ECDL Rebrands To ICDL

28 July 2021 | Produced by Kandy Shaw

It is official!…  The European Computer Driving Licence (ECDL) is to be rebranded.

The ICDL Foundation together with the British Computer Society (BCS) are currently working on changing all the branding for this internationally recognised qualification.  It is to become known as the International Computer Driving Licence (ICDL).

Why the Rebrand?

Although ECDL and ICDL were one and the same qualification, in non-European countries the European Computer Driving Licence (ECDL) was known as the International Computer Driving Licence (ICDL).  (See my post on What is ECDL?).  To rebrand ECDL to ICDL therefore, brings the qualification in line with its international recognition.

When will the rebrand be complete?

The ECDL Level 3 Certificate in IT User skills has already been renamed.  It is now known as ICDL Advanced (instead of ECDL Advanced).  The rest of ECDL branded qualifications will soon also be updated to ICDL as well and the new ICDL logo will be displayed on certificates.  There will be no changes to the existing units, qualifications or Qualification Accreditation Number (QAN).  All amendments, documents, certificates and web pages will be updated and the whole rebrand should be complete by the end of August 2021. 

History of ECDL

August 1996 In order to raise the level of digital literacy throughout Europe, the Council of European Professional Informatics Societies (CEPIS) launched the European Computer Driving Licence certification programme. 

January 1997 ECDL was quickly adopted across Europe.  ECDL Foundation (now ICDL Foundation) was formally established in Dublin as a central coordinating body to ensure high standards of implementation. 

1999 Candidate numbers exceed 1 million.  Countries outside of Europe begin to take interest in the programme and it becomes known as International Computer Driving Licence (ICDL) to those countries.

2003 ECDL Foundation launch ECDL Advanced; a certification designed for candidates who wish to further enhance their computer skills having already successfully achieved ECDL.

2009 Candidate numbers exceed 9 million

2015 Candidate numbers exceed 15 million

2019 ECDL continuously evolved and developed so a new ICDL identity is launched

2021 Rebranding from ECDL to ICDL

So, although ECDL will soon be known globally as ICDL, the qualification remains as it was and it is still a worthwhile qualification to pursue.