Briefing on

ICT Competency Standards

Briefing on
ICT Competency Standards

Ang Peng Hwa

Professor
Nanyang Technological University
Singapore

ASIAN AND PACIFIC TRAINING CENTRE FOR INFORMATION

AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY FOR DEVELOPMENT
Briefing on ICT Competency Standards

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Design and Layout: JIEUM design

TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Introduction 09

1.1 Regional and Global Integration 11

1.1.1 Format of This Report 11
1.1.2 Review of Existing ICT National Standards 12
1.1.3 ICT Development & Stages of Economic Growth 12
1.1.4 Steps in Setting Up Country ICT Competency Standards 13
1.1.5 Regional & Supranational ICT Competency Standards 13
1.1.6 Additional Considerations/Conclusion 13

2. Country ICT Competency 15

2.1 ICT Competencies for e-Government: ICT Access & Diffusion 17

2.1.1 Summary - National ICT Competency Standards for e-Government 22
& Public Officials
2.2 Review - National ICT Competency Standards for e-Government & Public Officials 24
2.2.1 Management levels: Senior management versus Operational management 24
2.2.2 Operational Requirements versus Project Management & Implementation 25
2.2.3 Competency Areas versus Job Roles 25
2.2.4 Scalability 26
2.2.5 International Adoption 26
2.3 ICT Competencies for General Workforce: ICT Usage & Adoption 26
2.4 ICT Professional Competencies: ICT Impact 30
2.4.1 ICT Competency Standards Focused on Core ICT Industry Skills 31
2.4.2 ICT Competency Standards Broadened Across Economic Sectors 34
2.5 Review of ICT Professional Competency Standards 39
2.5.1 Maturity of ICT Competencies in Seniority & Responsibility Levels 39
2.5.2 Progression of ICT Skills beyond Immediate Deployment & Enablement 40
2.5.3 Focus to Extend ICT Impact as Competitive Advantage across 40
Business Sectors
2.5.4 Considerations For ICT Professional Competency Standards 40

5
3. ICT Development in Stages of Economic Growth 41

3.1 Stages of Economic Growth 42

3.2 Economic Growth & ICT Competency & Development 43
3.3 ICT Competencies by Countries’ Stage of Economic Development 44
3.4 Framework for ICT Competencies according to Economic & ICT Development 46
3.4.1 Stage 1 Emerging Countries 46
3.4.2 Stage 2 Developing Countries 47
3.4.3 Stage 3 Developed Countries 47
3.5 Existing ICT Competency Standards: Gaps/Opportunities 47

4. Establishing A National ICT Competency Standard 49

4.1 Environment and Context 50

4.2 Step 2. Existing ICT Competency Standards - Review/Adopt 51
4.3 Step 3. Local Stakeholders - Implementation & Review 52
4.3.1 Initiation 52
4.3.2 Formulation & Engagement 53
4.3.3 Implementation & Review 54

5. Regional & Supranational ICT Competency Frameworks 55

5.1 Regional & Supranational ICT Competency Frameworks 56

5.2 European Union’s e-Competence Framework (e-CF) 56
5.2.1 Involvement 58
5.2.2 Target Segments 58
5.2.3 Analysis of European e-Competency Framework (e-CF) 60
5.3 ASEAN ICT Skills Standards Definition and Certification 61
5.3.1 Involvement 61
5.3.2 Target Segments 62
5.3.3 Recommendation and Next Steps for ASEAN Skills 62
Standards Definition and Certification

6. Additional Considerations and Conclusion 63

6.1 ICT Competency Standards and Disaster Risk Management 64

6.2 Issues in Revising ICT Competency Standards 64

6
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1: Competency Framework for Government IT Profession (U.K. Civil Service) 18
Figure 2: India’s e-Governance Competency Framework (eGCF) 19
Figure 3: Australian ICT Competency Pyramid 27
Figure 4: ICDL Path of Digital Proficiency 28
Figure 5: Structure of MSC Skills Competency Matrix 31
Figure 6: Skills & Job Clusters in Malaysia’s Skills Competency Matrix 32
Figure 7: The 7 levels of SFIA 34
Figure 8: Defining Attributes across Different Levels of Responsibility 35
Figure 9: Coverage of NICF - an overview 37
Figure 10: WEF Stages of Economic Development 42
Figure 11: European e-Competency Framework (e-CF) 57
Figure 12: The European ICT Profile Family Tree 59
Figure 13: 23 European ICT Profiles Structured by the 6 Families in Business 60
Process and 5 ICT Competence Areas in e-CF
Figure 14: Mapping of ICT Standards - 61
ASEAN ICT Masterplan 2015, presented 25-26 August 2014, Bangkok

LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: Categorisation of ICT Competency Standards by Target 16
Segments & Objectives
Table 2: Competency Clusters in the Philippines NICS 21
Table 3: Comparison of Competency Frameworks 23
Table 4: Competency Standards for General Workforce 29
Table 5: Australia AQF Competency Standards for ICT-Specific Skills 33
Table 6: SFIA Skills Framework by 6 Competency Groups across 7 Levels of 36
Responsibility
Table 7: Example of Job Roles under Software & Applications in Singapore’s NICF 38
Table 8: ICT Focus - Matched by Countries’ Stage of Economic Development 45

7
1. Introduction

9
1. Introduction
In order for a country to successfully harness the possibilities of ICT technologies and
knowledge for development, it must develop its human capacity in ICT. It is this human
capacity in ICT in planning, developing and implementing hardware and software that
makes the difference in whether ICT might help or hinder development.

How does one go about developing human capacity? A key factor lies in using competency
standards, which are used to define the qualifications needed to practice in a profession.
Competency standards, as defined in an APCICT Report of February 2015, are a “cluster
of related knowledge, skills and attitudes that affects a major part of one’s job (a role or
responsibility), that correlates with performance on the job, that can be measured against
well accepted standards, and that can be improved via training and development.” 1 In
other words, competency standards are, as the name suggests, standards that measure
how competent someone is to perform a role or responsibility in a job.

ICT competency, further, was defined as the “confident and critical use of electronic
media for work, leisure and communication. These competencies are related to logical
and critical thinking, to high-level information management skills, and to well-developed
communication skills.” 2

ICT competency standards can help a country transform its workforce that progressively
leverages on ICT technologies can be facilitated through ICT competency standards. By
specifying the skills needed at varying levels of proficiencies, ICT competency standards
focus the efforts of government in its engagement with industry sectors and the general
population through its training and education initiatives. At the private sector level, ICT
competency standards become the framework both for businesses and individuals to refer
to in their manpower practices and skills acquisition respectively.

For the individual, competency standards offer recognition that a person has attained an
ability to perform at a level of professionalism. These standards provide a roadmap for
the individual to achieve the professional aspiration. 3 Competency standards also improve
training because they effectively test the quality of training. As competency standards are
often placed on a scale going from lower skills to higher skills, employees can see a path
to upgrade themselves through attaining higher levels of competency. This leads to higher
productivity, greater job satisfaction and better employee retention.

1 Parry, S. R. (1996). The Quest for Competence. Training Magazine. (as cited in UN-APCICT, 2010)
2 UNESCO Bangkok Communication and Information Unit (2008). Strategy Framework for Promoting ICT Literacy in the Asia-Pacific Region. Bangkok:
UNESCO Bangkok.
3 ibid.

10
For employers, competency standards assure them that the person is qualified for the
tasks the job requires. This helps businesses and governments to hire, train, appraise and
promote staff for better management and planning of labour needs. 4

At the regional level, recognised competency standards facilitate the exchange of the ICT
workforce across the region. That is, the ICT workforce can be more mobile.

1.1 Regional and Global Integration

ICT competency standards can also facilitate a country’s integration into the regional and
international markets. Having clear and well-accepted standards increases a country’s
appeal to foreign investment and avail the importation of technologies critical in its growth
and industrialisation.

Competency standards also allow a nation to integrate economically within an affiliated

bloc, and enjoy the benefits of productivity gains, job creation and economic growth with
the efficient utilisation of resources across the member countries. 5

1.1.1 Format of This Report

This Report is laid out in the following sequence: first it reviews the existing ICT national
standards, comparing Australia, Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore, UK and USA. The
broad sweep is intended to convey the diversity of approaches as well as to pick up
relevant best practices.

Second, the Report proposes a framework that encompasses both ICT development
and the state of economic development of a country. Two countries at a similar stage
of economic development may require different ICT competency standards frameworks
because of the different states of ICT readiness.

Third, the Report proposes step-by-step guidelines towards developing competency

standards. Other considerations not hitherto listed, such as regional and supranational
standards, will be discussed as well.

4 UN-APCICT. (2015). ICT Competency Standards for Public Sector. Outcome Report of iSEED Programme. At p.2.
5 http://elibrary.worldbank.org/doi/abs/10.1596/9780821397268_CH01

11
1.1.2 Review of Existing ICT National Standards

All existing ICT competency standards that have been first covered by the APCICT stock-
take would be analysed and compared in terms of the specific indicators and/or job roles
as they pertain to distinct target segment. In other words, this Report would not repeat the
overview of each national ICT competency standard that have been covered by the initial
stock-take, but go right into the comparisons of the actual skill standards and definitions
that are used to address the different target segments.

ICT competency standards typically have the following target segments in mind:

a) Government or public officials: ICT skills and certification levels for the workings of the
government, often for the purposes of enabling e-government processes;

b) General workforce/population: basic digital literacy for everyone in the population, and
especially for preparing or upgrading the skills of the workforce;

c) Core ICT industry: skills for ICT professionals within the core ICT industry in the
country, including telecommunications, software development and systems management,
IT architecture and project management, etc.;

d) CT professionals across sectors: where skills are defined for a broad spectrum of
industries beyond the core ICT sector above, i.e. ICT skills are developed to address the
varying needs of cross-section of key industries within the country.

