Open Access

The lighthouse project “ZED (Zwickauer Energiewende Demonstrieren/ Demonstrating Zwickau’s Energy Transition)” demonstrates how energy transition in existing buildings can work under everyday conditions in a socially and environmentally compatible, secure and affordable manner with the help of technical and social innovations. Through the intelligent interaction of thermal and electrical components as well as information technology networking in an integrated electric-thermal wide area synchronous grid for year-round sector coupling, the goals of the funding initiative “Solar Construction/Energy Efficient City” are to be achieved, in particular the increase of energy efficiency, reduction of energy consumption (sufficiency) and decarbonisation. In the systemic, transdisciplinary approach of ZED, the networking of participants and their services as well as the participation of residents are crucial to ensure acceptance and awareness for the innovative solutions. Local knowledge and relevance to everyday life can thus be used in the sense of user-oriented technology development so that these solutions are transferable.

Background: Change and progress through digitalisation is also becoming increasingly important in the field of professional care and the associated increasing demands on the skills of nursing staff. The European Union considers digital skills to be one of the eight key competences for lifelong learning. At present, few reliable statements can be made about the status of digital skills in professional nursing care in Germany. The aim of this study was to map the current status of digital competences of executives in full inpatient care facilities in Germany and to identify possible differences to reference values of academics. Methodology: This survey is based on a Germany-wide cross-sectional survey in full inpatient care facilities (N = 8,727). The survey instrument Digital Competences Framework (DigComp 2.2) according to the European Union's reference framework was used as the basis for recording the digital competence characteristics. The statistical analysis was descriptive and inferential (t-test, two-sided, p<0.05). Results: Out of 15 items across five dimensions, significant differences for nine items can be determined. The competence levels of the participating managers from the full inpatient care facilities were lower compared to the reference sample. Discussion: In order to be able to counter the skills discrepancy shown by the study in the future, it is of central importance to deepen knowledge and skills in the area of digitalisation in the care context.