Developing the DigIQ: A measure of digital competence.

Digital competence reflects the skills and knowledge needed to thrive in the digital world. Despite the criticality of this concept, the field lacks a robust and valid measure of digital competence that is suitable across the life span. Addressing this need, using data from more than 2500 participants across three studies, this work presents the development of the DigIQ - a psychometrically valid indicator of digital competence for use across the lifespan. The measure reflects the complexity of digital competence - covering nine skill domains (strategic information skills, critical information skills, netiquette, digital content creation skills, safety and control of information and devices, digital health and wellbeing, sustainable/green digital skills, digital problem-solving skills, and AI skills) and related digital knowledge. While promising, results highlight important future considerations - namely, the need to assess the tool's suitability for younger demographics and individuals with limited literacy skills; the importance of complementing this tool with more nuanced indicators when making interpretations across age groups; and the need to adapt this tool to reflect emerging technological developments. Still, even with these caveats, the DigIQ represents an important advance in digital competence assessment, and thanks to its open access approach, can widely inform evidence-based decision-making and promote digital competence in an increasingly digitized world.