It was today announced by Microsoft, Intel, and Cisco that they are working together to help ensure that proper standards are created for measuring digital literacy.

The three companies are making an effort to bring together a group of education leaders and academics in order to identify the characteristics that should form the basis of global standards, though they haven’t come up with the assessment criteria themselves.

It was informed by Microsoft Vice President Anoop Gupta last week, “While such standards have emerged for math and science, they are also needed for other kinds of 21st century skills.”

The three companies have selected Professor Barry McGaw, currently the director of the Melbourne Education Research Institute at the University of Melbourne, to serve as the project's executive director.

Although leading companies are often advocating for similar education reforms, their work is often done solo,” said Gupta, who heads Microsoft's emerging markets effort.