History of the European Computer Driving Licence - History of Computing: Learning from the Past - page 134

History of the European Computer Driving Licence
Denise Leahy and Dudley Dolan
School of Computer Science and Statistics, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland
{denise.leahy,dudley.dolan}@scss.tcd.ie
Abstract. The European Computer Driving Licence (ECDL) began as a project
which set out to define the computer skills required by the ordinary citizen to
take advantage of the new end user technology. The project started in 1995 and
since that time ECDL has become the leading digital literacy certification in the
world with almost 10 million candidates enrolled in the programme. The core
ECDL consists of seven modules, defined by a syllabus which is agreed by an
international panel of users and experts and certifies that the holder has the
competencies required to perform basic tasks using a personal computer, can
use a computer in practice and understands the basic concepts of information
technology [1]. This paper describes the creation of the ECDL, together with
the unique organizational structure which enabled the wide implementation of
ECDL, initially in Europe and later throughout the world as the International
Computer Driving License (ICDL).
Keywords: Digital Literacy, Certification, IFIP, CEPIS, Basic ICT Skills.
1 Introduction
1.1 The Initial Idea
With the advent of home computing and the growth in the general use of computers in
the early 1990s, the Council of European Professional Informatics Societies (CEPIS)
recognised the importance of defining the computer skills required by the ordinary
citizen to take advantage of the new technology. The idea originated in Norway and
preliminary investigations were undertaken to see what activities were being carried
on in this area. The idea was supported by the European Commission and the member
societies of CEPIS. CEPIS created a task force in 1995 to examine how to raise the
level of such skills in industry throughout Europe [2]. Initially the CEPIS task force
consisted of the Nordic countries plus Ireland (Norway, Finland, Sweden, Denmark,
and Ireland.) These countries met in 1995 and, after the initial findings were reported
to the CEPIS Council, a number of other countries decided to join an extended task
force. The extended task force consisted of the original countries plus the new repre-
sentatives from Austria, France, Italy, The Netherlands and United Kingdom.
This paper describes the history of ECDL from the setting up of the Task Force in
1995 through to the development of ECDL in Europe and later throughout the world.
Using material and working papers from that time, it describes the development of