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Programme status: PlannedUG-DSIPResearch

Applied Digital Capability Programme

Digital Skills in Practice

Applied digital capability through bounded, ethical and community-approved challenge work.

Learners work in accountable teams to understand a bounded community brief, conduct responsible discovery, build and test an accessible digital artefact, document it for a real owner and produce truthful individual portfolio evidence.

Register interest Fund learner access and delivery

Quick facts

The approved delivery facts.

Full cycle
18-month pilot across two learning cycles and multiple workshop waves
Intensive
Five consecutive workshop days
Workshop cohort
Up to 24 learners
Team size
Four to six learners
Pilot delivery model
Five replicated workshop cohorts to reach a proposed 120-learner cumulative target
Intended audience
Young adults, community practitioners and emerging technologists
Standard minimum age
18 years
Capstone
Team Challenge Delivery Pack plus individual Portfolio Case Study
Accreditation
Applied portfolio programme; no current SAQA/QCTO accreditation claim

The 120-learner figure is a proposed cumulative pilot target, not a claim of learners already trained.

The challenge

Why this programme exists.

Digital learning often stops at tool demonstrations or decontextualised exercises. Learners may complete a course without being able to show how they worked in a team, understood a user need, tested an assumption, handled data responsibly, documented their work or handed it over.

Digital Skills in Practice makes those professional behaviours visible. Community briefs are bounded learning partnerships, not a source of unpaid production delivery.

Intended participants

Who it is for — and who it is not for.

Entry criteria and exclusions stay on the page rather than behind a toggle, so nobody applies for a programme that cannot help them.

Who it is for

The programme is designed for:

  • Young adults aged 18 or older in the standard pilot model.
  • Community practitioners who want to develop applied digital delivery capability.
  • Emerging technologists building portfolio evidence and professional practice.
  • Learners with basic device capability or who can attend an access-foundations clinic.
  • Participants willing to work in teams, rotate substantive roles and follow responsible-data and community-brief rules.

Selection prioritises motivation, access need and pathway fit. Prior coding skill is not a default requirement.

It is not designed for

  • Unpaid production delivery disguised as learning.
  • Briefs whose failure could interrupt a live community service.
  • Projects requiring access to sensitive personal information or production credentials.
  • Unmoderated learner contact with children or vulnerable people.
  • Short technical certification or accredited-qualification claims.

Minors require a separately approved safeguarding, consent and supervision model. Applicants under 18 are not accepted through the standard application flow.

Capabilities

What participants can do afterwards.

Information and data literacy

Learner outcome

Find, evaluate, organise and represent information with appropriate evidence and care.

Communication and collaboration

Learner outcome

Work in accountable teams, communicate progress and engage users respectfully.

Digital content and solution creation

Learner outcome

Design, prototype, build and document a bounded digital artefact.

Safety and responsibility

Learner outcome

Apply security, privacy, accessibility, wellbeing, AI and safeguarding practices.

Problem solving and learning

Learner outcome

Frame needs, test assumptions, respond to feedback and plan the next capability step.

Professional delivery

Learner outcome

Manage scope, tasks, quality, demonstrations, handover and portfolio evidence.

The five-day intensive

Five supported days, each with an evidence gate.

A day is not complete because it was attended. Each day ends at a gate that has to be passed before the next stage of work begins.

Day 1

Responsible digital practice and effective teams

Day outcome: Learners understand the challenge boundary, establish safe working practices and become accountable members of a delivery team.

Sessions

  1. Establish the digital baseline and safe workspace.
  2. Form an accountable delivery team.
  3. Understand the community brief and ethical boundary.

Practical build

Baseline, safe workspace, team charter, role plan and brief ethics check.

Evidence gate

Every learner has an accessible workspace, the team charter is accepted and the brief contains no production, data or contact ambiguity.

Day 2

Discover, synthesise and define

Day outcome: Learners convert respectful discovery into a focused problem statement and testable delivery backlog.

Sessions

  1. Plan and conduct ethical discovery.
  2. Turn evidence into insights and user context.
  3. Frame the problem and build the delivery backlog.

Practical build

Discovery plan, evidence notes, synthesis, problem statement, measures and backlog.

Evidence gate

The problem, measures, backlog and evidence trace are approved; unvalidated assumptions remain visibly labelled.

Day 3

Ideate, prototype and build

Day outcome: Teams create the smallest accessible artefact that can test the highest-value assumptions.

Sessions

  1. Generate and select response concepts.
  2. Design an accessible, low-bandwidth prototype.
  3. Build the critical path with visible quality.

Practical build

Concept decision, accessible prototype, version record, source/AI-use disclosure and updated README.

Evidence gate

The artefact has a working or walkthrough-ready critical path, version history, source/AI-use disclosure and no prohibited data or production dependency.

Day 4

Test, improve and document

Day outcome: Teams replace opinions with observed evidence, improve the artefact and make it maintainable by someone else.

Sessions

  1. Run respectful usability and quality tests.
  2. Analyse issues and iterate deliberately.
  3. Write documentation and handover for a real owner.

Practical build

Test records, issue decisions, final bounded release, README and responsible handover.

Evidence gate

The release has test evidence, documented limits, source/AI attribution, accessible handover material and no unapproved publication.

Day 5

Demonstrate, hand over and progress

Day outcome: Learners can explain what they did, what evidence supports it, what remains uncertain and what capability they will build next.

Sessions

  1. Present an evidence-led demonstration.
  2. Build the individual portfolio case study.
  3. Plan the next pathway and close responsibly.

Practical build

Team demonstration, individual portfolio case study, progression plan, handover and access closure.

Evidence gate

Completion requires 80% attendance, individual demonstrated contribution, a verified team pack, a safe portfolio artefact and an approved progression plan.

