The relation between 21st-century skills and digital skills: A systematic literature review Ester van Laar a, * , Alexander J.A.M. van Deursen a , Jan A.G.M. van Dijk a , Jos de Haan b a University of Twente, Department of Communication Science, PO Box 217, 7500 AE, Enschede, The Netherlands b Erasmus University Rotterdam, Department of Media & Communication, PO Box 1738, 3000 DR, Rotterdam, The Netherlands article info Article history: Received 21 November 2016 Received in revised form 1 March 2017 Accepted 2 March 2017 Available online 3 March 2017 Keywords: 21st-century skills Digital skills Digital literacy Labor Systematic literature review abstract Innovation starts with people, making the human capital within the workforce decisive. In a fast- changing knowledge economy, 21 st -century digital skills drive organizations' competitiveness and innovation capacity. Although such skills are seen as crucial, the digital aspect integrated with 21 st - century skills is not yet sufficiently defined. The main objectives of this study were to (1) examine the relation between 21 st -century skills and digital skills; and (2) provide a framework of 21 st -century digital skills with conceptual dimensions and key operational components aimed at the knowledge worker. A systematic literature review was conducted to synthesize the relevant academic literature concerned with 21 st -century digital skills. In total, 1592 different articles were screened from which 75 articles met the predefined inclusion criteria. The results show that 21 st -century skills are broader than digital skills e the list of mentioned skills is far more extensive. In addition, in contrast to digital skills, 21 st -century skills are not necessarily underpinned by ICT. Furthermore, we identified seven core skills: technical, information management, communication, collaboration, creativity, critical thinking and problem solv- ing. Five contextual skills were also identified: ethical awareness, cultural awareness, flexibility, self- direction and lifelong learning. © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction In the knowledge society, organizations operate in a global economy characterized by intense competition together with eco- nomic interdependence and collaboration. By globalizing the pro- duction of goods and services, thousands of jobs, particularly in manufacturing, have been eliminated by automation or relocation to industrialized countries (Anderson, 2008; Levy & Murnane, 2012). Furthermore, flexible production and service delivery sys- tems cause profound changes in the workplace such as flatter management structures, decentralized decision making, informa- tion sharing and task teams, cross-organizational networking and flexible work arrangements (Partnership for 21st century skills, 2008). Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are at the core of this fast-changing economy. However, although ICTs are a foundation for innovation, in themselves they do not create a knowledge-based economy. Innovation starts with people, making the human capital within the workforce decisive (Anderson, 2008; Kefela, 2010; Lanvin & Kralik, 2009; Lanvin & Passman, 2008). The current workplace requires highly skilled workers faced with increasingly complex and interactive tasks. Such workers are ex- pected to efficiently select knowledge from the amount of available information and effectively apply such knowledge, both in their professional and personal lives. Employees not only need excellent technical preparation; they also need sufficient skills to adapt to the changing requirements of the job (Ahmad, Karim, Din, & Albakri, 2013; Carnevale & Smith, 2013). Knowledge has become vital in the 21 st -century and people need to acquire such skills to enter the workforce e called 21 st -century skills. In general, 21 st -century skills include collaboration, communication, digital literacy, citizenship, problem solving, critical thinking, creativity and productivity (Voogt & Roblin, 2012). These skills are labelled 21 st -century skills to indicate that they are more related to the current economic and social developments than with those of the past century charac- terized as an industrial mode of production. The development of the global knowledge society and the rapid integration of ICT make it imperative to acquire digital skills * Corresponding author. E-mail address: e.vanlaar@utwente.nl (E. van Laar). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Computers in Human Behavior journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/comphumbeh http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2017.03.010 0747-5632/© 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Computers in Human Behavior 72 (2017) 577e588