Multidimensional Digital Competence Self-Assessment: Results from the bidt-SZ-Digitalbarometer

by Dr. Roland A. Stürz (Head of Think Tank, Bavarian Research Institute for Digital Transformation (bidt)) and Dirk von Gehlen (Director Think Tank, SZ-Institut/Süddeutsche Zeitung)


from the handbook Digital Competence and Future Skills





In order to examine the status of digital transformation and the associated challenges in more detail, a solid database is required. In this way, strengths and weaknesses can be identified, and advantages and disadvantages of certain developments can be highlighted. For this reason, the Bavarian Research Institute for Digital Transformation (bidt) and the SZ Institute of the Süddeutsche Zeitung have jointly launched the bidt-SZ-Digitalbarometer. As a large-scale survey of people aged 14 and older living in Germany, it provides a comprehensive database on the topics usage behavior of digital devices and technologies, digital competences and digital transformation of the world of work.





The following article takes a closer look at the results on digital competences. A majority of Germans feels overwhelmed, at least occasionally, when dealing with digital devices or the Internet. Only 14% of people aged 14 and older say they are never overwhelmed. A comparison of certain groups of people shows that women are more likely to be overwhelmed than men when using digital devices or the Internet. The same is true for older people compared to younger people and for those with a low level of formal education compared to those with a higher level of formal education.





The handbook Digital Competence and Future Skills provides comprehensive insight into the future of competencies and learning and the transformation of business. For the first time, leading companies from a wide range of industries around the world provide concrete insights into their comprehensive approaches to transformation, competence management, culture change, and learning and development. In addition, leading scientists and institutions use the latest research findings to assess where we are today and what is to come in the future.





#digicompetencebook


#digikompetenzbuch


#digikompetenzpodcast


www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjxASUdSCAI



Dr. Roland A. Stürz is Head of Think Tank at the Bavarian Research Institute for Digital Transformation (bidt). He was previously a Senior Research Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition in Munich. Prior to that he worked at the Institute for Innovation Research, Technology Management and Entrepreneurship of the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Munich.





Dr. Stürz studied management at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Munich and at the Copenhagen Business School. He holds a diploma degree in management, a Master of Business Research and a doctoral degree from the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität. He regularly teaches a course on innovation policy at the Munich Intellectual Property Law Centre. He has published or contributed to a variety of policy papers on topics dealing with the German innovation system and the digital transformation. His research interests are in the domains of digital transformation, innovation policy and industry evolution. Currently he focuses on the digital transformation of the world of work with topics like digital competences or work from home.


Dirk von Gehlen is an author, journalist and speaker. The journalism graduate works as “Director Think Tank” at the SZ Institute. He not only thinks about new ideas (“Anleitung zum Unkreativsein” Rheinwerk 2021), but also implements them: For the Süddeutsche Zeitung, for example, he helped develop the longreads magazine Süddeutsche Zeitung Langstrecke and the newsletter Klimafreitag. Together with the BIDT, he developed the concept for the bidt-SZ digitalbarometer because the topic of digital transformation has accompanied the native of Mülheim since the beginning of his professional career. For him, the digital copy is the central driver of the digital revolution (Mashup, Suhrkamp-Verlag) and the shruggie is the perfect symbol for a creative attitude toward the new (Das Pragmatismus-Prinzip, Piper-Verlag). Dirk von Gehlen lives with his family in Munich - and on the Internet.


Dr. Philipp Ramin is a leading expert on digital transformation and future skills. With his company the Innovation Center for Industry 4.0 in Regensburg, Germany, which he founded whilst completing his Ph.D. on the topic of discontinuous innovation and digital business models, he trains more than 200,000 employees in 9 languages for leading companies from a wide range of industrial, business and financial sectors in more than 14 countries worldwide and has prepared a number of internationally recognized studies, for example on digitalization, artificial intelligence, digital competence. The Innovation Center for Industry 4.0 team, which was also instrumental in realizing this book, develops individual qualification solutions in the area of digitalization and Industry 4.0 for leading companies worldwide, including complete continuing education curricula and learning strategies as well as AR/VR solutions or complete digital online learning systems and competence management programs.


In 2022, together with one of his clients in the automotive sector, Philipp Ramin’s company was awarded the recognized "Project of the Year" eLearning Award for Instructional Design by Germany’s leading publisher in this field, elearning Journal for a state-of-the art digital competence upskilling program with high acceptance, artificial intelligence supported gamification elements and proven and measured acceleration of the transformation process.