The need to develop digital competences has long been emphasized, but only in the state of emergency due to COVID-19, it has become a real necessity. The study process in higher education institutions is organized remotely, which means that academic staff have essential digital competencies to ensure a certain level of quality. The aim of the research is to study the self-assessment of the digital competencies of the academic staff and the possibilities of its improvement. In the course of the research, there were surveyed the representatives of the academic staff of regional higher education institutions of Latvia, who were asked to assess their digital competencies. When analysing the obtained data, it was taken into account whether the academic staff has an IT-related education or occupation. As a result, it was concluded that, in general, the most significant problems for academic staff are content creation and information processing, which are essential for the successful implementation of their job responsibilities. Accordingly, the academic staff is also interested in developing these competencies in particular.