Mobile Learning Week is UNESCO’s flagship ICT in education conference. Mobile Learning Week 2018 is organized in partnership with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the United Nations specialized agency for ICT. The event was held from 26 to 30 March 2018, at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris. The 2018 event was organized under the theme “Skills for a connected world”. Participants will exchange knowledge about the ways governments and other stakeholders can define and achieve the skills-related targets specified by Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4).

The conference, consisted of four related sub-events, whch aimed to facilitate actions to:

Defining and mainstreaming digital skills;
Innovating skills provision for jobs in the digital economy;
Closing inequalities and gender divides; and
Mapping and anticipating changing skill needs

The MLW 2018 gathered participants from all over the world, and approxiamtely over 100 countries. During the week Workshops, Symosium, Policy Forum, and Strategy Labs were held. Of special interest, in my opinin was the Policy Forum, which offered a platform to discuss the different pathways that governments are using to support the development of the digital skills required in the digital economy.  Moblie learning was of course emphasized as the only way forwar to reach the UNESCO SDG4. However, there are still huge gaps around the worls on the leading  highlighted SDG€ themes on  access, equity, equality, inclusiveness, lifelong and lifewide learning, and quality.  In addition, there are even huges gaps around the world when it comes to digital competences, for iife and for education.

The JRC, with Yves Prunie, was tehre to present the DigComp, and the DigCompEdu framework. On the 22nd November I wrote a blogpost about the DigCompEdu framework when it was just released.

Even the Digital Skills Toolkit was presented by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). This toolkit provides stakeholders with guidance on developing a digital skills strategy. It is intended for policymakers, along with partners in the private sector, non-governmental organizatons, and academia. Its overarching aim is to facilitate the development of a comprehensive digital skills strategy at country level. It is also possible to use this guide to focus on selected priorites that require a fresh approach. It is stated in the  report that it is crucial for the 21st century that countreis have Digital Skills Strategies, so this toolkit is a framework for policymakers, and citizens in countries worldwide.

Digital skills underpin nearly every aspect of work and life. From flling in a government form to com-municatng for work, it is difcult to fnd a job or life-task that does not require a basic level of digital functoning. And with new technologies emerging every day, we need lifelong opportunites to learn new skills that will allow us to succeed in an era of ongoing digital transformaton.Digital skills are essental in opening the door to a wide range of opportunites in the 21st century. Countries that implement comprehensive digital skills strategies ensure their populatons have the skills they need to be more employable, productve, creatve, and successful while ensuring they remain safe, secure and healthy online. Critcally, digital skills strategies need to be updated regularly to respond to the emergence of new technologies and their impact on the digital economy and digital society.