Many of the national ICT competency standards, especially those in ASEAN, are also
covered in greater depth through the individual country case studies that are appended to
this Report.

The development of the human capacity in any country is often conducted in tandem
with its larger ICT development efforts. This is recognised in the review of the country
standards in terms of how each target segment would fit in the overall attempts to develop
ICT Access & Diffusion, ICT Usage & Adoption and ICT Impact.

1.1.3 ICT Development & Stages of Economic Growth

Development of the ICT industry and its ICT human capacity are part of the overall growth
and development of a country. This section reviews ICT development and skills against
the national needs of a country at the different stages of economic growth, from emerging
to developing and developed economies. The ICT development life cycle of Access &
Diffusion, Usage & Adoption and Impact are charted along the stages of economic growth.

This Report hopes to become a useful reference for policy planning and review through
its proposed framework, bridging ICT development and the competency standards for
the different target segments, and that of stage of economic growth. The gaps of existing
national ICT competency standards as they relate to their current stages of economic
development would also be suggested for further review.

12
1.1.4 Steps in Setting Up Country ICT Competency Standards

Gleaning from the review of the existing national ICT standards, this section would
propose steps for the planning and implementation of a country’s competency standard in
line with its economic development and target segments.

1.1.5 Regional & Supranational ICT Competency Standards

The additional objectives of regional or supranational ICT competencies are considered

next, with the review of existing regional standards in Europe and ASEAN.

1.1.6 Additional Considerations/Conclusion

The last section of this Report would look into other issues and related areas, as it
concludes the discussion of ICT competency standards.

13
2. Country ICT Competency

15
 2. Country ICT Competency
The stock-take of various international ICT competency standards unveiled a myriad of
different country and regional standards. In order to understand them better it is important
to review each country’s standard in light of their their respective objectives, goals and
target segments that the ICT competency framework addresses. This is encapsulated in
Table 1 below.

Country - ICT Competency Standards

Grouped by Target Segments
ICT Professional Competencies
e-Government General workforce
ICT-industry only ICT & All Sectors
Country / Standards

UK : SFIA Australia : AQF Malaysia : Skills UK : SFIA

US : Clinger-Cohen Philippines : NICS Competency Matrix Singapore : NICF
core competencies *ECDL Foundation : Australia : AQF
Philippines : NICS ICDL
India : eGCF

•ICT Diffusion / •ICT Adoption / Usage •ICT Usage / Impact

•ICT Adoption / Usage
Access / Impact •Competencies
•Basic ICT skills for
Objectives / Goals

•Set up national ICT •Grow core ICT leveraged beyond

general workforce
architecture and data sector to automate & ICT sector across
•Increase digital and
infrastructure digitize information & industries
information literacy
•E-Government a start services •Integration of data,
•Complement national
to a critical mass processes & systems
education initiatives
of ICT deployment within economy for
for ICT literacy
to start local ICT ICT advantage
industry & workforce

Table 1: Categorisation of ICT Competency Standards by Target Segments & Objectives

It may be observed from the above that ICT competency standards may relate and
target four different audience segments. The categories are not mutually exclusive, as a
country standard may include more than one segment. For example, the Philippines’ NICS
addresses public officials in enabling e-government initiatives while also encompassing
basic literacy skills for its general workforce.

Requiring special mention are the last two columns under “ICT Professional
Competencies.” Where the Malaysia and ASEAN standards target only the core ICT
industries, other countries not only include skills for the core ICT industries, but also ICT
competencies across other sectors and business domains.

The objectives for the four different competency standards that are aimed at different
target segments are categorised according to the stages of ICT development by the
World Summit of Information Society (WSIS). In it, ICT development is characterised as a
trajectory of Access, Usage and Impact.

16
2.1 ICT Competencies for e-Government: ICT Access & Diffusion

ICT development begins with infrastructure and when a country looks to diffuse ICT
services and products. In this first stage of Access & Diffusion, governments often attempt
to kick-start ICT development through e-government initiatives that seek to computerise
national systems and automate government services across agencies. In tandem with
broad infrastructural build-up in its telecommunications sector, e-government initiatives
create a critical mass of ICT deployments in the public sector. These deployments catalyse
the formation of a core ICT industry because they bring together people, resources,
and expertise in hardware and software. The ICT competency standards at this stage
of development address the skills and proficiencies required for the implementation and
maintenance of the national data architecture and infrastructure across the public sector.
Often these standards are targeted at public officials across the spectrum of e-government
processes.

There are four national ICT competency standards that address e-Government initiatives,
in targeting public or governmental officials: from US, UK, India and Philippines, and they
are covered below.

1) United States: Clinger-Cohen Core Competencies

The Clinger-Cohen Core Competencies were developed by the U.S. Federal CIO Council,
and target specifically the Government Chief Information Officers (CIO) at the top of the
management chain for ICT systems and processes. They define the set of competencies
and responsibilities for Government CIOs across the Federal government.
They encompass 12 competency areas for the effective management of technology
assets and IT resources: from the strategic areas in Policy and Organisation, Leadership
and Human Capital Management, Process and Change Management, and Information
Resources Strategy and Planning, to the operational in IT Performance Assessment,
Project and Program Management, Enterprise Architecture, etc.

The 12 competency areas branch into a further 83 subordinate competencies or skills with
clear learning objectives that are used to assess the levels of ICT human capacity across
the Federal Government annually.

2) United Kingdom: Skills Framework for the Information Age (SFIA)- Competency
Framework for Government IT Profession

The UK’s competency framework is owned and managed by the SFIA Foundation, a non-
profit organisation that extends accreditation to training agencies for SFIA certification.
Originally developed for business, it is an ICT industry standard that has been adopted
by the UK Government in measuring the ICT capabilities of the public sector, through
the subset of the competency framework for Government IT Profession. Thus, UK’s SFIA
is unique in having a consistent framework across both public and private sectors, a
consistency that would encourage manpower mobility and efficiency.

17
The Competency Framework for Government IT Profession defines six competency areas
of Strategy and Architecture, Business Change, Solution Development and Implementation,
Service Management, Procurement and Management Support, and Client Interface.

In turn, these six competency areas are cascaded over seven skills or proficiency levels,
from the bottom two levels for practitioners, to the middle two for management, and finally,
Level 7 for the most senior Government CIO. This is encapsulated in Figure 1 below.

Government IT Profession skills levels

CIO CIO - Head of profession

(Board level) SFIA skills level 7

Enterprise strategy Senior manager

SFIA skills level 5 & 6
Delivery management

Lead practitioner
Strategy and architecture

SFIA skills level 5

Solutions development

management support
Service management
and implementation
Business change

Procurement and

Senior practitioner
Client interface

SFIA skills level 3 & 4

Practitioner
SFIA skills level 1 & 2

Figure 1: Competency Framework for Government IT Profession (U.K. Civil Service)

The SFIA Framework has also been adopted in close to 200 countries, across 2,500
corporate users and by 25 million people.

3) India: e-Government Competency Framework (eGCF)

India’s eGCF was developed by its Ministry of Communications & IT for the public sector
specifically. The framework is skills- or needs-centred, and is not structured around
the process of ICT management or operations, but in terms of job roles and specific
tasks required for ICT project management. A total of 19 job roles are specified under
the government ICT standards for administrative, managerial and technical roles. Each
job role align competency along four dimensions of Professional Skills Set, Knowledge
Set, Behavioural Set and the Training Courses/Certifications/Qualification Set required
(see Figure 2 below). The Professional Skills Set identified 96 skills; the Knowledge Set
identified four levels, viz., Expert, Proficient, Familiar, and Aware; the Behavioural Set
identified four components, viz., Ethos, Ethics, Equity and Efficiency.

18
 e-Governance Competency Framework (e-GCF) identifies and
defines a set of competencies critical to job performance

Knowledge Behavioural Skills

Professional Skills
Procedures, rules, Organisational
Project Management,
Internal systems, behaviours,
Change Management,
Methods, values, etc.
etc.
etc. (DoPT's Competency
(96 Skills defined)
Dictionary)

Training Courses / Certifications / Qualifications

Figure 2: India’s e-Governance Competency Framework (eGCF)

Of the four national ICT competency frameworks aimed at government or public officials,
India’s ICT competency framework is unique in being the only one that focuses on
managing the project life cycle of ICT projects. This unique focus may have stemmed from
the Indian government’s single-mindedness on enabling ICT implementation across the
country. In enabling ICT implementation and the project management thereof, it addresses
the wide spectrum of ICT skills from the most basic (e.g. MS Office) to advanced
technologies, while targeting the specific needs of the country (e.g. language requirements
and national ICT vision). The unique focus illustrates how competency standards may
include components that can help in national development. An area that many countries
should consider having in its competency standards is disaster risk management, a
subject that will be discussed later.

India’s ICT competency standard framework in its current form is incomplete without the
complementary skills sets and requirements for on-going ICT management and operations.
These aspects of the longer-term management of ICT systems and continuing ICT
development need to be integrated into the framework to address the post-implementation
needs of the government agencies.

