is connected to the internet) and, say, a cigarette vending machine (which is merely mechanical and will work even without power and internet). In this sense, a mechanical typewriter is "analogue" (although it isn't, as it uses discrete signals, the about 40-50 different stamps to print a sign on the paper), and a typical laptop is "digital".
As a consequence, I think, the Austrian DigComp should be revised and the question "do you know the difference between analogue and digital" should be rephrased to something like: "Are you able to tell if a machine is based on computers (and possibly the use of the internet), or if it works without computer and internet?"
(Opinion of the author, Christian Geiselmann, VHS Hannover)
