The kick-off meeting (KoM) of the “Digital Competence Levels Assessment in School Education – DigiCLASS” Erasmus+ project was successfully held on 24^th and 25^th March 2026, at the premises of the GIP Pix, Coordinator, in Paris (France). DigiCLASS addresses the need to develop common and effective strategies for assessing digital competences across the European school education sector. At present, approaches to digital competence assessment differ considerably among European countries due to variations in pedagogical practices, curricula and national policy frameworks.

The DAISSy Research Group of the Hellenic Open University (HOU), the only Greek partner of the DigiCLASS consortium, joined the KoM. It was represented by Achilles Kameas, Professor at the Hellenic Open University, Director of DAISSy, who, along with the other partner representatives, presented the Research Group, its expertise and respective roles in the project and was actively involved in the discussions about the project’s objectives, work plan, implementation methodology and forthcoming activities. During the two-day kick-off meeting particular emphasis was put on the adaptation of digital competence assessment approaches to different national educational contexts, the involvement of schools and teachers in the project activities, and the organisation of the pilot implementation process.

It is noteworthy, that DigiCLASS aims at supporting the assessment of digital skills in primary and secondary education, including Initial Vocational Education and Training (VET), through the adaptation and extension of the Pix digital competence assessment platform, across Europe. The platform is based on the European Digital Competence Framework for Citizens-DigComp, and supports the assessment of digital skills across different competence areas and proficiency levels.

Running from March 2026 to October 2028, DigiCLASS brings together seven (7) partner organisations from six (6) member-states of the European Union.

Namely, the project is coordinated by GIP Pix (France) and is being implemented in cooperation with the European Grants International Academy – EGINA (Italy), GTN Solutions (Austria), the Government of Aragon and Universidad San Jorge (Spain), the ALL DIGITAL (Belgium), and the Hellenic Open University – DAISSy Research Group (Greece).

The consortium is also supported by an International Pedagogical Committee (IPC) comprising nine (9) Associated Partners, including national and regional educational authorities and European entities with expertise in digital education, educational policy and lifelong learning. The Committee will contribute its pedagogical and policy expertise to the project and support the relevance, sustainability and wider transferability of its results.

Through its participation in DigiCLASS, the DAISSy Research Group of the HOU will contribute its research and educational expertise to the development, contextualisation and implementation of a common European approach to digital competence assessment in school education.