19
4) Philippines: National ICT Competency Standards (NICS)

Philippines’ NICS is the national ICT competency standards that addresses government
officials as well as general citizens. Three volumes of the competency framework were
developed jointly with the Department of Education to cater for the general population and
workforce: NICS-Basic, NICS-Advanced and NICS-Teachers.
The remaining eight volumes under NICS were developed with different governmental
agencies to cater to their specific needs. They are listed according to ICT or non-ICT
related job scopes below:

i. Non-ICT civil servants:

Developed with the Career Executive Service Board, whic oversees eight key government
agencies including the Civil Service Commission and the President’s Office
- NICS-CESO: core competencies for non-IT governmental staff in enabling e-government
processes;

ii. ICT-related government job roles:

Developed with Civil Service Commission, Academe and ICT industry

- NICS-Civil Servants: basic knowledge and skills for government professionals in
ICT fields or job roles
- NICS-Application Developers: planning, development, testing, and release of
services and applications
- NICS-Network Professionals: planning, setting up, configuring, testing,
troubleshooting and maintaining of network environment or infrastructure
- NICS-Webmasters: regulation and management of user access, appearance and
website navigation, content placement and management, advertising,
and marketing

Developed with the ICT Office e-Government Program

- NICS-Project Managers: knowledge, skills, tools, abilities and management
processes required for managing ICT projects or to undertake a project
successfully
- NICS-Chief Information Officers: that the CIO is able to provide strategic
leadership and stewardship on the organisation’s information delivery capabilities
and assets
- NICS-Enterprise Architects: in governing the enterprise’s strategy, processes,
information and information technology assets
- NICS-Information Security Managers: planning, coordinating, and implementing
security measures for information systems
- NICS-Information System Auditors: in performing audit in accordance with IS
auditing standards, guidelines and best practices

iii. Developed with the Telecentre.org and Philippine Community e-Center Network

- NCS-CeC Knowledge Workers: to assist and empower urban and rural

communities to the network of governmental network of e-Centers

20
Although the different volumes do cater to the 10 specific job roles listed above, the
different agencies and their different standards unfortunately, resulted in a confusing array
of competency standards with overlaps in the skills and ICT areas covered. For example,
it is unclear if the basic skills required for those in non-ICT job roles (in NICS-CESO) that
pertain to enabling of e-government processes would be similar to the basic knowledge in
NICS-Civil Servants. Or, if the skills for NICS-Network Professionals represent a scaled
proficiency from those who are managing the public network of e-Centers in NCS-CeC
Knowledge Workers. And if so, how the progression of Network-related skills differ in
scope and skills.

NICS also groups them in competency clusters (see Table 2 below). The overlap in skills
and scope are not apparent in the cluster groups. For example, if Cluster 1 represents
the lowest or most basic level of skills as compared with Cluster 2 and 3 sequentially.
Cluster 3 includes a group of distinct job roles from CIO to Project Manager and
Enterprise Architects, each ranging from high-level strategy and management, to mid-level
implementation and operational planning respectively. The lack of a clear framework in
which the job roles are rationalised can make it difficult to understand and apply.

CLUSTER NICS JOB ROLE

Enterprise Architect
Project Manager
Cluster 3 Career Executive Service Officer
Government Chief Information Officer
Information Systems Auditor

Application Developers
Network Specialists
Cluster 2
Webmasters
Information Security Specialist

Basic
Advanced
Cluster 1 Teachers
Civil Servants
CeC Knowledge Workers

Table 2: Competency Clusters in the Philippines NICS

The competency framework outlines three levels of proficiency, Basic-Intermediate-

Advanced, which is easily understandable classification. That is, at each cluster, there are
basic, intermediate and advanced levels. But it is unclear how this is applied across the
different agencies as many of the scopes have already defined basic (e.g. NICS-Basic,
NICS-Civil Servants) or advanced (e.g. CIO).

21
2.1.1 Summary - National ICT Competency Standards for e-Government &
Public Officials

The brief overview of each of the four national ICT competency standards that target the
needs of the public sector in enabling e-government processes are summarised in Table 3
below.

The ICT competency frameworks are outlined in terms of the number of proficiency levels
catered to senior management (e.g. CIO) versus middle (e.g. managerial) and lower
management (e.g. practitioner, operational staff). For each of the management levels, the
competency areas or skills are listed to provide a view of the scope of the ICT framework
and its rationalisation.

The last row in Table 3 gives an indication of the number of specific job roles listed under
each national standard. It is interesting to note that neither the US nor the UK has specific
job roles specified, but instead leave the interpretation of the required competencies and
proficiency levels of job roles to the discretion of the frameworks’ users. On the other
hand, the developing countries India and Philippines have specified 19 and 10 job roles
respectively under their ICT competency frameworks for the governments. This may
reflect the needs of these countries, as well as a result of the relatively low levels of ICT
literacy and understanding currently, hence requiring particularity.

The focus of the US standard for the most senior level of ICT management is shown
through the single proficiency level that is dedicated to defining the skills and capabilities
of the CIO to strategise, plan, execute and manage the ICT resources of the government.
It offers the broadest, and conceptually most developed scope of skills for senior ICT
management, and is also used to measure the human ICT capacity of the government as
benchmarked against the CIO.

The UK’s SFIA for the Government IT Profession is the only one that attempts to measure
the ICT human resources across all levels of the government with the same set of
competency areas, with its seven levels of proficiency spread out between the top, middle
and lower management. This contrasts with the US Clinger-Cohen in that only half the
number of competency areas, six competency areas in all, is used in UK to measure the
skills requirements of the entire continuum of staffing levels. The tradeoff in the smaller
breadth of competencies covered is compensated by depth in its application across the
governmental ICT functions.

22
 US UK India Philippines

Clinger- SFIA - e-Governance National ICT

Cohen core Competency Competency Competency
competencies Framework for Framework Standards
Government IT (eGCF) (NICS): CESO &
Profession Civil Servants

Yes: single level Yes: single level No. Yes: single level
12 competency (skill level 7) NICS-CIO
areas: 6 competency Not categorised by
Policy & areas: competency areas
Organisation; Strategy &
Leadership & Architecture;
Human Capital Business Change;
Mgmt; Solution
Process & Change Development &
Mgmt; Implementation;
Information Service Mgmt;
Resources Procurement &
Strategy & Mgmt Support;
Planning; Client Interface.
By Proficiency IT Performance
Levels : Senior Assessment:
Management / CIO Models & Methods;
IT Project &
Program Mgmt;
Capital Planning
& Investment
Control;
Acquisition;
Information &
Knowledge Mgmt;
Cybersecurity/
Information
Assurance;
Enterprise
Architecture;
Technology Mgmt
& Assessment.

No. Yes: by 6 Yes: single level Yes: various ICT

competency areas Not categorised by areas listed in 9
above competency areas job roles
Middle & Lower
Middle mgmt (level Not categorised by
Management
5 & 6); competency areas
Lower mgmt (level
1-4).

None. Job roles not 19 e-Gov/ICT job 10 job roles

specified; roles. across support,
determined operational and
Number of Job
according to ICT functional
Roles
combination of areas.
competency areas
& skills required.

Table 3: Comparison of Competency Frameworks

23
India’s eGCF is the only framework that does not categorise ICT skills by competency
areas at all, choosing instead to focus on the 19 job roles that the country needs at
the lower or operational levels of ICT implementation. While this may address India’s
current needs for project management and implementation of ICT systems, it does not
offer the conceptual framework needed to outline the longer-term requirements of the
different management levels in the government as well as the operational needs post-
implementation.

The Philippines’ NICS is structured around different ICT areas, particularly towards the
needs of the different governmental agencies profiled. Although there are three proficiency
levels of Basic-Intermediate-Advanced, it is unclear as to how these levels correspond
alongside the varying seniority of the job areas from CIO to basic, non-ICT staff. The two
competency areas specified for senior management, in e-government awareness and the
management and implementation of e-government initiatives, also seem to fall short of the
broad range of top-level skills needed for strategy, planning and resources management.
Further, it lists 10 job roles for its middle and lower ICT management without reference to
the competency areas or skill sets.

2.2 Review - National ICT Competency Standards for e-Government &

Public Officials

The advantages and disadvantages of the various national ICT competency frameworks
for public officials and e-government initiatives are considered along the following
parameters.

2.2.1 Management levels: Senior management versus Operational

management

The Clinger-Cohen core competencies from US are the most targeted in terms of the
depth and scope considered for the highest management level of CIO (Chief Information
Officer) for the federal government. The US has one of the most developed ICT
landscape internationally, and the competency framework should arguably be the most
comprehensive for the single CIO or senior management role alone. The 12 competency
areas are further expanded into a detailed list of 83 subordinate skills and competencies
for the most senior governmental CIO functions. The Clinger-Cohen core competency
framework would therefore be thought of as the ideal reference for any government
looking to build up the CIO or senior management skills in its government.

This framework, however, suffers from the absence of its application for the middle and
lower operational levels in the government. The framework does not spell out how the ICT
competencies for the lower levels of the government can be measured or appraised.

24
The UK’s SFIA for Government IT Profession is a good example of a consistent framework
that extends across all levels of ICT management in the government. The same six
competency areas that covers the different aspects of ICT management and operations are
consistent across the seven skill or proficiency levels that apply to senior management/
CIO (level 7), to middle management (levels 5 to 6) and operational/practitioner levels
(levels 1 to 4). This allows for a common basis for staff development and assessment, and
can be easily understood across the different levels of ICT management in government.

2.2.2 Operational Requirements versus Project Management & Implementation

India’s eGCF is focused almost exclusively on its national needs to execute e-government
initiatives through ICT implementation. Hence, its ICT competency framework outlines
an implementation toolkit that provides guidance for the required skills at different stages
of e-government life-cycle. This is an important focus for a country at the start of its
ICT development, where the ability to coordinate and implement various components
of the national ICT masterplan is key. However, as noted earlier, the focus on ICT
implementation should be balanced with its needs for the operational management over
the longer-term as well.

Philippines’ NICS, on the other hand, has 10 job roles that are specifically detailed
for the operations of its existing ICT systems across the different functional areas in
administration, design, programming and technology as well as one role dedicated to
project management. They are, however, operational roles pertaining more to on-going
maintenance instead of the higher level needs of strategy, planning, human capital etc.

For developing countries high-level strategy and planning, project management and
implementation, and operational maintenance are all integral in first building up their ICT
capabilities and infrastructure, and then establishing a stable ICT ecosystem that can
continue to develop and grow with their needs.

The UK’s SFIA would be a good reference, as the framework contains a comprehensive
scope of competencies across strategy and planning, implementation, as well as service
management and support and maintenance.

