German data competence: the race to catch up has begun

Germany is known for many innovations, but so far not for its digital competence. That is precisely what is changing. In January 2021, the German government published its data strategy and initiated around 240 measures to implement it.

The goal was and is to create a data infrastructure and make Germany's data literacy future-proof. A key factor in achieving this goal is the creation of a freely available continuing education platform for data literacy: the "Toolbox Datenkompetenz (TBDK)" project, which we discuss in more detail below. But why are data literacy skills so important for Germany and why now?

Do we need a driver's license for data literacy?

Anyone who can't handle a computer and common programs like Microsoft Office today is very difficult to place. That was different 15 years ago. It's the same now with basic data skills on the job market.

85% of managers state that employees need to be able to support and justify their decisions with data. According to managers, data literacy will be the most sought-after skill among German employees by 2030. Two thirds of German managers (66%) and one third of German employees (35%) are convinced of this, according to the latest survey by software provider Qlik.

Data Literacy describes precisely these important basic data competencies. It is the ability to read data, work with it, analyze it, and generate knowledge from it.

The expectation of how employees should use data is currently still in great contrast to reality. A full 42 percent of employees in the industry say they do not feel sufficiently data literate and are therefore not prepared for this development. Although employees considered data competencies to be indispensable for the success of the company, only 7 percent of the employees surveyed actually felt truly ready to work with data.

The workplace of the future is not only highly data-intensive, but also automated in (large) parts. This is why, according to their own statements, almost half (42 percent) fear losing their own jobs. The German economy has an urgent need to catch up, which can be justified by changing technological environmental conditions.

The world is changing with or without us.

From 33 to 175 - that's how many zettabytes of data we will produce worldwide every year in 2025 compared to 2018. This is based on a current forecast from IDC's Global DataSphere Forecast, 2021-2025. That would be an increase of 530 percent in just seven years. There is currently no end in sight to this development and no one can say where it will go.

So the question we have to ask ourselves is how we deal with these volumes of data, make them usable, and act in a scalable manner in the process. However, the raw data as such does not offer any economic added value. It is therefore not surprising that over 80 percent of the data collected in Europe today is not used at all.

The path leads away from the passive use of data that has been the norm up to now. It is not just rising energy and hardware costs that make it clear that this approach to data is not sustainable. The knowledge that can be generated from it has the power to revolutionize entire industries. To do this, however, this data must be analyzed and put into context in order to unleash its full potential.

Germany's learning platform for data literacy.

We are in an important phase of digitization in Germany, where it is no longer just a matter of switching to certain tools and adapting processes. Digitization must also get into people's heads. Building up data skills means breaking down fears of digital contact.

Data literacy needs to get out of its IT niche and into the broader job market. Therein lies a great opportunity. Because working with data is not complicated. It just has to be learned.

Training opportunities are therefore particularly important to employees. According to Qlik, 40 percent of those who changed jobs within the last year said that a lack of training opportunities was a reason for their departure.

To ensure that these important competencies can be built up across Germany, a freely available learning platform is currently being created for the development of basic and advanced data competencies: the Toolbox Data Competence (TBDK).

Even if employees show a particular need for data literacy, the responsibility for educational offerings does not lie solely with employers. The federal government has recognized this and is therefore supporting pilot projects such as the Toolbox Data Literacy.

A Germany-wide, barrier-free online learning platform is to be created to empower all people to make data-driven decisions and, in the process, to enable nationwide, sustainable data literacy in Germany. This offering is not limited to age or prior knowledge. It doesn't matter if you are young or old, a beginner or a data professional. Everyone should and can benefit from the Toolbox Data Literacy.

"With the Toolbox Data Literacy, we are creating a training platform that enables everyone to develop their data literacy, regardless of prior knowledge. Users with no prior knowledge as well as advanced users and data experts can build up and expand their knowledge here. We are using methods and technologies that have proven themselves in recent years and enable rapid learning success," says Stefan Berntheisel, StackFuel co-founder, CTO and project manager of the Data Literacy Toolbox.

The innovative platform will provide a digital learning world that provides easy-to-understand learning materials, digital learning world, experimentation spaces and data competitions. In this way, data skills will be built in a hands-on way by applying freely available and established data technologies.

About the Data Literacy Toolbox.

What is the Data Literacy Toolbox and who is it for?

StackFuel has been entrusted with this project in December 2021. Together with the Institute for Applied Computer Science (InfAi), StackFuel is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). The Toolbox Data Competence (TBDK) is also supported by a top-class network of experts from business and science with various initiatives.

TBDK is a pilot project to create a nationwide learning platform for data literacy. This is to be available to people from all social strata in Germany, so that politics, science and business all benefit in the end.

Leo Marose, CEO and CO-Founder of StackFuel GmbH clarifies this: "The Toolbox Data Competence offers nationwide online access as well as the free use of online-based data technology. It is particularly important to us that all people in Germany are enabled to flexibly use the platform for independent further education within the framework of an application-oriented learning offer."  

The continuing education platform is designed to teach data literacy in a digital and practice-oriented way. In this way, we want to educate Germany in data literacy across all areas of society and strengthen generally accessible data literacy through digital and innovative learning opportunities.

The learning platform is not only aimed at the working population, but is made possible for people in all phases of life and also includes in-depth content for those who are already advanced.

What does the Data Literacy Toolbox offer?

The Toolbox Data Literacy will benefit society, business, education and politics:

• Comprehensive online access for all and free use of online-based data technologies
• Flexible use of the platform for independent training and for working on collaborative learning, project and research scenarios
• Application-oriented learning offer with interactive practical tasks for direct trying out, experimentation and consolidation
• Networking of experts from business and science to develop a cross-competence knowledge standard
• Teaching area-wide data and technology skills.
• Germany-wide data democratization through knowledge accessibility
• Contribution to the implementation of the German government's data and digitization strategy

Want to find out more about the data literacy toolbox? Click here to go to our LinkedIn pagewhere we will keep you up to date.

Sources

• Qlik (2021): "Data Literacy: The Upskilling Evolution" [26.07.2022]
• IDC (2021): "Global DataSphere Forecast, 2021-2025" [28.07.2022]
• Business Week (2022): "Data literacy will be the most sought-after expertise of workers in Germany by 2030" [26.07.2022]
• BWI (2022): "Strategic resource data - BWI goes data-driven". [26.07.2022]
• BMBF (2021): "Karliczek: Tracking the Data Literacy of the German Population". [26.07.2022]
• Big Data Insider (2022): "Data literacy: training is lacking" [10.08.2022]