Capstone

What each team and learner leaves with

Challenge Delivery Pack

Each team completes a Challenge Delivery Pack. Team artefacts are bounded learning outputs handed over to a real owner — they are not production-ready systems.

  • Approved and bounded brief.
  • Responsible discovery evidence.
  • Problem statement, measures and delivery backlog.
  • Accessible prototype or digital resource.
  • Version and decision history.
  • Usability, quality, accessibility and safety tests.
  • Source and AI-use disclosure.
  • README, limits and handover.
  • Responsible six-minute demonstration.

Individual Portfolio Case Study

Each learner completes an Individual Portfolio Case Study that explains:

  • Their substantive contribution.
  • Decisions they influenced.
  • Evidence they created or used.
  • Skills demonstrated.
  • Safety, accessibility and responsibility applied.
  • What did not work and what changed.
  • Their next realistic learning or work pathway.

The full cycle

The 18-month implementation and evidence cycle.

Digital Skills in Practice: the 18-month implementation cycle, phase by phase.
PeriodPhaseRequired result
Months 1–2Research and approveLearner, employer/community and access evidence shapes briefs and pathway model.
Month 3Curriculum and safeguarding readinessBriefs, mentors, assessment, consent, portfolio and referral controls approved.
Month 4Small pilotOne-day pilot tests access, pacing, devices, assessment and participant support.
Months 5–6Facilitator and partner readinessFacilitators calibrated, briefs validated, recruitment and baseline complete.
Months 7–11Cycle 1Five-day cohorts, mentored brief work, demonstrations and 30-/60-day pathway follow-up.
Month 12Corrective learning gateEvidence review drives documented curriculum, support and partner changes.
Months 13–16Cycle 2Revised cohorts complete the intensive and pathway support; cumulative pilot target reaches 120 learners.
Month 17Portfolio and pathway verificationPortfolio quality, transition actions and destination evidence independently reviewed.
Month 18Learn and exitLearning brief, partner handover, archive, alumni/support decision and next-cycle gate.

The 120-learner figure is a proposed cumulative pilot target, not a claim of learners already trained.

Assessment and completion

Completion is evidenced, not assumed.

Ubuntu Gale records completion, demonstrated competence and portfolio evidence. It does not describe any programme as an accredited qualification.

Learners must:

  • Attend at least 80% of the intensive.
  • Demonstrate an individual substantive contribution.
  • Complete required safety and conduct controls.
  • Contribute to a verified team Challenge Delivery Pack.
  • Produce a truthful and safe individual portfolio artefact.
  • Disclose sources and material AI assistance.
  • Explain evidence, decisions, limits and learning.
  • Submit an approved progression plan.
  • Close temporary access and return or remove controlled materials.

Coaching and follow-through

What happens after the room closes.

Responsible delivery is part of the curriculum

Ubuntu Gale programmes use fictional, synthetic, anonymised or safely aggregated information during workshop activity. Participants do not expose passwords, recovery codes, production credentials or sensitive personal information. Accessibility, low-bandwidth access, safeguarding, cybersecurity basics, source attribution and responsible AI use are designed into the work rather than left to a final checklist.

  • A designated safeguarding and data focal point may pause an activity.
  • Real beneficiary or customer records must not be displayed in shared workshop exercises.
  • Direct contact with children or vulnerable people requires a separately approved safeguarding plan.
  • Photography, recording, partner naming and portfolio publication require explicit approval.
  • Workshop prototypes remain non-production until separately approved.
  • Legal and regulatory questions are referred to qualified specialists.
  • Accessibility support requirements are collected before final cohort confirmation.

Intended measures and evidence

What the programme measures.

These are the measures the programme assesses. They are not results already achieved.

  • Completion and individual demonstrated contribution.
  • Portfolio quality against the approved rubric.
  • Ability to explain and reproduce the work.
  • Responsible data, accessibility, security and AI practices.
  • Progression actions completed after the workshop.
  • Verified transition or destination evidence where the participant consents to follow-up.
  • Partner-safe handover and closure of temporary access.

Participation, completion, demonstrated competence, implementation, adoption and outcome evidence are reported separately. See the public evidence ladder

Limits

What this programme does not promise.

  • This is an applied portfolio programme. It is not currently represented as a SAQA- or QCTO-accredited qualification.
  • No employment, internship, funding or placement is guaranteed.
  • Community briefs are bounded learning partnerships, not unpaid production delivery.
  • Team artefacts are learning outputs. They are not production-ready systems.
  • Portfolio publication, partner naming and media use require explicit approval.
  • Applicants under 18 are not accepted through the standard application flow.

Frequently asked

Questions about Digital Skills in Practice.

Is the programme only five days long?

No. The five-day intensive sits inside an 18-month pilot across two learning cycles and multiple workshop waves, with mentored brief work, 30- and 60-day progression check-ins, portfolio review and independent verification.

Is this an accredited qualification?

This is an applied portfolio programme. It is not currently represented as a SAQA- or QCTO-accredited qualification. Completion, demonstrated contribution and portfolio evidence are recorded against an approved rubric.

Do I need to know how to code?

Prior coding skill is not a default requirement. Learners need basic device capability or can attend an access-foundations clinic. Selection prioritises motivation, access need and pathway fit.

Can I apply if I am under 18?

Not through the standard application flow. The standard pilot model has a minimum age of 18. Minors require a separately approved safeguarding, consent and supervision model.

Will my work be published or given to a partner?

Only with explicit approval. Portfolio publication, partner naming, photography and media use each require separate approval, and temporary access is closed at the end of the intensive.

Next steps

Choose the route that matches your role.

Every route below leads to the same enquiry form, which asks only for what your role needs.