2.2.3 Competency Areas versus Job Roles

The competency areas and job roles of developed nations such as US and UK may be
contrasted with that in developing countries such as India and Philippines. The US and UK
have taken a more conceptual approach and drawn up standards for competency areas.
In contrast, India and the Philippines specify competency standards for job roles. While
addressing job roles makes the standards more easily understandable and accepted,
the lack of a broader conceptual framework limits the extension of the ICT standards as
technology develops and the job functions change.

25
2.2.4 Scalability

The flexibility of a clear conceptual framework, as in the case of UK’s SFIA, boasts several
advantages. Foremost is having a common language by which ICT competencies can be
understood and measured across all levels of its governmental ICT functions and through
the different proficiency levels.
It is noteworthy that the SFIA in UK for the Government IT Profession was extended from
its initial focus on private industry, thus becoming a common language that was scaled
to the needs of the public sector as well. This promotes understanding and the adoption
of the framework across all sectors in the country, and encourage resource mobility and
efficiency between them.

The scalability of a clear framework of competency areas across does not need to
compromise on the specificity required in sought-after job functions. Instead, it may offer
a flexible framework upon which the myriad of job roles and needs across industries could
be developed upon. Tools such as “role builder” and “assessment screening” have been
developed for the SFIA , thus allowing both job seekers and companies to be able to
specify and measure the skills required for respective job roles.

2.2.5 International Adoption

The consistency, scalability and flexibility of UK’s SFIA are reasons for its wide adoption
internationally, where the standard is now used in 195 countries. This reinforces the
appeal of SFIA 6 as a standard of reference and adoption by other countries.

2.3 ICT Competencies for General Workforce: ICT Usage & Adoption

As a country builds up its access infrastructure in telecommunications, the wider diffusion

of connected services in e-government and consumer adoption is boosted with a focus
on the basic literacy skills of its general population and workforce. In this second and
parallel stage of Usage & Adoption, the ICT competency standards look at enabling
basic digital skills for everyone in order to ramp up the intensity and pervasiveness of
ICT usage. Governments often incorporate ICT literacy and skills as part of its national
education framework for students while upgrading its existing workforce with the ICT
competency standards. In addition to country standards in Australia and Philippines, the
European Commission’s ICT literacy program International Computer Driving Licence is
noteworthy in how it has been extended to more than 150 countries. ICDL was started
by the ECDL (European Computer Driving License) Foundation under the auspices of
European Commission in 1995, with certification programs for both workforce and student
communities.

6 http://www.sfia-online.org/en/get-help/software-products

26
Each of these competency standards that target the general population and workforce is
examined next.

1) Philippines: National ICT Competency Standards (NICS) - NICS-Basic, NICS-

Advanced and NICS-Teachers

These three volumes in Philippines’ NICS target the digital fluency and aptitude of the
general population. It was developed with multiple governmental agencies, including the
Department of Education. NICS-Basic addresses the most basic level of computer use in
common office tools, basic digital literacy in accessing and using the Internet, as well as
information security and ethics. NICS-Advanced addresses the next level of office and
database use to a higher level. NICS-Teachers look to specific computer and Internet tools
for the education sector to use and the social and ethical issues involved.

2) Australia: Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) - Digital Literacy & e-Skills

The AFQ is Australia’s national qualifications framework in the country’s education and
training system across all sectors. Digital Literacy and e-Skills was developed by IBSA
(Innovation & Business Skills Australia), one of 11 Industry Skills Councils funded by the
Australian Government under the AFQ for ICT specifically.
ICT capabilities are organised into three levels of use, with general workforce skills in
Foundation, followed by ICT-specific job roles in Extension and ICT Strategic for ICT
deployments and adoption across business sectors (see Figure xx diagram below). This
section discusses Foundation ICT for the target segment of general workforce, and leaves
the other two levels for the respective target segments in later sections.

ICT skills demand specific to strategic level regional,

ICT industry or organisational adoption and deplayment of ICTs
Strategic

Extenslon ICT
ICT occupatlons or ICT skills demand beyond the ICT industry in occupations
occupatlonal that include roles that require ICT adoption and use
roles requlring ICT

Foundation ICT Equipping individuals with the foundation

(digital literacy, work, life, and home) or essential ICT skills for life and work

Figure 3: Australian ICT Competency Pyramid

Foundation e-Skills 1 certifies the basic essential skills in basic office tools, internet use
and social networking, before this is extended into skills necessary for small home office
set-up, and digital content and web development in Foundation e-Skills 2 to 3.

27
3) International Computer Driving Licence (ICDL) by ECDL Foundation

The ECDL Foundation was set up under the auspices of the European Commission
in 1995 to raise the standards of digital literacy across Europe. Its computer literacy
certification programme, International Computer Driving Licence (ICDL), has been rolled
out internationally. The ECDL Foundation is a non-profit organisation that maintains a
network of national operators to certify and offer training for the ICDL programmes. It acts
as the central coordinating body to ensure quality implementation of ICDL certification.
ICDL is now widely adopted in 150 countries worldwide with more than 14 million
certifications in 14 different languages. The widespread acceptance of ICDL is illustrated
by Australia’s AQF containing ICDL as a standard for the Australian qualifying Foundation
e-Skills 1.

Although ICDL is not a national competency standard, it is included in this review as its
geographical coverage indicates an internationally recognised standard that countries new
to ICT skills training may consider for quick deployment and wide acceptance.

ICDL contains three distinct levels of ICT skills, from base to standard and advanced
modules for the general workforce, as well as specific segment for teachers. The ICDL
Path of Digital Proficiency (see Figure 4 below) charts the progress in ICT skills for
workforce individuals.

Figure 4: ICDL Path of Digital Proficiency

28
● Review -ICT Competency Standards for General Workforce

The components of the three ICT competency standards for the general workforce are
listed in the Table 3 below.

Philippines Australia ECDL Foundation

NICS AQF ICDL

NICS-Basic e-Skills 1 Base Modules

Word Processing e-Citizen essential skills Computer essentials
Spreadsheets Digital literacy - essential Online essentials
Presentation Internet technology & social Word Processing
Information & Communication networking (essential) Spreadsheets
Computer Ethics & Security

e-Skills 2 Standard Modules

NICS-Advanced
Small & home office set up Presentation
Advanced Word Processing
(essential) Databases
Advanced Spreadsheet
Web, Image editing
Database
Project planning
Desktop Publishing
IT Security
Online collaboration & info

e-Skills 3 Advanced Modules

Digital content development Advanced Word Processing
Web development Advanced Spreadsheet
Small office network set-up Advanced Database
Advanced Presentation

NICS-Teachers For Teachers

Use of technology & tools Save time - efficiency tools
Legal & ethical issues Improve teaching - plan / share
/ motivational tools
Communicate - best practices /
professional development

Table 4: Competency Standards for General Workforce

Given that ICT knowledge and skills are a recognised as a prerequisite for further
development it may come as a surprise to many that there are few existing national
ICT competency standards for the general workforce. Most developed countries have
instituted basic ICT skills and digital literacy as part of their national education framework
and so do not specifically cater for this target segment in their competency framework.
Australia’s AQF is an exception to the rule because the AQF is the unifying standard
across educational, vocational and training sectors in the country, and has therefore
included digital literacy and e-skills as part of the framework.

29
For developing countries such as Philippines, however, the competency standards for the
general workforce are an important one as it tries to leapfrog its population towards ICT
Usage & Adoption.

The comparison of modules and skills offered by the three competency framework is
remarkably similar, and bears testament to the universality of basic computer and Internet
use across countries. This is further reason to consider the adoption of a framework such
as the ICDL standard. With the experience of administration, training and implementation
of national providers in 150 countries over 14 different languages, the non-profit can offer
quick deployment of an internationally recognised standard for countries who are starting
out on ICT skills upgrading for their population. The extensive network and coverage
that ECDL Foundation has would also ensure that the ICT standards would be regularly
updated in line with changing technological landscape worldwide. 

2.4 ICT Professional Competencies: ICT Impact

A national data infrastructure for Access & Diffusion coupled with increasing digital literacy
in Usage & Adoption set the foundation for growth in a country’s core ICT industry. In this
period of growth, the momentum in encouraging ICT usage and adoption continues even
as the country leverages ICT further for Impact. A central aim of the local ICT industry is to
grow as the country attempts to assimilate and up-skill its local workforce to attract foreign
ICT investment and technologies.

ICT Impact refers to the ability to differentiate and enhance the competitiveness of the
economy through the use of ICT technologies and skills. Beyond the early e-government
initiatives, the goal shifts to enlarge the efficiencies and effectiveness afforded by ICT to
the wider economy. For example, Singapore sought to promote the effectiveness of its
trading hub by integrating the government database with the trade sector and accelerate
its growth in its Second National IT Masterplan in the early 1990s. In order to grow the
local ICT industry, competency standards are developed to address the specific ICT skills
needed for the adoption and implementation of core ICT skills.

In the final and ideal stage of ICT development, the nation’s ICT capabilities continue
to mature as it looks to permeate the competitive advantages from ICT across all its
economic sectors. The transformation into a knowledge economy requires a broad base
of ICT skills that are spread across the country’s economic sectors. This is consequently
reflected in the breadth of capabilities, industries and job roles that its ICT competency
standards would encompass.

This section covers four national competency standards that focus on ICT Professionals.
The first part looks at those focused specifically on the core ICT industry only, with
Malaysia’s Skills Competency Matrix and Australia’s AQF. The latter part reviews UK’s
SFIA and Singapore’s NICF that have broadened their competency standards to address
the wider breadth of ICT Impact across economic sectors.

30
2.4.1 ICT Competency Standards Focused on Core ICT Industry Skills

1) Malaysia: MSC Skills Competency Matrix

Malaysia’s Skills Competency Matrix was jointly developed by the Multimedia Development
Corporation (MDeC) and DeltaKnot International (DKI). MDeC was set up by the
Malaysian Government in 1996 to encourage the growth of the local ICT industry through
a government programme known as MSC Malaysia. Companies were encouraged to apply
for MSC status in order to enjoy economic and fiscal incentives for the ICT adoption. DKI,
on the other hand, is a private consulting company that aims to assist companies in their
investment and measurements of human resource.

