ICDL's vendor-neutral computer proficiency model helps millions of people acquire standardized IT education
International Computer Driving Licence (ICDL), the internationally recognized computer proficiency standard, owned by the European Computer Driving Licence (ECDL) and sponsored by the UNESCO’s Cairo Office (UCO) for Arab states, is gaining increasing acceptance in the Middle East, with several governments adopting or prescribing it to their employees.
Since its launch in the Middle East in 2001 by UCO, the ICDL program has been endorsed by the governments of Egypt and Jordan, while individual ministries or departments in the UAE, Kuwait, Oman and Saudi Arabia have recommended it to their employees and teachers.
“ICDL has proven to be a practical flexible and cost-effective means of learning, testing and certifying the basic computer skills required in the everyday professional and personal use of computers,” said Rich MacLaren, Program Director, ICDL UAE. “It is rapidly becoming the most widely accredited international certification in the field of computer use, because it meets the needs of the cross-section of the population, and has the full support of the IT industry’s professional societies around the world.”
“As a result of dynamic developments taking place in the IT field in the Middle East, computer competency has acquired high priority with many governments. ICDL’s rock-solid reputation as a provider of top-quality vendor-neutral computer training has made it the first choice among governments, as our penetration in the region’s key countries shows,” added MacLaren.
In Egypt, the ICDL program is endorsed by the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Higher Education, Ministry of ICT and e-Government.
The Jordanian Government has directed all Federal employees to complete the ICDL Certification program by 2006. The program has already been endorsed by the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Higher Education, Ministry of ICT and e-Government.
In the UAE, the Dubai eGovernment has implemented two ICDL programs as part of its e4all initiative, whereby all government employees in Dubai will be required to complete the Basic program. Dubai e-Government has also launched the e-Citizen program developed by ECDL Foundation, aimed at educating Dubai residents on how to use personal computers, Internet and email. The Abu Dhabi Education Zone and the Abu Dhabi Water & Electricity Authority have chosen the ICDL program for 7,000 school teachers and 10,000 employees respectively.
“ICDL meets the requirement for an effective benchmark for the certification of computer literacy because in an expanding market there are bound to be diverse certifications and unreliable standards,” said MacLaren. “The ICDL concept was first developed in Finland in 1994 and endorsed by the Council of European Professional Informatics Societies, with the objective of encouraging ICT literacy and promoting acceptance of professional standards for ICT professionals.”
The ICDL offers three basic categories of programs: the ICDL Core, which is divided into seven modules; e-Citizen, aimed at those with little or no computer experience and ICDL Advanced which offers advanced certification in Word Processing, Spreadsheets, Databases and Presentations.
“Besides Egypt, Jordan and the UAE, a number of other countries in the region are discovering the benefits of delivering standardised computer education to their employees,” said MacLaren. “The Ministry of Education in Kuwait has directed all teachers to acquire the ICDL certification by 2006. In Oman, the Ministry of National Economy & Planning has entered into an agreement with ICDL to train 150 teachers and librarians in the Ministry of Education in the first phase. ICDL Saudi Arabia was recently appointed as the National Operator and Licensee for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia by the ECDL Foundation.”
“ICDL is committed to bringing its widely acclaimed computer training programs to the people of the Middle East, to enable them to make optimum use of IT in their personal and professional lives,” added MacLaren. “The increasing demand for ICDL programs across the Middle East reflects our proven capabilities to deliver computer education based on a globally accepted formula and standards. With e-governance gaining momentum everywhere and businesses deploying IT in all their processes, ICDL is gearing up for a rapid expansion across the Middle East.”
The ICDL program exists in over 130 countries, and is offered in 25 languages, including Arabic. The programs offered are all based on one standard syllabus and question set. There are more than 15,000 centres worldwide, and over 10 million exams have been taken globally since the launch of the program.
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