Available courses
Welcome to this self-paced course that orients you on how to navigate the gig economy. It is designed to support both location-based and online gig workers. You can access this course anytime, anywhere online or offline.
Who is this course for?
This course is for anyone working in the gig economy or interested to learn more about platform-based gig work. It offers orientation on the essential characteristics of digital labour platforms, what are the types of platform-based gig work, key strategies to overcoming challenges and how you can get started on these platforms. It improves your understanding of the platform work in general and it prepares you for moving in and out of the gig economy.
What will you learn?
Using principles of micro-learning, you will learn about how to get started on a gig platform, finding work that meets your skills and interests, understanding the ratings/rankings game and the key pitfalls of platform-based gig work and how to avoid those. You can use this course as a self-reflection tool and learn from the experiences of other gig workers.
Keywords: online freelancing, gig work, digital economy, gig economy, delivery, online freelancing, in-demand skills
How much time do you need to invest? This course takes around 45 minutes to complete
Course Certificate: Completing this Course earns you a Digital Badge shareable on your online profile, LinkedIn or other social profiles; an Achievement Certificate; and an opportunity to earn a Compound Badge by also completing Course 2 and Course 3
Course Developer: Gig Economy GIZ
Course Contact: gig.economy@giz.de
License: CC-BY-SA 4.0
Course publication date: April 2023
This course will introduce you to the basic concepts of cybersecurity: What is cybersecurity and why is it important? Why and how do cyber attacks happen? Who are the attackers? What are common entry points for malicious actors? What are the possible consequences of cyber attacks?
Who is this course for? Persons with an IT background or people interested in learning more about cybersecurity, including from policymaking, law, civil society and academia. No previous experience in cybersecurity or technical knowledge in incident management is required.
What will you learn? After taking this course, you will be able to:
- Explain essential cybersecurity concepts such as "vulnerabilities" or "advanced persistent threats" to a friend or colleague.
- Understand cyber threat vectors and attack techniques used by adversaries to compromise systems.
- Give examples of outcomes of cyber attacks and their potential consequences for individuals, organizations, and national security.
How much time do you need to invest? You will need approx. 60 minutes to complete this course.
Topics: cybersecurity, cyber threats, cyber attack, cyber threat vectors, malicious threat actors, vulnerabilities, advanced persistent threats, social engineering
Certificate:
The platform will automatically generate a certificate of participation
once you have completed the course and passed the final test. The passing mark is set at 80%. You will also receive an open badge you can share on professional networks.
Course Developers: GIZ / p-didakt
Course Providers: GIZ
License: Creative Commons BY-SA
Publication Date: 24 April 2025
Welcome to the second self-paced course of the Skills Trio Series, in which gig workers can learn about soft skills. This course allows workers to communicate their strengths and expertise, negotiate for fair compensation, and understand their customers better. They could find jobs in online freelancing (such as graphic designers, translators, virtual assistants, data entry and content creators) or linked to a specific location (like riders, drivers, home care professionals, beauticians, and photographers). In addition to the main technical skills, a gig worker requires a range of soft skills to present themselves on a platform, communicate with customers, market their services and negotiate a fair compensation.
The course emphasizes the importance of confident communication, identify and leverage personal strengths, understanding the customer better, handling issues and conflicts, negotiation and other skills that help in personal growth and development. In this course, we offer a foundational knowledge with practical case studies and examples building trust, delivering excellent service and requesting feedback in form of ratings for both the cloudworkers (such as online freelancers, tutors, micro-tasker) and location-based workers (riders, couriers, care workers, others providing home-based services).
Who is this course for?
This course is for anyone who is interested to gain competency in soft skills for platform-based gig work. It is highly relevant for those who are currently working as online freelancers like online tutors or offering professional services like home-based care, beauty, riders, couriers or other skill-based professionals like cleaners, plumbers, electricians.
What will you learn?
Using principles of micro-learning; you will learn effective communication techniques, bolstering self-confidence, understanding the online customer profile, master conflict resolution, negotiation, and other skills vital for personal growth and development.
By completing the module, you will gain a strong understanding of soft skills for gig work, empowering you to thrive in the dynamic gig economy confidently.