The Skills Competency Matrix was conceptualised to provide the standards for skills in
relation to job functions, which are organised into four clusters. Each cluster is further
broken into job groupings, totaling 17 altogether (see Figure 5 below).

Figure 5: Structure of MSC Skills Competency Matrix

Within the Matrix and its various clusters, there are 432 job roles that are identified for
technical and non-technical roles. Each job role has skills delineated according to the four
clusters of skills and ordered in five levels of skills proficiency (see Figure 6 below).

31
Figure 6: Skills & Job Clusters in Malaysia’s Skills Competency Matrix

32
2) Australia AQF: Extension e-Skills (4-5) & ICT Strategic (6)

Australia’s national competency framework breaks down the ICT skills in Digital Literacy
& e-Skills into three components and six levels. Foundation e-skills are targeted at the
general workforce, while the higher levels in Extension e-skills and ICT Strategic e-skill,
are focused on ICT-specific skills. The ICT area of each level of skills is summarised in
Table 4 below.

AQF Skill Set ICT Areas & Skills Involved Management Level

Network set-up, management

& security

Web management
Extension e-skills
Entry level
(AQF level 4 & 5)
System & network security

Business requirements &

vendor management
IT project management &
systems implementation

e-Business design & solutions

Strategic e-skills
ICT out-sourcing & contracting Middle level
(AQF level 6)

IT planning & design

Cloud computing services

Table 5: Australia AQF Competency Standards for ICT-Specific Skills

33
2.4.2 ICT Competency Standards Broadened Across Economic Sectors

1) United Kingdom: SFIA (Skills Framework for the Information Age)

The UK’s SFIA is a framework for ICT professionals. SFIA is managed by the SFIA
Foundation, a non-profit organisation helmed by its five corporate members consisting of
ICT stakeholders from industry and education groups. 7

The framework for business sectors is organised into six competency groups as follows:
• Strategy & Architecture
• Business change
• Solution development & implementation
• Service management
• Procurement & Management support
• Client interface

Each ICT competency group is structured across seven levels of responsibility, as shown
in Figure 7 below.

01 Follow

02 Assist

03 Apply

04 Enable

05 Ensure, advise

06 Initiate, influence

07 Set strategy, inspire, mobilise

Figure 7: The 7 levels of SFIA

Each level of responsibility is further described by the following attributes of Autonomy,

Influence, Complexity and Business Skills. Figure 8 below illustrates how the level of
responsibility, which in this case is Level 1, is defined by the attributes.

7 http://www.sfia-online.org/en/about-us

34
Figure 8: Defining Attributes across Different Levels of Responsibility

Together, the competency groups and the seven levels of responsibility combine to
form meaningful descriptions of the 97 ICT skills across technical and non-technical
job scopes. The framework is intended to form the template from which businesses can
create customised profiles of job roles according to the skills and levels of responsibilities
required. For individual ICT professionals, this also form the reference from which they
can measure their suitability for different ICT job responsibilities and plan for skill or
career upgrading. The competency groups and their component skills are shown in Table
5 below, mapped according to the seven levels of responsibility.

35
Table 6: SFIA Skills Framework by 6 Competency Groups across 7 Levels of
Responsibility

36
2) Singapore: NICF (National Infocomm Competency Framework)

The NICF was jointly developed by the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore
(iDA) and the Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA). While iDA is the national
ICT regulatory and development agency, WDA oversees the WSQ (Workforce Skills
Qualification) system that defines and funds the skills and standards across key sectors of
the economy as it trains, assess and certify its workforce across industries. Key skills and
competencies are developed collaboratively with the industry, and curriculum developed in
tandem with accredited WSQ training providers for delivery and certification. The NICF is
a “manpower planning tool” that defines the needed competencies across different levels
in ICT job roles, to facilitate the skill development and career progression of the country’s
ICT professionals.

NICF launched in 2008 with 31 job roles focused on core ICT-specific skills. This
expanded rapidly to 334 job roles currently, with 631 “competency units”. Where NICF is
broad beyond the core ICT and telecommunication industries to include ICT requirements
across sectors and business domains, it is also deep in the segmentation of job scopes
within each one. Figure 9 below gives an overview of the different business sectors
included.

Figure 9: Coverage of NICF - an overview8

8 https://www.nicf.sg/home.aspx

37
The left column of “Software & Applications” and “Horizontals” roughly corresponds to
the various ICT-specific skills covered in the other competency frameworks that target
the core ICT industry. The middle and right columns represent business sectors in ICT
and beyond that NICF also addresses. While “Telecommunications & Networks” and “IT
Services” are core ICT industries that are also reflected in other national standards, the
job scopes listed are specific to the local industry needs (e.g. NGN planning, operations
and deployment in line with Singapore’s plans for fibre-optic networks). Singapore’s NICF
is the only national standard that focuses attention on developing “Emerging Technologies”
and its national ICT advantages in non-ICT “Business Domains”.

Within each of the sectors above, NICF drills down further into sub-sectors (shown in
Table 6 below), before expanding into sub-categories within each with hierarchical job
roles. Each job role is organised into four levels of responsibility/seniority, from “Entrant”
to “Senior Management”. Table 6 below shows an example of the first sector of “Software
& Applications”. This sector has one sub-sector in “Software Design & Development” that
is further expanded into six sub-categories of skills with respective job hierarchy from
“Entrant” to “Senior Management”.

Table 7: Example of Job Roles under Software & Applications in Singapore’s NICF

38
This provides an indication as to how the 334 job roles in NICF were propagated. In larger
ICT-specific sectors such as “IT Services”, the five sub-sectors are branched out further
into 10 sub-categories across the four layers of seniority, and in turn mapped with a
specific competency unit for each job role.

The complexity of the extensive matrix of ICT sectors, sub-sectors, sub-categories and job
hierarchy is mitigated for the ICT professionals with the interactivity of the NICF website.
Individuals or businesses would use the combination of competency units and job roles
described as a basis of reference.

2.5 Review of ICT Professional Competency Standards

The review of four national ICT Professional competency standards throws up a set of
common skill denominators. That is, every national standard on professional ICT skills will
include specific skills in the following ICT areas:

• Content & Web development & management

• Software & solutions
• IT Management
• Project Management
• System Design & Security
• Outsourcing & Vendor Services
• Client Interface / IT Sales & Marketing

The differences between the first set of ICT-specific competency standards by Malaysia
and Australia, versus the second set that looks to extend ICT professional skills across all
business sectors (by UK and Singapore) are discussed below.

2.5.1 Maturity of ICT Competencies in Seniority & Responsibility Levels

The ICT-specific standards comprise of the common ICT skill areas and are focused
on entry and middle-level responsibilities. This focus contrasts with the broader ICT
standards by UK and Singapore.

Although Malaysia’s MSC Skills Competency Matrix is structured in five proficiency levels
of “Entry level” to “Master”, a large majority of the job roles listed are entry and middle
level positions. This is also apparent in Australia’s AQF, where the Extension and ICT
Strategic e-Skills are mostly concentrated for entry and middle level ICT professionals.

This is contrasted against the seven levels of responsibility (or seniority) in UK’s SFIA.
Singapore’s NICF has only four proficiency levels but senior responsibilities are separately
listed within the six sectors (such as Enterprise Network Design & Management, NGN
Planning, Operations & Deployment, Data Analytics and Infrastructure Architecture).

39
2.5.2 Progression of ICT Skills beyond Immediate Deployment &
Enablement

ICT Professional Competencies across sectors also reflect the breadth of skills that
goes beyond the immediate ICT deployment in the local ICT sector. While countries still
looking to boost their local ICT industry would focus skills for enabling ICT deployments,
developed ICT countries such as UK and Singapore go beyond these in forward-looking
areas in Green ICT, cloud computing, etc.

2.5.3 Focus to Extend ICT Impact as Competitive Advantage Across

Business Sectors

It is only natural that countries with a robust local ICT industry will want to extend its
competitive advantage in this field across its economy. In Singapore’s case, this extension
is reflected in its specific focus on “Emerging Technologies” and deep ICT skills in each of
its business domains in Financial Services, Healthcare & Education.

2.5.4 Considerations For ICT Professional Competency Standards

For countries that are now looking to adopt or customise their own ICT professional
competency standard, many of the same considerations raised earlier under the
e-Government target segment apply.

Having a common framework and language across both the public and private sector
such as UK’s SFIA and Singapore’s NICF encourages better understanding, use and
acceptance by both individuals and industries. A universal reference for ICT skills and
capabilities would also boost labour mobility and efficiency across the industry and
government and increase the overall dynamism of the ICT sector of the country.

Singapore’s NICF is another instance where the particularity of job roles are prioritised
over that of a conceptual framework of competency areas. It is currently the broadest and
deepest national standard with its 631 competency units across 334 job roles. However,
the mix of industries (e.g. telecommunications) against ICT areas (e.g. infrastructure
architecture) can make it difficult to understand and therefore use.

While it is natural, and perhaps more efficacious, to focus on the national needs for ICT-
specific skills in building up the local ICT industry, countries would do well if they leapfrog
such considerations by starting their ICT competency standards on a clear conceptual
framework. UK’s SFIA may be a natural candidate, as its wide adoption internationally
implies recognition and scalability.

40
3. ICT Development in Stages
of Economic Growth

41
 3. ICT Development in Stages
of Economic Growth
It should come as no surprise that the sequential stages of ICT development, and the
capabilities targeted through the competency standards (characterised above), closely
parallel the overall stages of economic growth and development of a country as it
progresses from a developing to a developed country.

