Great disparities in Internet users’ skillsets; strongest skills are in communication

Because self-reporting of individuals’ ICT skills may be subjective, ICT skills are measured based on whether an individual has recently performed certain activities that presuppose a degree of proficiency in the relevant skills. These are grouped into five areas: communication/collaboration; problem solving; safety; digital content creation; and information/data literacy.

While the importance of digital skills in leveraging ICTs for economic prosperity and social well-being is well-documented, data remain very scant. Only 90 countries have submitted data since 2020, and rarely for all skill areas. Even fewer – just 40 countries – provide comparable data on ICT skill levels (see box for details on methodology for calculating ICT skill levels).

Despite these gaps, certain trends in ICT skills are emerging. Internet users consistently show strong communication skills: among countries providing data on communication and collaboration, all report that over 80 per cent of Internet users possess at least basic skills in this area, regardless of national Internet usage levels.

Methodology for calculating ICT skill levels
At its 11th meeting in September 2023, ITU’s Expert Group on ICT Household Indicators (EGH) recommended changes in how data on ICT skill levels are reported – most importantly, that skill levels of individuals should be assessed for different areas.

Individuals should be assessed on the number of activities within a skill area they report having done in the last three months using the following progression:

  • Skill levels should not be assessed in skill areas where fewer than two indicators are collected.
  • Indicators should be weighted equally within each skill area.
  • Skill areas with different numbers of components should be treated equally.

While this recommendation does not require any additional data collection, it does require that countries perform additional analysis on existing survey microdata. ITU requested data on ICT skills for the first time in its April 2024 data collection, and received data from 40 countries. However, other countries were unable to provide data, even though in many cases they had been collected. It is expected that data availability will improve as familiarity with these new recommendations increases.

Skill levels in other areas are more varied. In countries providing data, the percentage of Internet users with at least basic skills in information and data literacy is generally higher than in other skill areas. However, all areas show substantial variation in skill levels, even among countries with similar Internet usage.