(New York, NY, October 10th, 2019) – 10/10 marks the inaugural DQ (Digital Intelligence) Day, which is part of a worldwide initiative to set global standards for digital intelligence. The 10/10 launch effort is being led by the DQ Institute and IEEE Standards Association (IEEE SA) in collaboration with the World Economic Forum.
Dr. Yuhyun Park, Founder of the DQ Institute, remarked that “The reason we are setting global standards for digital intelligence is to ensure that everyone around the world, starting with our children, has equal opportunities to thrive in this digital age. Thus, it is important for the global community to work together to adopt, align, and co-create DQ Global Standards.”
10/10 is a day when individuals and organizations worldwide can affirm their commitment to promoting online safety, ethics, and human empowerment in the digital age. In September 2018, the DQ Framework – called DQ Global Standards – was officially announced as the common language for digital literacy, skills, and readiness by the Coalition for Digital Intelligence (CDI) whose members include the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), IEEE SA, and DQ Institute.
“As technology advances at unprecedented speed, there is an urgent need to empower individuals with a new form of digital competencies that can help them become ready for the rapid advance of autonomous and intelligent systems and other digital technologies in the near future,” says Karen McCabe, Senior Director of Public Affairs and Marketing at IEEE. “A global standard that sets common indicators for more comprehensively and collectively understanding the existing challenges that digital skill-promoting efforts face and a common language is foundational to ensuring that digital literacy and competency efforts are coordinated globally and moving in the right direction.”
Leading organizations worldwide such as IEEE SA, the World Economic Forum, the City of London, IBM, Goleman EI, the World Childhood Foundation, People Centered Internet, and Cybersafety.org are supporters of DQ Day and will be participating in efforts to co-create DQ Global Standards.
The Founder of Cybersafety.org, Dr. Parry Aftab, added: “We began the field of cybersafety 25 years ago and it is exciting to see more great organizations now onboard to help improve and raise awareness of digital intelligence and develop standards. This is a global effort, addressing a global need in an increasingly digital world. We all have a common goal, and we are addressing this need from unique perspectives. Cybersafety.org is thrilled to be involved.”
IBM Chief Digital Officer Brian Long said: “It is increasingly important for all of us, teens and adults, to have a digital presence. Whether we are applying to a university or a new job, networking with colleagues or interacting with friends our online profile is engaged almost every time. The DQ Global Standards are a very welcome set of guides to help us present our digital selves, in a very public way, safely and aligned to our comfort levels. We are excited to participate in DQ day and to help evolve these new DQ Global Standards.”
DQ Seal – A Global Co-Creator Community
To unify international efforts, the DQ Institute is launching the DQ Seal program on DQ Day to develop a global community of education, technology, and training providers in the digital intelligence field. Participating organizations will be given a seal of trust to recognize them as co-creators of DQ Global Standards and to endorse that their digital initiatives are in line with global benchmarks.
“By establishing a common language and set of definitions for digital literacy, skills, and readiness, the DQ Seal program will ensure that digital competency-building efforts are coordinated globally. Through this, we can effectively bridge the digital skills gap around the world, and measure our progress more efficiently”, explained Dr. Park.
future.now – Nationwide Digital Skills Initiative in the UK
Coinciding with DQ Day is the launch of future.now in the UK under the leadership of the Lord Mayor of the City of London, Peter Estlin. future.now is a coalition between local businesses, civic society, and the government to encourage people and businesses across the UK to enhance their digital competencies to thrive in the digital age. It aspires to empower 20 million people with digital skills.
DQ Global Standards – Digital Intelligence for the Digital Age
Beyond IQ and EQ, DQ represents a comprehensive set of digital competencies that enables individuals to thrive in the digital economy. Its common framework is based on aggregating more than 25 world-leading frameworks about digital literacy, skills, and readiness. With the support of CDI, DQ Global Standards are becoming a key reference for building next-generation global standards across the educational and technology sectors in order to promote children’s digital literacy as well as to support digital skills training for the global workforce.