3.1 Stages of Economic Growth

The original framework for the stages of economic development was set out by Porter,
Sachs & McArthur in the Global Competitiveness Report (2001-2002) by the World
Economic Forum (WEF)9 , and is still used to categorise countries in its annual reports.
Countries’ developments are charted across three stages of economic development from
low to developed economy. The framework is condensed below in Figure 10.

STAGES OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

World Economic Forum - Global Competitiveness Report 2001-2002
(Porter, Sachs & McArthur)
Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3
Emerging Developing Developed
Characteristics

Efficiency-based Knowledge-based
Resource-based economy
Investment-driven Innovation-driven
Factor-driven
Technology-importing Technology-generating
Integrate economy to Increase rates of social
Objective

Achieve effective utilisation of

international production learning & rapid shifts in
resources
systems technology
Direct role to increase
Improve physical innovation
Govt's Role

Maintain political & infrastructure enhance R&D, higher

macroeconomic stability Improve regulatory education
environment enhance capital markets &
regulatory systems
Having positive business Creating environment
Challenges

Developing free & efficient

environment supportive of supportive of technology start-
markets
investment ups

Figure 10: WEF Stages of Economic Development

Note: Stages and descriptions of economic development are condensed from Porter, M.
E., Sachs, J., & McArthur, J. (2001). Executive summary: Competitiveness and stages of
economic development. The Global Competitiveness Report, 2002, 16-25.

9 Michael E Porter, Jeffrey D Sachs, and John W McArthur. 2001. Executive summary: Competitiveness and stages of economic development. The Global
Competitiveness Report 2001-2002 (edited by Michael E Porter et al.). New York, NY: Oxford University Press, pp. 16-25.

42
At the earliest stage of development, emerging economies are primarily resource-
based. Whether founded on agricultural or extraction or low-cost manufacturing, these
economies growth through the more effective use of the nation’s resources. This requires
governments to maintain a stable political and macroeconomic environment and an
efficient free-market economy so that resources can be optimised for production.

As these economies grow, and incomes rise, governments face the challenges of
transitioning into an efficiency-based, industrialised, developing nation. Rising incomes
and costs limit growth through resource utilisation alone, and these economies find
that they need to increase their productivity and efficiencies as they compete with other
emerging, factor-rich economies. At this stage of development, the focus is often to
attract foreign investments and technological know-how that the country needs in order to
industrialise its production and integrate into the world production systems. Governments
would need to build the necessary infrastructure and improve their regulatory environment
in order to draw in the needed investments.

The last stage was cited as “the hardest transition” as economies move from an efficiency-
based, technology-importing nation to an innovation-driven, knowledge-based economy.
Governments have a direct role in fostering the educational, R&D, business, legal and
capital environments that are necessary to enable the high rates of social learning and
adapt to rapid technological shifts internationally. The developed, knowledge economy
now generates growth through new innovations through local and foreign start-ups and
would boost of high standards of living and work for its population.

3.2 Economic Growth & ICT Competency & Development

The needs and challenges faced by governments at the different stages of economic
development translate into their focus on ICT development and human competencies.

Governments of factor-driven, commodity-based, emerging nations in Stage 1 look to kick-

start ICT development through e-government initiatives that computerise and automate
the public sector while building the telecommunication infrastructure and introducing
basic digital literacy to its population. Countries at this stage of development would focus
on ICT competencies for its public officials to enable e-government, while introducing
general, basic ICT skills for the population. The diffusion of key ICT technologies through
e-government processes and the increasing access of ICT connectivity are central in
Stage 1 countries as they modernise and develop free-market systems for more effective
utilisation of resources.

43
As economies move into Stage 2 industrialisation, the continued drive to improve ICT
Access & Diffusion is coupled with Adoption & Usage. ICT plays a key role in enabling the
integration of the country’s production into global markets. Higher basic literacy and digital
skills are required now, as the economy seeks to attract the needed foreign investment
to industrialise production for greater growth. Hence, countries at this stage would
incorporate digital literacy and ICT skills as part of their national education programs while
encouraging its existing workforce to upskill through continual training programs.

The efficient industrialised developing economy in Stage 2 would need to further

leverage its ICT competencies for the next thrust towards becoming the innovation-
based knowledge economy. As it imports the technological know-how in Stage 2, its
ICT competencies framework would now focus on deepening the proficiencies and
sophistication of their local ICT workforce and industry. Competency standards here are
often ICT-focused, and developed jointly with the key telecommunications and technology
stalwarts in the country.

Once the core ICT industries in telecommunications, systems and software development
have taken root, ICT competencies are broadened to address the wider economy. The
transition to a full knowledge-based economy would require these countries to leverage
ICT for competitive advantages across key distinct business domains and industries,
requiring much higher rates of learning and tertiary education across their national
workforce.

3.3 ICT Competencies by Countries’ Stage of Economic Development

The analysis of the characteristics and challenges of economies at the different stages of
economic development and their consequent focus in ICT development and competencies
required are shown in Table 7 below. The focus of ICT development and competencies
is reiterated according to the stages of the economic growth. As this is also matched to
the latest WEF 2014-2015 Global Competitiveness Report, the three stages of economic
growth for the respective countries are broken further into transition stages from Stage 1
to 3 (Table 7 below)

44
 Stage 1: Factor-driven Stage 2: Efficiency-driven Stage 3: Innovation-driven
Transition Transition
Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3
1~2 2~3

ICT Development - Focus

ICT Access : Build

infrastructure Increase ICT Usage ICT Impact : ICT as
e-Government initiatives Grow core ICT industry & skills advantage across
Improve basic and digital economy
literacy

ICT Competencies - Focus by Target Segment

e-Government Core ICT industry ICT & All
General workforce Sectors

Country Stage of Development - WEF Global Competitiveness Report 2014-2015

Transition Transition
Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3
1~2 ~3
Factor-driven Efficiency-driven Innovation-driven
India Philippines Indonesia Malaysia Australia (Core ICT)
(e-Government) (e-Gov & (Core ICT) (Core ICT) Korea (All sectors)
General Thailand Singapore (All sectors)
workforce) United Kingdom
(e-Gov & All sectors)
United States
(e-Government)

Table 8: ICT Focus - Matched by Countries’ Stage of Economic Development

Not surprisingly, the ICT competency frameworks for the countries closely mirror the
demands of their national economy at their respective stage of development.

India, categorised as a Stage 1 emerging economy, has focused its ICT competencies on
the skills for its public sector as it seeks to transform e-government processes. Philippines,
an emerging country in the transition phase to Stage 2, includes e-government as well as
basic digital literacy standards for its general workforce in its NICS.

Indonesia, as a Stage 2 economy, has also developed its ICT competency standard to
focus on the core ICT industry skills at the entry and middle management levels. This
is consistent with the attempts to grow its nascent base of local ICT human capabilities.
Malaysia, in transition for the next lap into a knowledge economy, shows its focus in
deepening the proficiencies of its core ICT industry through its Skills Competency Matrix
that was jointly developed with and for the ICT industry.

45
The countries listed in Stage 3 are developed countries that have broadened their ICT
competency framework to encompass the rest of their economies. The frameworks are
designed to deepen and broaden ICT competencies to leverage ICT as a competitive
advantage across all economic sectors. US and Australia, however, are the exceptions
to the rule. US’s national framework is centred only on e-government. Australia’s Digital
Literacy & e-Skills framework is part of the larger national Australian Qualifications
Framework (AQF). It apears to be designed as standards for the entry and middle-level
vocational qualifications at lower management levels, while Bachelor and post-graduate
degrees are tiered as part of the overall AQF framework for tiertiary education.

3.4 Framework for ICT Competencies according to Economic & ICT

Development

The above analysis strongly suggests that national ICT competency standards are
established based on the stages of economic and ICT development of the respective
countries. The proposed framework sets out the economic development needs of
emerging, developing or developed countries and the ICT competencies sought after for
sustaining growth. For countries new to ICT human capacity, the framework provides a
guide for planning its national focus and a reference to existing competency standards.

3.4.1 Stage 1 Emerging Countries

Countries at Stage 1 of economic development have typically started by building up

the ICT infrastructure and focused on e-government initiatives. Such infrastructure
investments jumpstart the ICT industry while e-government initiatives increase efficiency
and make the government more responsive to demands of the citizens. Together,
these investments create a critical mass of ICT projects to attract and import foreign
technologies and ICT vendors in software, hardware, systems and project management.

The focus on enabling e-government processes in the public sector should also dovetail
with an overall attempt to upgrade ICT access and use for the general workforce. Skills
upgrading for the general population in basic computer applications and tools can be
enhanced through the adoption of an international standard such as the ICDL. At the same
time, the focus on developing human ICT capability should be integrated with the national
education plans of the country, to cultivate and grow the pool of trained ICT workforce.

46
3.4.2 Stage 2 Developing Countries

As countries move from a resource-based to efficiency-based economy, the greater

impetus on harnessing ICT as a factor of efficiency and growth requires dedicated effort
to grow and mature local ICT industry. This often materialises as a focus of competency
standards that are focused on core ICT skills and industries. This is evidenced from Stage
2 countries whose national standards are centred on core ICT skills in the entry and
middle management levels as the countries seek to sustain the skills transfer to the local
ICT workforce.

3.4.3 Stage 3 Developed Countries

The transition from an efficiency-based to a knowledge economy in Stage 3 is the most

difficult. For developed countries, the challenge is to keep up with the expansion of local
innovation and ICT skills in order to sustain innovation-led growth. The breadth and depth
of the ICT capabilities in its competency standards are extended across the diverse
economic sectors in the country as the countries seek to leverage ICT as a competitive
advantage. In particular, developed nations need to identify and focus on the fast-
changing ICT sectors to continue growth.

3.5 Existing ICT Competency Standards: Gaps/Opportunities

The temptation to focus on the immediate needs of the country in the midst of ICT
development has sometimes resulted in narrow competency standards that are focused
on the specific job roles or areas in demand. India is a prime example, where the focus
on meeting the short-term goals for ICT project management and implementation was
evidenced in the narrow job roles in its eGCF in these areas. There is a need to plan for,
and communicate the longer-term needs for on-going ICT operations, management and
strategy.

