The early years of a child’s life are a period of rich brain development. It is when they rapidly develop cognitive, social and emotional skills that are fundamental to their later achievements as adults. In an evolving world of smartphones, computers and other digital technologies, it is therefore vital for positive early experiences with digital tech.

The OECD Starting Strong series provides an international comparative perspective on early childhood education and care (ECEC) systems to support countries and jurisdictions in reviewing and designing their policies in this space. As part of the OECD’s long-term strategy to develop ECEC, the reviews discuss the strengths and opportunities of different approaches and provide policy orientations that help promote high‑quality and equitable ECEC services. The Starting Strong reviews are developed in close collaboration with the OECD’s Early Childhood Education and Care Network, a unique knowledge-sharing platform for national, regional and local policy makers working on ECEC policies.

The rapid development of digitalisation provides opportunities for early childhood education and care (ECEC) including new learning materials and environments, new ways for staff development and collaboration, and strengthened links between institutions and parents. At the same time, digitalisation has created challenges to young children’s lives. From concerns about screen time to the misuse of children’s data, ECEC faces many dilemmas and difficult issues. This report sets out the opportunities and risks of digital technology for young children and identifies five key challenges and potential responses for the sector. At its heart, the report makes clear that ECEC should use digital technologies to improve the quality of services and prepare young children to understand the dangers and benefits of these technologies. It outlines a roadmap to help policymakers take a consistent approach to digitalisation in ECEC and support young children to thrive in the digital age. The report summarises findings from a two-year policy review that collected data from 30 countries and jurisdictions in 2022.

This chapter presents a policy roadmap for making early childhood education and care (ECEC) responsive to digitalisation. It discusses the main challenges brought about by digitalisation for ECEC and then provides a roadmap of policies to address these key challenges, building on the policy directions stemming from the report’s findings. It also identifies examples of countries that are relatively active in some of these policy areas to inform policy reflection in other countries.

This chapter provides an overview of digitalisation trends with implications for young children and early childhood education and care (ECEC). It reviews economic and social changes shaping the skills bundle for the digital age, as well as trends in young children’s engagement with digital technologies and associated risks and opportunities. The chapter describes policy challenges for supporting young children and ECEC systems through the digital transformation as identified by the countries and jurisdictions participating in the OECD project ECEC in a Digital World.

This chapter considers policy efforts to protect young children in digital environments, with a specific focus on the role of early childhood education and care (ECEC). Building on the OECD Recommendation of the Council on Children in the Digital Environment (2021), it explores the ways in which three groups of key actors can be supported to fulfil their respective roles. First, the chapter considers policy measures to engage digital service providers in efforts to keep young children safe in the digital world. Next, it examines the role of parents and families, and how governments can best support and advise them about safeguarding young children against digital risks. Finally, the chapter investigates the complex and expanding role ECEC professionals play in supporting young children in navigating digital opportunities and risks and outlines policy actions underway to do so.

This chapter discusses rationales for and ways to adapt curriculum frameworks and pedagogical approaches in light of the digital transformation. Curriculum frameworks can capture emerging trends that shape childhood and early childhood education and care (ECEC) and thereby constitute a core policy lever for making ECEC responsive to digitalisation. The chapter presents the notion of early digital literacy and discusses its integration into ECEC curriculum frameworks across countries. It discusses pedagogical approaches that can support a future-oriented curriculum framework and foster early digital literacy development, including through approaches that do not require screen exposure. Finally, the chapter reviews various digital tools that can be used with young children in ECEC settings and the principles for ensuring age-appropriate uses.

In the context of the evolving demands digitalisation places on early childhood education and care (ECEC) staff, this chapter explores how countries are preparing and supporting ECEC staff to meet these demands, as well as how technology can be integrated into ECEC staff practices more generally (e.g. for administrative tasks, work with parents). The chapter proposes a model for considering ECEC staff competencies around digitalisation, with foundational skills and knowledge for the entire workforce at the base, enhanced abilities for some groups of staff, and finally, the possibility for a group of ECEC digital specialists. The chapter ends with policy pointers.

This chapter discusses the use of digital technology to engage families in early childhood education and care (ECEC) settings. The use of digital technology is widespread in ECEC settings and family contexts. The chapter discusses how digital technology can change the frequency and outreach of interactions between ECEC staff and family members, while shedding light on the challenges of doing so, to promote high-quality family and community engagement. The chapter offers some suggestions on how policy can help better prepare ECEC settings and staff to balance digital and face-to-face engagement of families for the benefit of the entire ECEC community.

This chapter explores differences in risks and opportunities relating to digital technologies among young children. It focuses on the exposure to digital risks and the development of emergent digital literacy skills in home environments before turning to differences in access to and the use of digital technologies in early childhood education and care (ECEC) centres, and particularly to the role of ECEC in mitigating digital divides among young children. Moreover, this chapter discusses ways in which digital technology may support a quality provision of ECEC as well as inclusion, thus strengthening the quality of ECEC for disadvantaged children in particular. The chapter concludes with a review of current funding structures aimed at reducing digital divides and issues policy pointers for promoting equity and inclusion in ECEC.

Digitalisation brings new opportunities and demands for quality monitoring in early childhood education and care (ECEC). This chapter discusses challenges for establishing robust data management and quality monitoring systems at a time when data are increasingly available and digital technologies increasingly present in ECEC settings. Building on responses to the ECEC in a Digital World policy survey (2022), the chapter examines the availability of ECEC data systems across countries and their most prevailing goals and features. It then looks at the inclusion of digitalisation-related elements in ECEC quality monitoring frameworks.