With the rapid pace of technological development, continuous learning and updating of skills are essential. The nationwide digital skills badge constellation maintained by TIEKE Finnish Information Society Development Centre is a practical means of identifying and articulating digital skills. The constellation helps individuals to plan their careers, and companies to identify their staff’s skills.
Technology is an important support for continuous learning and the identification of skills. One of the best practical examples of this is the national digital skills badge constellation maintained by TIEKE. Developed to meet rapidly changing skills needs, it is a ready-made model for identifying and articulating digital know-how.
Merja Sjöblom, Accelerator of Digital Skills at TIEKE, points out that digital skills badges can be used by educational institutions, teachers, businesses, or indeed anyone.
“Skills badges are useful for any individual, workplace or leisure organisation. The badges are tangible proof of a person’s digital skills, making them easy to identify and demonstrate.”
Useful for recruitment, career planning and more
Digital skills are divided into five levels: Basic Skills, Digital Skills, Collaborator, Utiliser, and Convergent Thinker. Under each of these levels there are different badges to obtain.
The skills badge constellation helps in career planning by showing the individual in practical terms what they need to learn. According to Sjöblom, companies that are recruiting also benefit from skills identification, as the applicant can clearly demonstrate their skills with the badges.
“There is no skill that cannot be identified. The identification of skills relates to leadership, language skills and skills acquired through volunteering, and more.”
Demonstration of skills
The competence of all ten badges is demonstrated with badge applications. Familiarize yourself with the contents and badges of each level: Basic skills, Digital skills, Collaborator, Utiliser and Convergent thinker.
TIEKE helps in skills recognition
- The open badges are practical tools for skills recognition.
- The constellation benefits all parties: both individuals and various organisations and businesses.
- The open badges can be used in a number of ways. You can
- make use of existing constellations. The digital constellations are an easy way to confirm your own digital skills. Learn about the open-badge constellation of digital skills and start using them.
- develop new constellations with us for new areas. We are currently developing open badges in several projects.
- get help for developing open badges for your own organisation. For example, Helsinki Region Environmental Services HSY tailored their open badges for their own needs with TIEKE’s assistance (article in Finnish).
- increase understanding of open badges in a network. TIEKE coordinates the Badge Finland network and holds seminars to present various ways of making use of open badges. Learn about the network and future seminars (in Finnish).