Keywords: soft skills, self growth, communication, collaboration, negotiation, online freelancing, platform work, women, gender
How much time you need to invest: This course takes around 55 minutes to complete.
Certificate: Completing this Course earns you a Digital Badge shareable on your online profile, LinkedIn or other social profiles; an Achievement Certificate; and an opportunity to earn a Compound Badge by also completing Skills Trio 1 and Skills Trio 3.
Course Developer: This course has been developed as part of the Gig Economy Initiative funded by the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). The content is developed by GIZ Gig Economy Initiative with Digital Opportunity Trust (DOT) and produced by e-Learning partner common sense - eLearning & training consultants GmbH.
Course contact: gig.economy@giz.de
Course license: CC-BY-SA 4.0
Course publication date: December, 2023
Gig workers need to upskill regularly to remain relevant in the competitive world of digital work. Welcome to Skills Trio! This first course on basic financial literacy which will help you to improve your financial competence and knowledge of planning, budgeting, saving, investing and growing in the gig economy. This course will provide tips on planning your finances better, achieving financial goals and understanding how payments work in the platform-based gig economy. This 45 min course is self-paced – you can take it anytime, anywhere online or offline.
Who is this course for?This course is for online freelancers, location- based gig workers and their allies interested to gain basic financial literacy and learn about tools and methods. The course is written in simple English, contains tips from experts and other gig workers, and downloadable Templates and Quick Guides which you can use offline.
What will you learn?
You will learn about fundamental principles of financial planning, budgeting, saving and investing as a gig worker. By completing the module, you will gain a strong understanding of personal finance principles, enabling you to confidently make informed decisions and plan for your financial future.
Keywords: Financial Literacy, Budgeting, Digital Payments, Gig work, Upskilling , Online Freelancer, Digital work
How much time you need to invest: This course takes around 45 minutes to complete.
Certificate: Upon completion, you will receive a printable certificate and a digital badge which you can share on your online profiles.
Course Developer: This course has been developed as part of the Gig Economy Initiative funded by the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). The content is developed by GIZ Gig Economy Initiative with e-Learning partner common sense - eLearning & training consultants GmbH.
Course contact: gig.economy@giz.de
Course license: CC-BY-SA 4.0
Course publication date: Oct, 2023
This self-paced course will help you explore how you can market your business on social channels and how to reach a huge audience. You will get an introduction into digital marketing and social media and learn how to use social media. You will also learn about different social media platforms and how your business can be found on Google.
Who is this course for?
The course is intended for SME professionals in management positions, and anyone interested in the topic.
What will you learn?
- You learn the main concepts of digital and social media marketing
- You will learn how to explain the value of online media in promoting a business
- You will learn how to generate leads through online resources appropriate to the business
Keywords: social media, digital marketing, e-commerce, business management, Google, online media
How much time do you need to invest? It will take you around 90 minutes to complete the whole course.
Certificate: Once you have finished the course, you will receive a certificate of participation. If you pass 80% of the assessment, you will additionally receive a digital certificate – an “open badge”!
Course Developers: Commissioned and developed by GIZ Sector Programme Digitalization and Programme for Migration and Development (PME III). This course has been developed, re-using and adapting the resources from Introduction to Digital Marketing for Tourism Businesses (atingi.org) in line of copyright law.
License: CC-BY-SA 4.0
Publication Date: 15.07.2023
This course will provide you with a structured introduction to incident response. You will discover what incident response is and how key cybersecurity defence actors work together in the field of incident response. After taking the module, you will be able to assess the readiness for incident response in your organization.
Who is this course for? People with an IT background or people interested in learning more about cybersecurity, including from policymaking, law, civil society, private sector and academia. No previous experience in cybersecurity or technical knowledge in incident management is required.
What will you learn? After taking this course, you will be able to:
- explain to a friend or colleague the importance of preparation, policy development, and training for effective incident readiness.
- highlight the different roles and responsibilities of key cybersecurity defense actors, including CERTs and SOCs.
- demonstrate how incident response frameworks and standards guide effective cybersecurity practices, including the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS), Traffic Light Protocol (TLP), and Security Incident Management Maturity Model (SIM3).
- apply standardized tools and models to assess incident response maturity, prioritize threats, and ensure secure information sharing.
