Competencias DigComp

1. Information search, evaluation and management

To articulate information needs, and to search for, locate and retrieve digital information and content. To judge the relevance of the source and its content in digital environments. To critically evaluate digital sources, content, and processes used to generate them. To store, manage, organise and analyse digital information and data.

2. Communication and collaboration

To interact, share, communicate and collaborate in digital environments while being aware of cultural, generational and other diversity and the features and limitations of digital technologies. To participate in society through digital technologies. To assert one's rights and exercise choice in digital environments. To manage one’s digital presence, identity and reputation.

3. Content creation

To create and edit digital content. To improve and integrate information and content into an existing body of knowledge while understanding how copyright and licences are to be applied, adopting an ethical and responsible approach in the creation, improvement and integration of digital content. To know how to apply computational thinking and programming techniques to give instructions to a computer system.

4. Safety, wellbeing and responsible use

To protect devices, content, personal data and privacy in digital environments. To support physical, mental and social wellbeing of oneself and others, and to be aware of the benefits and risks of digital technologies for wellbeing and social inclusion. To be aware of the environmental impact of digital technologies and their use, to take action to reduce such impact, and to use digital technologies to support sustainability.

5. Problem identification and solving

To identify and assess needs, and to use digital technologies and adapt digital environments to meet these needs. To identify and resolve technical and conceptual problems and problem situations in digital environments. To use digital technologies to make improvements in, or new solutions for, processes and products. To build capabilities to operate autonomously in digital environments. To stay informed about digital technological developments and their implications.

DigComp 3.0 is the fifth edition of the European Digital Competence Framework. It describes knowledge, skills and attitudes that are needed to be digitally competent for daily life, participation in society, working and learning, and can be used with both children and adults.

The framework is technology-neutral and is designed to be tailored and adapted for a variety of purposes in education, training and employment contexts. DigComp is intended for individuals and organisations, whether local, regional, national, European or international, which share the common goal of understanding and identifying digital competence needs and supporting their development. It supports EU policies and initiatives on digital skills (such as the Union of Skills, where DigComp is explicitly mentioned, and the Digital Decade Policy Programme) and the societal and economic implications of the digital transformation (such as the AI Continent Action Plan and the European Strategy for a Better Internet for Kids).

DigComp 3.0 incorporates digital technological developments, trends and practices that have occurred since 2022, and which have wide-ranging implications for digital competence. It also includes a new section outlining learning outcomes which provides a more granular view of digital competence that allows easy and consistent interpretation and application of the framework, as well as the systematic and transversal integration of AI competence across the framework.

What is new in DigComp 3.0

Several priority themes relating to content (i.e. what digital competence consists of) and application (i.e. how the framework is adapted and used and its role in education, training and employment systems) guided the development of DigComp 3.0 (Figure 3). These were identified on the basis of policy and academic literature and consultation with experts and stakeholders and are embedded holistically into the content and design of the framework.

Content Themes: Artificial Intelligence (including generative AI) competence, Cybersecurity competence. Digital rights, choice and responsibilities. Wellbeing in digital environments and Competence to tackle misinformation and disinformation.

Application Themes: Digital competence as a key part of lifelong learning, Recognition of pre-requisites for acquiring basic-level digital competence, Recognition of differences in digital competence needs across individuals and over time, Need for flexible, agile applications of the framework.

The update to DigComp 3.0 is driven by substantial technological developments, trends and practices (such as the rapid diffusion of generative AI) that have occurred since the publication of DigComp 2.2 in 2022. These have wide-ranging implications for individuals’ digital competences and are expressed in policy priorities and stakeholder concerns (Abendroth-Dias et al., 2025; Farias-Gaythan et al., 2023; Lewandowsky et al., 2020; Onesi-Oizigagun et al., 2023). DigComp 3.0 also responds to requests from existing users and stakeholders, who have sought more clarity on practical applications of DigComp. A key recommendation in a study on the feasibility of a European Digital Skills Certificate involving 650 stakeholders across all EU Member States was to develop learning outcomes for DigComp (Centeno et al., 2024a).

OBJECTIVES:

1. Incorporate recent and emerging digital technological trends and their implications for digital competence, while maintaining overall framework structure and technology neutrality.

2. Develop learning outcomes and other appropriate enhancements to support clarity and operational alignment in how DigComp is applied.

CHANGES AND DEVELOPMENTS:

1. Updates to the wording of the five competence areas and 21 competences to reflect current technological trends. ̊

2. A new general description of proficiency levels (Basic, Intermediate, Advanced and Highly advanced) which are "mappable" to the previous version, and new and revised competence statements for each proficiency level and competence. ̊

3. Development of learning outcomes, for clearer interpretation and implementation. ̊

4. A systematic, transversal integration of AI competence into the framework which builds on DigComp 2.2, as well as incorporating recent developments in relation to AI.

RESOURCES FOR IMPLEMENTATION:

1. A detailed Glossary around 120 key terms. ̊

2. Clear and user-friendly information on DigComp 3.0 on the JRCDigComp web space. ̊

3. Also on the JRC-DigComp web space, versions of DigComp 3.0 in spreadsheet and linked open data (JSON) formats.