From January 2005 - June 2006 Philadelphia and Centre, Clinton and Potter counties, offered the International Computer Driving License (ICDL) training & certification program through Project TIME (Technology Initiatives for Meaningful Employment). The organization is a cooperative among the Philadelphia Mayor's Commission on Technology, the Rural Collaborative (K-CNet, Lock Haven University and the Potter County Education Council) and the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education Foundation Inc., funded in part by a grant from the Ben Franklin Technology Development Authority. The program was designed based on a pilot developed in 2003 by the Mayor's Commission on Technology in partnership with IBM called the Greater Computer Skills Collaborative (GPCSC).

Through Project TIME, 1,000 Pennsylvania residents – 500 in both urban and rural areas – who are in need of basic computer skills were identified and recruited to participate in the ICDL training & certification program.

In the City of Philadelphia, the Mayor's Commission on Technology provided training to over 500 Philadelphia residents at over a dozen training sites throughout the City. Over 200 individuals received their ICDL Certification.

Objectives of ICDL

Because technology plays a fundamental role in the lives of people everywhere, the ICDL Foundation has established the certification program with the following objectives in mind:

• Promote and encourage computer literacy for people in all walks of life.
  
• Raise the level of knowledge about information technology and the level of competence in using personal computers and common computer applications.
  
• Ensure all computer users understand best practices and the advantages of using a personal computer.
  
• Increase the productivity of all employees who need to use computers in their work.
  
• Enable better returns from investments in IT.
  
• Provide a fundamental qualification that will allow all people, regardless of their background, to be part of the global “Information Society.”

ICDL Certification

ICDL certification means that you have mastered basic IT concepts and are able to use a personal computer and common computer applications at a fundamental level of competence.

Certification tells a prospective employer or other sponsoring organization that you passed one theoretical test that assesses knowledge of the fundamental IT concepts and seven performance-based tests that assess competence in using a personal computer and working with common computer software applications.

Upon successful completion of the seven ICDL tests, you will receive an ICDL Computer Competency Certificate. Learn more about the ICDL process.

ICDL stands for the International Computer Driving License, a program of ICDL-US which distributes the certification program in the United States.