The Philippines’ competency standard was developed specifically to meet the needs of
each governmental agency, and has led to overlaps of ICT areas between its different
volumes. The risk of customising to specific requirements without an overall framework is
manifest.

There is a need, therefore, to adopt or localise a clear conceptual ICT framework. The ICT
competency framework should communicate the rationale and progression of skills sets
beyond specific job roles. This would improve understanding and acceptance, and also
provide a basis where definitions for human capacity become scalable for emerging and
new technologies.

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Singapore’s NICF illustrates the downside of a lack of conceptual framework. The
competency standard is centred on job roles and descriptions, an approach similar to that
used in India and Philippines. In its attempt to broaden and deepen the matrix in line with
its ICT growth, the NICF has become unwieldy with the 631 competency units and 339 job
roles. It becomes hard to understand, as individuals may not understand how one job role
represent a progression of skills and seniority versus another.

In contrast, national standards that offer a pedagogical framework such as UK’s SFIA is
able to present the ICT skills through different dimensions and levels of progression. The
framework can thus be flexibly scaled in line with new technologies and skills, and used to
define new job roles.

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4. Establishing A National
ICT Competency Standard

49
4. Establishing A National
ICT Competency Standard
Based on the above, the following steps are recommended to be taken in setting up
a national ICT competency framework standard. Although it is possible to establish
competency standards without an overall conceptual framework, having one will lead to
a more robust outcome. For example, how does the competency standard framework fit
into education? How can the framework scale when new job roles emerge? A conceptual
framework will help answer such questions.

4.1 Environment and Context

The start of the planning process should include a review of the country’s contextual
factors. ICT human development needs to be undertaken in tandem with the broader
literacy and infrastructural development of the country. The first step therefore is to identify
the stage of economic development and ICT state in the country. Among the key factors to
be considered in the ICT state are the level of ICT infrastructure and basic literacy.

Identifying the stage of development helps in deciding priorities. For example, because
many Stage 1 countries have tended to focus on e-government initiatives, ICT competency
standards have been aimed at the public sector (so that they can implement the initiatives)
and the general population—so that they can use the initiatives. Countries in transition
from Stage 1 to Stage 2 countries will require more specific skills and so should work on
ICT-specific skills framework to develop the workforce.

For countries who are in transition from Stage 1 to Stage 2, the enabling of e-government
processes and the ICT development of public officials should also be linked with the
national education to integrate ICT as part of its institutional curriculum and vocational
skills upgrading.

Similarly, countries who have successfully made the transition to Stage 2 would need
to pre-empt the higher ICT skills required to make the switch into an innovation-driven
economy in the last lap towards development.

Table 7 above, therefore, presents a quick overview for countries at the various stages of
development as they consider their current developmental context, and decide on the ICT
target segment and priorities.

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4.2 Step 2. Existing ICT Competency Standards - Review/Adopt

Having decided on the ICT development priorities, the next step is to determine the
sectors of human competencies to target. The same Table 7 above is a quick reference
of the existing national competency standards in targeting the different ICT segments of
public/government sector, general workforce, and ICT professionals respectively.

A government may use the earlier review of each target segment, as well as the strengths
and pitfalls of the existing standards, as the basis of reference and consideration. Here the
challenge is in the trade-off between standardisation and customisation. A standardised
competency framework, such as UK’s SFIA, which is already adopted in more than
195 countries, allows for international recognition and acceptance, but would require
time and training before it is understood and accepted locally. In contrast, a national
competency standard that is developed organically from the local needs of its economy
and ICT sectors would promise immediacy without the challenges of customisation to
languages and specific industry or public sector requirements in the country. The adoption
of an international standard, however, is important for growing economies in stages 1
and 2 of development for three key reasons. First, these economies need to attract a
base of foreign investments and technologies for development and technology transfer.
Establishing its competency standards against an international standard facilitates
acceptance by the foreign organisations and greater ease in knowledge transfer.
Ideally then, locally developed standards should be able to demonstrate equivalence to
international standards.

Using an internationally developed standard also enables quick and quality deployment.
Both ICDL for general workforce and SFIA for ICT across sectors have been implemented
in diverse language regions and national contexts. This means that governments new to
ICT capacity building can immediately leverage on their existing networks of accredited
training and certification partners for customisation and localisation and scale deployments
quickly.

Last but most importantly, using an established conceptual framework lets government
leapfrog over the myopic constraints of immediate needs. A clear conceptual framework
that is built upon business and development cycles allow the government to scale for
future needs as economies and emerging technologies develop, Structuring competencies
by job roles can meet immediate needs, but become unwieldy as they grow without a clear
conceptual framework for understanding.

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4.3 Step 3. Local Stakeholders - Implementation & Review

Engagement with the local stakeholders is the next important step as they must
understand the conceptual underpinnings of the competency standard being implemented.
Educating and communicating with these local stakeholders is a key to the success of the
framework.

Whether the country is adopting an existing international framework such as SFIA, or

developing one from the ground up, consultation with all relevant stakeholders is important
in translating the dimensions of standard to local contexts. The national experiences of
the country case studies in ASEAN shows that this process of initiation, discussion and
buy-in from relevant stakeholders is critical in the success of a new competency standard.

4.3.1 Initiation

The prerogative to set up an ICT competency standard is typically recognised in line with
the overall impetus towards ICT development. This is usually led by the government as a
national initiative to professionalise the ICT sector. The government engagement with the
key ICT stakeholders at the initiation of the process may begin in different ways:

i) Literature Review and Mapping

The Philippines began the process of conceptualising its ICT competency standard with
a review of the existing literature and ICT standards available, before these are mapped
against the country needs and industry contexts. A country new to ICT competency
standards may use existing research such as this report, as a reference and guide as
they review the existing ICT competency standards. Beyond the first decision to adopt
a particular framework, the government would need to customise this with the local
stakeholders in the next step for formulation and review.

ii) From the Ground Up

Indonesia has chosen the alternative by developing its competency standards organically
based on the needs and experiences on the ground. Initiation of a competency standard in
Indonesia can be submitted by any citizen, industry or professional association or training
and certification agencies. This may also be generated from the government or other
stakeholders such as ICT or related industries. The submission of a new competency
standard, termed SKKNI, in Indonesia would then trigger the process to the next step in
formulation and review.

iii) Government-led

Singapore’s competency standard, the NICF, was led by its government. The NICF
was conceptualised in response to industry feedback and governmental research as a
means to build up its ICT human capabilities and remain competitive continually. The
governmental agency, the iDA, led the process by first focusing on the core ICT industry
before expanding this to include other economic sectors and new ICT domains.

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4.3.2 Formulation & Engagement

Next, the suggested competency standards or framework needs to be formulated and

reviewed with key local stakeholders. Engagement across a comprehensive spectrum of
stakeholders across government, private industry, academic and professional associations
or certification bodies is key in ensuring that the standards that are formulated and
adopted are relevant and understandable in the local contexts of use.

This engagement is most often coordinated by a central governmental agency, usually

the related ICT or telecommunications authority in the country. The formation of industry
or technical committees is undertaken by the ICT agency who identifies key local
stakeholders for participation.

In Indonesia, proposed competency standards are first reviewed by the technical ICT
committee, sometimes jointly with the Ministry of Manpower, before local stakeholders are
engaged for further discussion. Consultations with stakeholders is a two-step process:
first with a small group from the particular professional sector, then with the entire ICT
stakeholder base to ensure consensus and understanding.

The Philippines takes a similar two-step approach in its engagement with stakeholders,
through a series of focus group discussions with subject experts from the particular ICT
segment, before conducting an industry-wide workshop across all ICT stakeholders for
review and endorsement.

Singapore’s process of engagement is also similar, where specific technical committees

are separately formed for each of the ICT domain identified. Each one oversees the
specifications and validation of the certification levels for the six ICT sectors of its NICF
framework.

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4.3.3 Implementation & Review

The implementation of the proposed competency standards is typically undertaken

through a formal assessment and endorsement by the Minister or related ministries.
Indonesia’s competency standard, the NCS is established through its Minister Decree
and implemented by its technical ICT agency. In Philippines, its ICT authority, the ICTO
would release the Memorandum Circular/Policy Advisory to all national government
agencies, state universities and colleges, local government units, and other stakeholders
promulgating the adoption and implementation.

Unlike other national practices, mplementation in Singapore involved setting up a steering

committee comprising ICT industry leaders for ICT competency standards. This steering
committee guides the direction of the framework and is also responsible for the final
endorsement and approval for implementation.

More significantly, Singapore’s implementation of its ICT competency standard, the

NICF, is undertaken jointly with its national certification and funding agency, the
Workforce Development Authority (WDA). The WDA oversees the WSQ (Workforce Skills
Qualification) system that defines and funds the skills and standards across key sectors of
the economy as it trains, assess and certify its workforce across industries. The NICF was
implemented collaboratively with the accredited WSQ training providers for delivery and
certification. This means that individuals or employers can enjoy up to 90% of course fee
subsidy under the WSQ for NICF certifications, becoming an integral push for adoption
and recognition of the competency standard.
All the countries reviewed have underlined the importance of regular review. All
acknowledged the need for the national competency framework to be regularly reviewed
for effectiveness and relevance. In practice, however, this is impeded by the lack of clear,
measurable targets for review. Countries were often reluctant to specify measures of
effectiveness in adoption, participation or awareness, without which there is no inherent
means of alert or review. In addition, there is a need to establish an on-going forum across
related ICT industries so that stakeholders are able to raise issues and suggestions.

