Clueless before the enter key

It is not the first and it will not be the last indictment on the subject. Because in Germany the buzzword digitization still clings to the image of aloof technology dodging, a secret language that only particularly gifted people would be able to master. A society that wants to survive in a digitized world needs the entire population to know at least to a certain extent. Especially in a democratic society where the majority of the population indirectly influences political decisions.

But like the “Digital Skills Gap” study by the D21 initiative funded by the Federal Ministry of Economics, other studies have previously shown that far too large a part of the population lacks important digital skills: information cannot be distinguished from advertising, and serious information cannot of dubious.

The lower the analog education, the lower the digital

Even the people who regularly hang around the net, post pictures, send messages with their smartphones and get information, lack an understanding of how the digital world works around them. Use yes, understand or shape – not enough. The general rule of thumb of the studies is: the lower the analog education, the lower the digital. Exception: people over 70 who are generally less confident in dealing with digital offers. It is clear who is at risk of being left behind. One wonders what has to happen before the gong sounds.

A basic knowledge of digital issues that is as basic as possible is a central competence for survival in digital times. Those who cannot judge what is jumping towards them on the screen can be manipulated. Defenseless at the mercy of those who know better. To illustrate it in analogy: Who would not have been annoyed and cheated about the bill of a motor vehicle company, but also not able to better evaluate the diagnosed damage? This feeling, which is ugly enough with the silly incident with the car, threatens non-experts with every move in the digital future. Nobody can want that.

Not even politics. Which should therefore invest quickly in digital educational offers. In schools especially, where the reluctance to equip computers and technology must not end with telling the children where to press the Enter key and when. You also need to learn why that is. And for the elderly too, more needs to be done: Just as corona vaccinations are currently offered on every street corner, digital training opportunities should also be offered. Because what could be more important than that the majority of the population understands the language of the future?