How much time do you need to invest? You will need approx. 75 minutes to complete this course.
Topics: Cybersecurity, Incident response, NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology), Vulnerability, CVSS (Common Vulnerability Scoring System), SIM3 (Security Incident Management Maturity Model), Maturity model, TLP (Traffic Light Protocol), SOC (Security Operations Center), CERT (Computer Emergency Response Team)
Certificate: The platform will automatically generate a certificate of participation once you have completed the course and passed the final test. The passing mark is set at 80%. You will also receive an open badge you can share on professional networks.
Course Developers: GIZ / p-didakt
Course Providers: GIZ
Course Contact: Partnership for Cybersecurity / partnership.cybersecurity@giz.de
License: Creative Commons BY-SA
Publication Date: June 2025 (dead link in module 2 updated in October 2025)
This self-paced course will highlight the position of women on digital labour platforms and their specific needs, challenges and opportunities. It explores the hurdles women face in accessing and exceeding in the gig economy while analysing the potential it embodies for women gig workers around the world. This course is part of a programme of 8 Modules for policymakers and key stakeholders in business and civil society, who will learn smart policy responses in the era of the platform economy and reap the benefits of best practices of the gig economy. The modules of this programme can be taken individually in your order of preference.
This course has been designed for policy stakeholders and other key stakeholders in business and civil society, including but not limited to technical advisors, legislators, trade unions, employer organisations and social partners involved in the digital labour market.
What will you learn?
This course will equip you to develop smart policy responses in the era of the platform economy and reap the benefits of best practices of the gig economy. This 8th module explores the challenges women face in the gig economy. It also identifies the potential economic and social upgrading and/or downgrading opportunities gig work offers to women.
Keywords: gig economy, digital labour platforms, cloudwork, employer status, digital disruption, Global South, algorithms, gig worker, location-based, web-based, data, workers, women, gender, unpaid work, empowerment, equality, parity
How much time you need to invest: You will need 45 minutes to complete this course.
Certificate: If you complete this course, you will receive a digital badge and a certificate recognized by GIZ and Smart Africa that you can use to demonstrate your expertise in the field. Completing Modules 1-5 of this programme will earn you a compound badge and recognize your comprehensive knowledge of all key topics of the gig economy.
Course Developer: This course has been developed by common sense - eLearning & training consultants GmbH for GIZ
Course contact: gigeconomy@giz.de
Course license: CC-BY-SA 4.0
Course publication date: May, 2023
Disclaimer: Please note, that at this point, not all courses are available just yet. They will be released one by one throughout the first half of 2023. We will notify you as soon as they become available.
This course will help you master the principles of Digital Forensics, a vital component in the fight against cybercrime. Digital forensic analysts use scientific methods to collect, analyze, and protect critical evidence of criminal cyber activities. Equipped with this knowledge, you will be empowered to answer the questions behind cyber incidents (who? what? when? how?) and contribute to a safer digital landscape for everyone.
Who is this course for? Persons with an IT background or people interested in learning more about cybersecurity, including from policymaking, law, civil society and academia. No previous experience in cybersecurity or technical knowledge in incident management is required.
What will you learn? After taking this course, you will be able to:
- Outline the critical role of Digital Forensics in cybersecurity, focusing on its objectives, methodologies, and relevance in incident analysis.
- Identify the key steps of the Digital Forensics process, which equips you to handle investigations with precision and reliability.
- Describe the main aspects of the Digital Forensics Standards to ensure the integrity of your Digital Forensic investigations.
- Describe how Digital Forensics strengthens security measures and prepares organizations for future threats through the Digital Forensics and Incident Response (DFIR) Lifecycle framework.
- Explain the importance of understanding the complementary roles of incident management and Digital Forensics in cybersecurity by fostering collaboration for effective incident handling.
How much time do you need to invest? You will need approx. 75 minutes to complete this course.
Topics: Digital forensics, cybercrime scene, evidence, digital investigation, chain of custody, cybersecurity, ACPO principles, ISO 17025, RFC 3227, ISO 27041
Certificate: The platform will automatically generate a certificate of participation once you have completed the course and passed the final test. The passing mark is set at 75%. You will also receive an open badge you can share on professional networks.
