Digital Literacy: An Essential Workplace Skill

By Captain Ben Zuo - May 23rd, 2025

Reading Time: 4 min

Digital literacy is defined as “…a combination of both technical and cognitive abilities in using information and communication technologies to create, evaluate, and share information.” As Senior Non-Commission Officers and Commissioned Officers are increasingly spending more time glued to their office desks, emails and digital collaboration tools, digital literacy is becoming an essential skill in the workplace. At the same time, it is not formally or deliberately taught through phase training at any trade or rank level; rather, it is expected for everyone to “learn on the job”. A lack of standardised formal training in digital literacy across the CAF exposes the organisation to missed opportunities for increasing work efficiency, quality, and output. The need to be more efficient with the resources we have (both military and civilian) is especially important in our current fiscal, recruitment, and retention constrained environment.

First, we acknowledge that the CAF does recognise the importance of digital tools and competency in their use, there are many support services within this space and many L4s and above have dedicated personnel functioning as Information Management Officers (IMOs), whether as a primary or secondary duty. However, while IMOs are governed by DAOD 6001-1 and are only responsible for Information Management for the purposes of governance and compliance, they are often “double-tapped” to become Digital Subject Matter Experts (SMEs). This practice becomes a risk as IMOs often become single points of failure as organisations offload the responsibility of every member in the CAF for digital competency and information management.

We can break down the digital literacy problem into the following categories as they relate to the operational and administrative outputs of the CAF:

1. Without a significant reduction in workload, CAF members operating in a resource constrained environment must be more efficient and productive with their time and energy. In order to facilitate better task management and prioritisation, as well as optimising workflows to reduce redundant and time-consuming manual processes, it is imperative for members to be able to efficiently use digital tools or processes such as:
   a. Task tracking functionality available throughout the D365 Office suite.
   b. Planners and dashboards through the MS Teams suites of applications.
   c. PowerBI or similar data analytics tools.
   d. Appropriate application of collaborative, real-time trackers.

2. As digitisation of documentation increases, the volume of digital information grows exponentially and so does the requirements for managing this volume. Competencies and skills that can facilitate this include:
   a. The effective use of metadata tagging on documents which lead to relevant record keeping and facilitates analytics and useful metrics.
   b. A clear understanding of the foundational Sharepoint Online platform and how it can be customised to suit the needs of every organisation from L1 to L5s.
   c. The ability to leverage cloud-based storage solutions through D365 OneDrive and how it applies to both personal and institutional libraries.

3. With the advent of “artificial intelligence” enabled software, the ability to process high volumes of information and data becomes more accessible to the common user. It is incumbent on the user to have the knowledge and understanding of the capabilities, as well as the constraints and restraints of this technology. Keys to understanding this emerging technology include:
   a. Understanding the difference between true Artificial Intelligence and the tools that exist today as forms of Large Language Models and Generative AI.
   b. Understanding the risk space that exists with Generative AI, including its propensity to generate incorrect data via “AI hallucinations”.
   c. Understanding the importance of “priming” an AI by providing source information with correctly structured prompts prior to conducting analyses or generating data.

The CAF currently exists in a time where foundational digital literacy is not taught and is yet expected while new technologies are being introduced into our digital ecosystem at a blistering speed without regulations for the training that is required to minimise risk and use digital technology effectively.

Professional learning is available through platforms such as the Microsoft Enterprise Skills Initiative (ESI), Microsoft Learn, and Udemy; however, these are not well-advertised opportunities, nor are they uniformly available to everyone as some platforms have limited DND licenses available. Despite recent efforts in reconstitution, members also often find themselves overloaded during working hours, removing opportunities to use these learning platforms while on duty.

This skill gap cannot be resolved by relying on a generational turnover within the CAF. Despite popular belief, it is not a given that newer generations of CAF members are successively more digitally literate than previous generations. While Generation Z have grown up immersed by technology, they may be confined to the narrow intersection of mobile technology and social media; this exposure does not imply or guarantee that they are digitally literate writ large.

While the “digital paint” is still wet with the relatively recent introduction of D365 (Microsoft 365) into the CAF digital ecosystem, we are primed with the best opportunity to institutionalise digital literacy training. From basic training to reaching the occupational functional point and beyond, we must ensure that these competencies are ingrained in every soldier, sailor, and aviator.

About the author:
Captain Ben Zuo is an Electrical and Mechanical Engineering Officer currently pursuing a Masters of Business Administration at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario through the Sponsored Post-Graduate Training program. Since joining the CAF in 2015, he has served with 2 Service Battalion, 2nd Regiment Royal Canadian Horse Artillery, and deployed on multiple operations, most recently with the Royal Canadian Dragoons in 2021. Prior to commencing his MBA studies, he served consecutively as the Operations Officer and Adjutant for 4 Canadian Division Support Group Technical Services Unit.