60 New Technology, Work and Employment The determinants of ICT competencies among employees Kea Tijdens and Bram Steijn This study aims to explain employees’ adaptability to infor- mation and communications technology (ICT), using a repre- sentative sample of 713 employees in the Netherlands. The willingness to acquire ICT competencies and the mastery of equipment and software are primarily affected by intensity of ICT use, an informated ICT strategy of the organisation and an intensive personnel policy. Introduction In February 2000, the European Commission (EC) launched an ambitious plan to enhance educational levels and employment opportunities within the European Union (EU) given the rise of the information society. One such measure involves awarding all employees an opportunity to procure the requisite level of qualification. The EC has therefore appealed to the national governments to develop activities directed at achieving this, insofar as such activities have not yet already been initiated. Concerns about the competitive position of the member states in relation to the US are an impor- tant factor underlying this move (e.g. European Union, 2000). At the next EU Summit in Portugal, various decisions were taken in the interests of increasing the information and communications technology (ICT) competencies of employees. The Dutch gov- ernment has also taken steps to this end. For example, various departments have established committees to chart the departmental impact of the information society. However, to date, scientific insight into the processes that affect employees’ adapt- ability to new ICT developments has been fragmented. This article, which is based on the ‘ICT competencies 2002’ project, aims to consolidate and expand such insight. 1 It focuses on the following key question: ‘What factors explain if, and, if so, to what extent, employees build up ICT competencies?’ These factors are sought in character- istics of the employees themselves, such as educational background, gender, job rating and so on, and in characteristics of the workplace, such as organisational form and personnel policy. In so doing, concurrence is established with the discussion of so- New Technology, Work and Employment 20:1 ISSN 0268-1072 ❒ Kea Tijdens is Associate Professor and Research Coordinator at AIAS, the Amsterdam Institute of Advanced Labour Studies, University of Amsterdam. Bram Steijn is Associate Professor at the Depart- ment of Public Administration, Erasmus University Rotterdam. © Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2005, 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford, OX4 2DQ, UK and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA.