DIGITAL MATURITY OF ORGANISATIONS
The BELVEDERE projects has developed a self-assessment tool for organisations to assess its ‘maturity’ stage of digitalization and of the digital competencies of its employees. The tool aims at assigning an organisation to one of four different digital maturity levels. These digital maturity levels are based on the six stages of educators’ digital competences developed by the DigCompEdu project (see references / acknowledgements), using the first four of the six original levels, and are adapted to the application domain of the BELVEDERE project and transferred to the organisation’s level instead of an individual’s level.
BELVEDERE skipped the two highest levels of digital maturity, as in DigCompEdu (Leaders and Pioneers). The reason for this is, that BELVEDERE aims to support and enhance the use of digital technologies and give recommendations to reach a higher digital maturity, hence organisations of already very high levels of digital maturity are not the main target group of the project. Organisations that are already Leaders and Pioneers in using digital technologies will most likely not need the support of the BELVEDERE tools. They already have a consistent and comprehensive approach to using digital technology.
Therefore, the BELVEDERE project focuses on the following four levels of digital maturity. For each of these levels a role description for organisations was developed, based on the first four DigCompEdu role descriptions for individuals, to characterise the digital technology usage typical for organisations at this stage:
Newcomer Level
An organisation at the Newcomer Level is aware of the potential of digital technologies for enhancing professional practice. However, it has introduced only a few digital technologies so far and employees use them mainly for some work related tasks, administration or organisational communication. A Newcomer Organisation needs guidance and encouragement to expand its repertoire and to enhance the usage of existing digital skills in the professional area.
Explorer Level
An organisation at the Explorer Level is aware of the potential of digital technologies and is interested in understanding and testing them to enhance professional practice. It has started using digital technologies in some areas, without, however, following a comprehensive or consistent approach. An Explorer Organisation needs encouragement, insights and inspiration, e.g. through the example and guidance of other organisations or externals, embedded in a collaborative exchange of practices.
Integrator Level
An organisation at the Integrator Level experiments with digital technologies in a variety of contexts, organisational units or for a range of purposes, integrating them into many of its professional practices. It creatively uses digital technologies to enhance diverse aspects of the professional engagement. The organisation actively seeks to expand its repertoire of practices. It is, however, still working on evaluating which tools work best in which situations and on fitting digital technologies to professional strategies and methods. An Integrator Organisation just needs some more time for testing and reflection, complemented by collaborative encouragement and knowledge exchange to reach expert level.
Expert Level
An organisation at the Expert Level uses a range of digital technologies creatively, knowing the ways of usage of different tools, to enhance its professional activities. It purposefully selects digital technologies for particular situations, and aims at evaluating the benefits and drawbacks of different digital strategies. It keeps searching for new ideas, knowing that there are many things it has not tried out yet. An Expert Organisation tests different digital tools as a means of expanding, structuring and consolidating their repertoire of strategies. Digitally affine employees are the backbone of any social organisation when it comes to innovating practice.
References / Acknowledgements
First published, in English, in 2017, as “European Framework for the Digital Competence of Educators: DigCompEdu” by the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre, EUR 28775 EN, ISBN 978-92-79-73494-6, doi:10.2760/159770, JRC107466, http://europa.eu/!gt63ch.
This adaptation is the responsibility of the BELVEDERE project.
The European Commission is not responsible for this adaptation and cannot be held liable for any consequence stemming from its use.