1.1 Introduction
With the advent of industrial revolution (IR) 4.0, the process of digitalization is happening rapidly in all sectors of industry and business. Across many industries, companies are rapidly transforming their business operations by adopting information and communication technology (ICT) tools, which are used for the collection, processing, and analysis of their customer and business operation data digitally. The adoption of digital tools in business-related data analysis allows for the precise discovery of customer preferences that, when applied correctly, may help to boost the next sales growth. Manufacturers are progressing toward automating their shop floor production and are adopting ICT technologies such as Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) to make the entire process manageable and smarter with real-time feedback. Such a digital transformation helps to reduce production downtime and improve product time-to-market in a cost-effective manner. Digitalization strategies help companies to gain valuable insights from their existing business processes for sustaining the competitive advantage in the market. ICT technologies serve as an enabler to empower the next wave of business growth as it allows efficient delivery of products and services in a timely and cost-effective manner.
This rapid digital transformation in the industry has resulted in the rising demand for a workforce that is not only technically competent but also possesses the necessary digital skills to keep up with the industryās ever-changing needs. Recently, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) (2020) has stated that digital skills are in high demand across occupations, industries, and economies, particularly specific digital skills such as customer relationship management (CRM), digital design and marketing, manufacturing, data analysis, computer and networking support, software, and programming. In the context of Malaysia, Global Skills Index 2020 (Coursera 2020) reports that Malaysia is at the competitive level for the business trending skills like digital marketing but emerging level for technical skills such as those related to data science, cloud applications, and artificial intelligence (AI). Malaysia earned a 4.5 out of 10 on the Hays Global Skills Index, an annual evaluation of the problems and developments affecting the professional labor market, and the key factor that contributes to this figure is that fewer youth are able to join the labor market due to the demand on digital capability (Gho 2019). In addition, JobStreet.com Malaysia (2019) also reported in its Job Outlook 2019 survey that employers are focused on hiring talent with digital skills. With possible replacement of conventional job functions in the future toward automation, digitalization and AI-based, all these are strong indications that digital competency is an important prerequisite for securing future employments.
From the educational perspective, digital transformation is also required to equip students with the necessary digital skills and computational thinking to become the next generation of digital innovators. The situation is further accelerated due to the recent global pandemic of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), where digital presence is prominent, and with teaching and learning activities dependent almost entirely on digital platforms and tools. The dramatic changes in the daily life due to the pandemic have highlighted the importance of digital competency as a necessary skill of survival. While higher education institutions realize the need to undergo digital transformation to ensure graduates future employability, most of them are struggling to keep up with the latest development. The shifting focus toward digital teaching and learning has resulted in institutional decision-making for issues such as digital content creation, digital competency training for both educators and students, career development, and also information and communication technology (ICT) facilities upgrade, which may require substantial financial budget.
To ensure a sustainable and future-proof technical education, this chapter wishes to discuss how open educational resources and software will aid the digital competency development in coping with the needs of future workplace. In particular, the chapter shall review the recent trends and development in digital competency, open educational resources (OER), and open-source software (OSS). Based on the status quo and suggestions on how to bridge the gap among digital competency, OER and OSS shall be presented, along with brief recommendations for future works.
1.2 Digital Competency
The rapid development in the digital world has dramatically changed our daily lifestyle in multiple aspects. These changes make digital competency a crucial predictor of an individual's progress, whether in schooling or in career growth. Thus, it is important to have a common view of the characteristics, domains, or concepts of digital competency so that all the parties involved will take their responsibility and take part in country development in the modern digital era.
According to World Economy Forum (2016), the gap between what people learn in school and what they need to succeed is widening as formal education falls far short of providing students with the skills they need to succeed. They address three domains with 16 crucial proficiencies that todayās students need to succeed in their careers in the 21st century. The three domains are (1) foundational literacies (Literacy, Numeracy, ICT Literacy, Scientific Literacy, Financial Literacy, Cultural and Civic Literacy); (2) competencies (Critical Thinking/Problem-Solving, Creativity, Communication, Collaboration); and (3) character qualities (Curiosity, Initiative, Persistence/Grit, Adaptability, Leadership, Social and Cultural Awareness). From our extensive literature survey, there are various digital competency frameworks or standards contributed by various countries and scholars. Tables 1.1 shows a summary of available digital competency framework and standards, sorted according to years of introduction.