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5. Regional & Supranational
ICT Competency Frameworks

55
5. Regional & Supranational
ICT Competency Frameworks
While national ICT competency frameworks aim to focus the single country’s effort
towards developing its human capacity in the stage of economic and ICT development,
regional and supranational competency frameworks seek to align the skills definition and
certification across its member countries. This allows for economic integration within the
region, optimising resources by achieving a freer movement of human capital across its
member countries.

5.1 Regional & Supranational ICT Competency Frameworks

Supranational competency frameworks aim to facilitate labour mobility and efficiency

across regions, thus bringing about closer economic integration within members and
growth. Regional ICT competency standards would also align the shared interests by the
member countries to promote and develop ICT capabilities for a competitive edge against
other competing blocs.

These advantages, however, have to be weighed against the challenges of synthesizing

the different standards, definitions and levels. As countries may have customised their
competency standards to local requirements, the measurements of skills may vary
considerably according to economic stages. Thus, the challenge is to investigate and find
the commonalities in ICT areas and industries between the different country standards.

In particular, two supranational frameworks, the e-Competency Framework in the

European Union, and the ASEAN ICT Skills Standards, are briefly analysed below.

5.2 European Union’s e-Competence Framework (e-CF)

The e-CF divides the spectrum of ICT skills for all businesses across five ICT competence
areas of PLAN - BUILD - RUN - ENABLE - MANAGE. A total of 40 key competencies are
in turn, spelt out under each of these five e-competence areas, and broken into five levels
of proficiency (e1 to e5). The framework is encapsulated in Figure 11 below.

56
Figure 11: European e-Competency Framework (e-CF)

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5.2.1 Involvement

e-CF was born out of the 2003 CEN Workshop on ICT Skills, a “network of experts
representing the ICT industry, academic institutions, vocational training organisations,
ICT professional associations, social partners and research institutions.” 10 The Workshop
comprises an extensive body of ICT stakeholders across different countries, and aims to
create standardised definitions that would promote ICT professions in Europe and beyond.
Being a component of the larger European Union Strategy for e-Skills in the 21st Century,
the e-CF was also the first sector-specific implementation of the European Qualifications
Framework that lists standardised specifications for skills as EU continues to integrate its
human capacity across member countries.

The extent of parties involved in the conceptualisation of e-CF is noteworthy, as it was

collaboratively designed between ICT stakeholders across public and private interests
across EU countries at varying levels of ICT development. Feedback from more than 120
stakeholders across Europe are also regularly obtained in order to update and keep the
framework relevant to the changing needs of the region.

5.2.2 Target Segments

The standardised framework serves as the common European reference for ICT
professionals/individuals, as well as private sector companies and HR in staff recruitment
and training, specifications for educational and training institutions as well as public
officials and policy-makers who manage the rate and investment of ICT development and
human capacity.

e-CF is not limited to the core ICT industry alone but speaks to all ICT professions across
business sectors and different levels of skill proficiencies. In order to make e-CF directly
relevant, 23 representative profiles of ICT professionals were created and explained, so
that these can be adapted by companies and industries in accordance to their specific
needs. These represent “the top of the ICT family tree”, which is organised over the
ICT business process - shown in Figure 12 below as the “six families” of Business
Management, Technical Management, Design, Development, Service & Operation, and
Support respectively. These are cascaded into the 23 European ICT Profiles as the most
representative job roles at the top (i.e., most proficient) of their skill sets.

10 http://www.ecompetences.eu/cen-ict-skills-workshop/

58
Figure 12: The European ICT Profile Family Tree11

The 23 ICT Profiles in the six families in the ICT business process were in turn matched
with the framework’s five competence areas - as shown in Figure 13 below. Figure 13
also shows the relationships between the framework bases for skills against those of the
ICT business process; companies and individuals can relate the 23 ICT Profiles to their
specific domain and adapt them accordingly in respect to their industry and specific skill
levels required.

11 ftp://ftp.cen.eu/CEN/Sectors/List/ICT/CWAs/CWA%2016458.pdf

59
Figure 13: 23 European ICT Profiles Structured by the 6 Families in Business
Process and 5 ICT Competence Areas in e-CF

5.2.3 Analysis of European e-Competency Framework (e-CF)

As a supranational framework for ICT competency, the e-CF is a forerunner in terms of

the scope of ICT skills defined and its geographical implementation across more than
22 countries in Europe. It is no mean feat to condense the spectrum of ICT roles and
responsibilities across different industries in the business process with the balance
between granularity and legibility. The test of any framework must lie in how easily it can
be understood, yet applied in the specific contexts.

This is especially so for a supranational framework that must relate and apply to differing
business and national contexts within the European bloc. This is significant as the EU
comprises of countries at different stages of development, and e-CF would need to relate
to the different needs of Stage 2, developing countries such as Bulgaria and Romania
alongside those of the developed, developed knowledge economies already in Stage 3 of
their economic development.

The success of e-CF may be attributed to the political support and involvement of key
stakeholders across Europe, in the form of the CEN Workshop on ICT Skills and the
political impetus of EU’s masterplan in the e-Skills for the 21st Century. The umbrella
grouping of public officials and private stakeholders across core ICT industries and
business domains ensured that the framework was developed with collaborative buy-in for
implementation and review, both of which are critical for the success and sustainability of
the competency standard.

60
Given the geographical scale already represented through the European Union, it would
be efficacious for other regional groupings to consider the adoption or integration with
e-CF as the uniform standard for ICT proficiencies. This would serve to align skills
definitions and promote the transfer and migration of ICT professionals internationally.

5.3 ASEAN ICT Skills Standards Definition and Certification

Part of the ASEAN ICT Masterplan 2015, the ASEAN ICT Skills Standards was
conceptualised to standardise the definitions of key ICT competencies in order to facilitate
the development and movement of ICT professionals in the ASEAN countries. Unlike
EU’s e-CF however, the ASEAN Skill Standards prioritised and focused on five key areas
within the core ICT industries, namely, Software Development, ICT Project Management,
Enterprise Architecture Design, Network and System Administration and Information
System and Network Security. These six key ICT areas are further divided into 23 sub-
areas within these fields across three proficiency levels accordingly.

5.3.1 Involvement

Little public information is available on the process of conceptualising the ASEAN ICT
Skills Standards, though available online presentations point to largely to an inter-
governmental effort to align standards across the different proficiency levels (see screen
grabs in Figure 14 below).

Figure 14: Mapping of ICT Standards - ASEAN ICT Masterplan 2015, presented 25-26
August 2014, Bangkok 12

12 http://slideplayer.com/slide/4357718/

61
5.3.2 Target Segments

The ASEAN Skills Standards speak primarily to the core ICT industry, in line with the
focus of most of the ASEAN member states, which are developing Stage 2 economies.
It is noteworthy, however, that the ASEAN Skills Standards appeared to be an effort to
align definitions across national standards that are aimed at different target segments. For
example, Philippines’ NICS targets public/government officials and the general workforce
while Malaysia’s Skill Competency Matrix is focused on the core ICT industry. Singapore’s
NICF, on the other hand, has the broadest scope in reaching out to all ICT professionals
across business domains and expertise areas.

5.3.3 Recommendation and Next Steps for ASEAN Skills Standards

Definition and Certification

The ASEAN Skills Standards is a tentative framework that is still a work-in-progress. The
effectiveness of the eventual framework would require the larger involvement of private
ICT stakeholders and businesses in order to ensure relevance across the different national
contexts. More importantly, the focus on developing the core ICT industry must mean that
only ICT-industry specific standards are drawn out of the respective national frameworks
and consolidated for skills alignment beyond the proficiency levels themselves. This would
be much more technical and require the involvement of ICT experts and private industry
stakeholders akin to the conceptualisation process that the CEN Workshop in EU had
undertaken.

At this early stage of planning, the ASEAN community could usefully draw lessons from
the more comprehensive framework of the EU’s e-CF. The e-CF framework offers a tried-
and-tested conceptualisation broad enough to encompass the needs of Stage 2 and
Stage 3 economies. ASEAN members vary by state of economic development. So while
the focus on building the core ICT industry is the predominant aim of most of the ASEAN
members, the regional bloc also includes countries in transition to, and already at Stage 3
(Malaysia and Singapore respectively), who would require the broader scope to build and
maintain ICT skills across all economic sectors.

Matching the EU’s e-CF framework allows for the integration of ICT human capacities
between Europe and ASEAN, thereby fostering vibrancy and excellence in the ICT
profession. For ASEAN countries who need to import ICT expertise, this represents
an incentive for its workforce to upskill to an internationally recognised standard and
raises the professionalism and appeal of an ICT career. For the developed knowledge
economies, its ICT workers enjoy the mobility that mutual recognition brings within the two
large regional blocs.

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6. Additional Considerations
6. and Conclusion

63
6. Additional Considerations
and Conclusion
6.1 ICT Competency Standards and Disaster Risk Management

ICT competency standards seek to clarify and focus the human development efforts of
governments. One area that emerging and developing economies need to clarify and
focus on is that of disaster risk management. Emerging and developing countries are
often overwhelmed when disaster strikes. Being able to manage such risks through having
trained personnel is therefore advantageous.

The pervasiveness of ICT usage in public, private and educational sectors complement
the effectiveness of disaster management tools in affected countries. Digital literacy and
use by the general population is instrumental for quick alert and recovery during and in
the aftermath of a natural disaster. The development of ICT skills in the public sector
would also allow for governments to effectively implement and use disaster management
software during such emergencies.

6.2 Issues in Revising ICT Competency Standards

The need to regularly review and revise competency standards is well-acknowledged.

Governments, however, often struggle with the politics of engagement that makes revision
difficult. Philippines may find that its different government agencies reluctant to give
up their individual volumes of specific ICT skills and job roles in exchange for a clearer
structure of skills and proficiency levels across the board.

Often times, competency standards remain stagnant after its initial implementation
as the national focus moves to a different area of need. In order to sustain attention,
governments should set out clear measures for the adoption and review of the ICT
competency standards regularly.

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