A digital competence framework for the third sector – A Summary of Intellectual Output 1, March 2022

In the post-COVID context, there is a need to embrace and adopt the digital tools and practices we have become accustomed to for the longer term. With this in mind, the EU3Digital consortium is proud to launch A Digital Competence Framework for the Third Sector.

This report is the product of eighteen-months of research to provide an intellectual basis for the work of EU3 Digital. Created by the EU3Digital Consortium and funded by Erasmus+, the project aims to ensure the success and sustainability of social enterprises by producing key learning materials and free-access resources.

The report presents a digital competence framework that reflects the needs of the third sector as it faces a complex and turbulent environment and highlights which areas of digital competence are most important for Third Sector Organisations – particularly those smaller organisations “charities, voluntary and community organisations, social enterprises, and cooperatives.”

Offering insights from a series of interviews with informants from across Europe, the report includes view points from academics, policy and practice literature and on fieldwork undertaken by a team at the Centre for Voluntary Sector Leadership at the UK’s Open University.

The project consortium is led by ESLIDER and consists of The Open University, ABD, University of Porto, D Kolektiv and Euclid Network.

The framework provides a comprehensive view of what going digital means for non-profits,in other words, it helps us understand what digital competences are important for the third sector and how it can be used to support an organisation’s social objectives.

We believe that the Digital Competence Framework for the Third Sector will be a valuable tool and act as a guidepost for charities, social enterprises and community groups when making decisions about how best to approach their own digital efforts.

The project delivers diverse outputs, ranging from establishing an EU Framework of Competences for Digital Skills, responding to the needs of social enterprises by developing a tailored curricula and toolkit, to informing initiatives for developing digital skills and competences in Europe’s social economy ecosystem.

This paper is a step is step to develop a broader competence framework designed to help Third sector organisations and social enterprise develop their capacity to use digital tools effectively.

To read the insight, interviews and information please click here for the full report.