TABLE 1.1 Summary of Digital Competency Framework and Standards | Framework /Standard | Description |
| Malaysia DCS standard (Zainudin 2016) | ā¢ A tool developed by Ministry of Education, Malaysia, to assess primary and secondary schools studentsā digital skills. |
| ISTE Standards for Educators (Crompton 2017) | ā¢ A standard suggested by International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) that focuses on general indicators specifying teacher digital skills with essential condition. ā¢ This is a comprehensive framework that encourages all the important parties in education to take part in order to create an effective learning environment through technology. |
| INTEF CDCFT Framework (National Institute of Educational Technologies and Teacher Training 2017) | ā¢ A framework by the Sepanyol National Institute of Educational Technologies and Teacher Training (INTEF). ā¢ This framework promotes continuous professional development among teachers by improving their teaching practice that in line with 21st-century needs. |
| EFT DigCompEdu Framework (Brolpito 2018) | ā¢ A recommendation by European Training Foundation (EFT). ā¢ This framework provides a general reference for all levels of education that focus on teachersā and trainersā professional development from the aspect of educatorsā duty. |
| UNESCO ICT CFT Framework version 3 (Hine 2011) | ā¢ ICT Competency Framework for Teachers of UNESCO focuses on providing guidelines for teachers to integrate ICT in class to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, a vital element in the 21st century. ā¢ This framework adds in the current advances in technologies, including the open educational resources (OER) and the inclusive education. |
| UK ETF DTPF Framework (Education and Training Foundation 2018) | ā¢ Digital Teaching Professional Framework (DTPF) is suggested by The Education and Training Foundation of United Kingdom. ā¢ This framework aims to support teachersā teaching practice with a comprehensive pedagogy guide that integrate with the suitable technology used. |
| Canada DCF framework (Ministry of Education and Higher Education Quebec 2019) | ā¢ Digital Competency Framework (DCT) is developed by Ministry of Education and Higher Education, Canada. ā¢ This general framework not only focus on teachers but also all levels of employees to master the labor market needs for the 21st century. |
| Singapore DQ framework (Park 2019) | ā¢ Digital Intelligence (DQ) Framework is launched by DQ Institute Singapore that highlights human intelligence. ā¢ This framework is universal by providing the definition of digital competencies in a global vein that is composed knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values. ā¢ It is a general framework that focuses on education and industry. |
In general, digital competence emphasized the integration of other fields and the development of the term in professional settings, as opposed to digital literacy, which encompasses a wide range of viewpoints, ranging from technical āknow-howā to cognitive skills to social activities and constructive participation with digital knowledge (Spante et al. 2018). From Table 1.1, it is observed that digital competency does not only emphasize on the technological aspect but also consists of others element to be in line with the demand of the career needs of the 21st century. Most of the frameworks or standards shown in Table 1.1 are more inclined to guideline or references for mastering the essential skills required, particularly in the 21st century.
Table 1.2 provides an in-depth comparison among the reviewed digital competency frameworks and standards. In contrast, the Malaysian DCS is slightly different as it is an evaluation rubric to ensure the Malaysian government aim being achieved, which is to prepare the talent funnel to feed the needs of digital economy jobs (Zainudin 2016). Ministry of Education Malaysia has developed a Digital Competency Standards (DCS) as an assessment tool to determine primary and secondary school studentsā digital skills; this was started in 2016 and focused on three domains: Technology, Digital Citizenship, and Cognitive.
TABLE 1.2 Comparison of Digital Competency Framework and Standard | Framework/Standard | Characteristics | Focus | Use |
| DCS (Zainudin 2016) | 3 domains with 9 indicators | Student | Rubric |
| ISTE (Crompton 2017) | 7 domains with 3 levels | General | Guideline/reference |
| CDCFT (National Institute of Educational Te... |
