Percentage of youth/adults who have achieved at least a minimum level of proficiency in digital literacy skills

Definition

SDG indicator 4.4.2: Percentage of youth/adults who have achieved at least a minimum level of proficiency in digital literacy skills.

Digital literacy involves the confident and critical use of a full range of digital technologies for information, communication and basic problem-solving in all aspects of life. It is underpinned by basic skills in ICT: the use of computers to retrieve, assess, store, produce, present and exchange information, and to communicate and participate in collaborative networks via the Internet.

The minimum level of proficiency is Level 2 of PIAAC Proficiency Levels for Problem Solving in Technology-Rich Environments: "At this level, tasks typically require the use of both generic and more specific technology applications. For instance, the respondent may have to make use of a novel online form. Some navigation across pages and applications is required to solve the problem. The use of tools (e.g. a sort function) can facilitate the resolution of the problem. The task may involve multiple steps and operators. The goal of the problem may have to be defined by the respondent, though the criteria to be met are explicit. There are higher monitoring demands. Some unexpected outcomes or impasses may appear. The task may require evaluating the relevance of a set of items to discard distractors. Some integration and inferential reasoning may be needed."

Data source

The data was sourced from the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC).

Source definition

http://tcg.uis.unesco.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2021/08/Metadata-4....

Calculation method

Number of youth/adults in a given year achieving or exceeding the pre-defined level of proficiency in digital literacy skills within a given country or region and expressed as a percentage of the total number of youth/adults in the same country or region and year.

Data required

• Distribution of the number of youth/adults in a given year and country or region who have achieved the pre-defined level of proficiency in digital literacy skills.
• Total number of youth/adults in a given year and country or region who have participated in a given assessment.

Interpretation

There is only one threshold that divides youth/adults into below minimum or at or above minimum proficiency levels. Below minimum is the proportion or percentage of students who do not achieve a minimum standard established for this indicator. At or above minimum is the proportion or percentage of youth/adults who have achieved at least the minimum standard established for this indicator.

Limitations

The source used to report was not designed to measure SDG 4.4.2. For this reason, the information has limitations related to the availability (e.g. the country coverage), and relevance (e.g. the scales can only be considered as proxy measures). Additionally, there is a high incidence of missing values, which creates some uncertainty about the representativeness of the data. Missing values occur when sampled individual did not take the assessment due to insufficient computer or literacy skills. The data is reported under the assumption that missing values are equivalent to not reaching the target.

Purpose

This indicator serves to identify country's 'youth/adults' confident and critical use of a full range of digital technologies for information, communication and basic problem-solving in all aspects of life. It is underpinned by basic skills in ICT: the use of computers to retrieve, assess, store, produce, present and exchange information, and to communicate and participate in collaborative networks via the Internet.

Types of disaggregation

Disaggregated by sex, educational level (tertiary/non-tertiary), socio-economic status (measured as at least one parent with tertiary education /otherwise), and age (older adults, 55 years old or more/younger adults, less than 55 years old).