Course Developers: GIZ / p-didakt
Course Providers: GIZ
Course Contact: Partnership for Cybersecurity / partnership.cybersecurity@giz.de
License: Creative Commons BY-SA
Publication Date: 17 July 2025
This self-paced course explains the opportunities for women in gig work and is packed with information for both women gig worker and their allies. It offers tips on coping with the unique challenges presented by gig work, information about the support structures and skills needed to grow within or outside the gig economy.
Who is this course for?
This course is for women gig workers of any age, whether they're already part of the gig economy or thinking about joining digital labor platforms. Men who work alongside women or have female friends, family members, or daughters who could benefit from the gig economy are also welcome. Additionally, policymakers, researchers, and other stakeholders interested in understanding the gender dynamics of the gig economy and looking for resources to support gig workers within their network can benefit from this course.
What will you learn?
This course provides an overview of the economic and social advantages of gig work, as well as the unique challenges encountered by women in the gig economy. The course offers crucial guidance on women's rights and entitlements, and how gender pay gaps and discrimination affect their participation and progress in the gig economy.
Keywords: Gender, women, online freelancing, gig work, digital economy, gig economy, delivery, online freelancing, in demand skills, women
How much time you need to invest: 45 minutes
Certificate: Completing this Course earns you a Digital Badge shareable on your online profile, LinkedIn or other social profiles; an Achievement Certificate; and an opportunity to earn a Compound Badge by also completing Course 1 and Course 3
Course Developer: Gig Economy GIZ
Course contact: gig.economy@giz.de
Course license: CC-BY-SA 4.0
Course publication date: Sep, 2023
In this self-paced training programme of 8
courses, both location-based and online gig workers will be provided with
an orientation on the essential characteristics of digital labour platforms,
information on how to overcome key challenges, useful tools and insights
into experiences from colleagues. Course 2 – Understanding Fair Working
Conditions provides foundational knowledge on ILO decent work framework. You
will understand fair work principles and be able to use common online tools
that improve your ability to perform tasks and find decent work on gig
platforms. You can use this course as a self-reflection tool and learn from
the experiences of other gig workers.
Who is this course for?
This course is for anyone working in the
gig economy or interested to learn more about platform-based gig work. Whether
you are a location-based or online gig worker, this course is designed to equip
learners with a basic understanding of the challenges of gig work, ILO’s decent
work principles, working conditions, rights as a gig worker, and support
mechanisms available to navigate the gig economy.
What will you learn?
In this course, you will understand the
different types of gig work, identify opportunities and challenges of working
on a gig platform, explore global frameworks that protect workers' rights, and
provide practical tips for overcoming challenges and building a community. This course offers practical tips for identifying and overcoming
challenges, building communities and using support mechanisms available from
platforms, trade unions and other sources. You can use this
course as a self-reflection tool and learn from the experiences of other gig
workers.
Topic Overview: Digital labour platforms, decent work framework, fair work principles, support mechanisms available to a gig worker, gig work, gig
economy
How much time do you need to invest? Completing this course will take approximately 45 minutes in total.
Course certificate: Upon completion, you will receive a printable certificate and a digital badge.
Course developer: This course has been developed by common sense - eLearning & training consultants GmbH for GIZ
Course contact: gigeconomy@giz.de
License: CC-BY-SA
Publication Date: 12 April 2023
Who is this course for? Anyone who wants to learn about how to protect themselves and others against cyberbullying
What will you learn?
By the end of the course you will:
- understand what cyberbullying is
- understand the difference between online and offline bullying
- know what to do if you are being bullies or if you witness cyberbullying
How much time do you need to invest? Completing this microlearning will take 15-20 minutes.
Prerequisites: There are no prerequisites for entry to this online course.
Course Developer: This microlearning was developed by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH based on the UNICEF Campaign: "Cyberbullying: What is it and how to stop it". It is part of the learning to earning portfolio of the YOMA marketplace and intended for free and open use by partner organisations and interested members of the public.
Course Contact: In case of technical troubleshooting or questions, please reach out to atingi@giz.de.
License: CC-BY-SA 4.0
Publication date: 21.07.2023