DQ Global Standards are comprised of eight areas of digital life – identity, use, safety, security, emotional intelligence, literacy, communication, and rights – across three levels of experience: citizenship, creativity, and competitiveness. Together, these 24 domains establish a strong foundation for enabling alignment with other international educational standards of digital competencies as well as with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and the OECD Well-Being Framework.
The latest Broadband Commission report on Child Online Safety endorses DQ Global Standards and recommends implementing universal digital intelligence education across all levels of schooling. Dr. Joanna Rubinstein, President and CEO of the World Childhood Foundation USA, said: “One of the goals for the next decade is to make connectivity a universal right and ensure that all children will have access to the Internet and the benefits it can bring them. However, it also exposes children to major risks and threats. One of the ways we can protect children is through education. Now more than ever, digital intelligence needs to be part of all curriculums from a very early age”.
Daniel Goleman, co-developer of Goleman EI, said: “While Emotional Intelligence (EI) has always been important, it matters now more than ever before in this digital age. EI competencies including empathy, influence, and teamwork differentiate humans from the abilities of AI and machine learning. Being equipped with EI fosters digital intelligence among humans and enables them to harness the power of AI to make better judgement calls”.
People Centered Internet Co-Founder, Mei Lin Fung, added: “Increasingly, we are finding that skills developed in earlier times are not effective in responding to cyberbullying and cyberattacks, or in preventing the weaponizing of social media and social networks. We need a new compass, DQ (digital intelligence), to navigate the digital frontier, identifying the new skills and institutional structures that are needed so we can all thrive in this digital age.”
Media contacts
1. DQ Institute
Joan Ai
Project Collaborator, DQ Institute
World Economic Forum USA
www.weforum.org
Tel: +1 212-703-6624
Email: joan.ai@weforum.org
2. DQ Institute
Jing Ng
Research Team Consultant, DQ Institute
www.dqinstitute.org
Tel: +65971727006
Email: jing@dqinstitute.org
ENDS
DQ Institute
The DQ Institute (DQI) is an international think-tank that is dedicated to setting global standards for digital intelligence and to ensuring the safety, empowerment, and well-being of individuals, organizations, and nations in the digital age. DQI seeks to promote and coordinate digital intelligence education worldwide by using the DQ framework as a set of global standards for digital literacy, skills, and readiness. As part of these efforts, DQI also serves as the founding secretariat of the Coalition for Digital Intelligence (CDI), whose members include the OECD, IEEE Standards Association, and DQI. DQI operates as a 501(c)(3) organization in the United States and as a not-for-profit foundation in South Korea. For more information, please visit https://www.dqinstitute.org/
Coalition for Digital Intelligence
The Coalition for Digital Intelligence (CDI) is a cooperative network of organizations from around the world that aims to improve global digital intelligence by coordinating efforts across the educational and technology communities through multi-stakeholder collaborations. As part of CDI, the IEEE Standards Association, DQ Institute, and Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) are building a global framework for digital intelligence, which includes a common set of definitions, language, and understanding of comprehensive digital literacy concepts and skills that can be adopted by nations worldwide.
Notes to the Editor:
2019 DQ Global Standards Report:
- Download: https://www.dropbox.com/s/a6grb11ultqdzad/DQGlobalStandardsReport2019.pdf?dl=0
- Website: https://www.dqinstitute.org/dq-framework/
- Video: https://vimeo.com/290218501
Images:
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DQ Framework wheel: https://www.dropbox.com/s/ji5k8dtmr17ctok/DQGlobalStandardsSM_Final.png?dl=0
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DQ and 25 Global Approaches:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/tpciojy7y1hldqn/DQCommonFramework_PressRelease.jpg?dl=0
For more information, please visit https://www.coalitionfordigitalintelligence.org/
