FUTURE

The track “Future of Digital Competence Centres” includes a panel discussion, three workshops and three lightning talks.

Panel 2. FUTURE:  The future of digital competence centres

7 October, 12:20 – 13:05

Digital transformation is one of the buzz expressions today. Besides infrastructure and technology, digital competence of citizens is paramount in achieving such a transformation. Our new world and our immediate future require digitally trained citizens, capable of participating in different ways in a world where technologies are deeply transforming social relations and the world of work.

During this panel discussion with experts from Spain, Belgium and Germany we will explore the role of Digital Competence Centres in the complex ecosystem of digital transformation. We will be asking questions about the future role of such centres, the kind of services they are currently offering, the way the anticipate and respond to the digital trends and needs of citizens and whether basic digital inclusion is actually still part of what they do as a core activity.

The recording of the panel can be found here (Day 1)

Workshop: Digital Competences with illiterate people

7 October, 15:10 – 16:40

Veronique de Leener, Director of MAKS vzw, Belgium (Presentation)

Long time ago, our ancestors gathered around the evening fires expressing their successes and fears. Oral storytelling was in intimate tradition between the teller and his audience. In a digital world, oral storytelling turned into digital storytelling. But what if you can’t read and write and you never touched a computer before? How can digital storytelling help you to make your voice heard and be part of this digital community?

During this workshop, we will work on some tools and examples to organize a digital storytelling workshop with illiterate participants. We will also explain that the emotional component of storytelling can help participants with extreme fear of the computer. We will also present the Huristo and Dreams projects. In the Huristo project we worked with illiterate participants in Spain, Italy and Belgium using storytelling to understand Human Rights Charter. In the Dreams project, we work with Roma participants in Bulgaria, Romania and Belgium and use storytelling to make a bridge between parents and schools.

Workshop: DQ – Being (digital) intelligent online

8 October, 10:00 – 11:30 

Katalin Baracsi, the internet lawyer (Presentation)

Digital Intelligence (or Digital Intelligence Quotient, DQ) is a comprehensive set of technical, cognitive, meta-cognitive, and socio-emotional competencies that are grounded in universal moral values and that enable individuals to face the challenges and harness the opportunities of digital life. DQ has three levels, eight areas, and 24 competencies composed of knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values.

The goal of this workshop is to raise awareness about a conscious and creative use of digital intelligence by bringing together digital education and digital literacy. Participants will learn how to promote digital intelligence in everyday life in a creative way and make their trainees and themselves conscious digital citizens.

The workshop offers an interactive methodology integrating theory and practice.

This workshop is targeted at digital educators, trainers, and facilitators.

No specific technical equipment is needed for participation.

Workshop: Digitization in rural communities

8 October, 11:40 – 13:10

Nenja Wolbers, Stiftung Digitale Chancen; Steffen Hess, Fraunhofer Institute for Experimental Software Engineering

Rural areas often encounter the challenges of being less connected to crucial infrastructure, meaning public transportation is non-existent or reduced to a minimum, shopping facilities are out of reach for people without a car, and information from public authorities reaches citizens only slowly.

However, life in villages and small towns has great advantages and many people in Europe prefer living in rural areas to living in big cities. Digitization can reduce these challenges of rural areas by connecting the people, enhancing exchange and information flow among citizens and between citizens and public authorities. In the workshop, we will discuss some challenges and possible solutions, present best practices from several European countries and we will hear a presentation by an Expert from Fraunhofer IESE on digital tools especially designed for the needs of rural areas. Finally, we will find ways to further collaborate on these topics to make living in rural areas even more worthwhile.

Lightning Talks

The recording of the lightning talks can be found here (Day 1)

  • An online course about opening digital competence centres (Presentation)
    7 October 10:55 – 11:35

Eva Hveem, Librarian at Helsingborg City Libraries; Terese Raymond, National coordinator of the network for digital inclusion in Sweden (Digidelnätverket)

In Sweden, there are about 25 digital competence centres (so called DigidelCenter) and more are underway. To facilitate start-up, there is now an online course. The lightning talk will focus on three main aspects from the course; how a digital competence centre can strengthen and cooperate with the local municipality; the role of the library; and how service design was a key aspect in how to arrange the digital competence centre of Helsingborg. The online course was created in a joint project between the National Library of Sweden, Region Dalarna, The library of Helsingborg, the Library of Säter, Region Uppsala and the Swedish network for digital inclusion.

  • Dancing basic geometry in social media environment.
    7 October 10:55 – 11:35 

Natalija Budinski, Petro Kuzmjak school, Serbia

The talk highlights the experience from distance learning period caused by global pandemic, where students were learning content of basic geometry using social media network TikTok and dance. It is an example where STEM activities were enriched by art in digital environment.

The idea of this kind of activities resulted from the cooperation with the Center for Science Promotion and was part of a wider project called May Month of Mathematics. This project has long tradition in Serbia where many different formal and informal activities to promote mathematics are organized every May. Basic geometry, axioms and theorems are part of the national curriculum for Gymnasium type of schools and for vocational schools. To make this content close and relevant to students, the authors employed techniques close to teenagers, such as making videos related to geometry on TikTok.

  • The future of digital competences centres: Findings from the BIBLIO project.
    7 October 16:50 – 17:30

Tiana Zignani, Public Libraries 2030 (Presentation)

The lightning talk will present the findings from the EU-funded BIBLIO project, that is being implemented during 2019-2022 by a consortium of 10 partners from Belgium, Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, and Latvia. This project aims to identify the skills gap in the library sector as a result of the digital transformation and develop a VET curriculum to meet the needs of the library sector.

The findings and methodology from the initial research phase and a quick overview of the results at national level will be presented. We will touch on the various training needs for library professionals regarding DigComp 2.1 areas (safety, digital content creation, and problem solving), communication, and digitisation as well as the job profiles that were developed. The aim of this talk is to push for the redefinition of roles within the library sector as a consequence of the digital transformation. In doing so, the Biblio project recognizes that libraries should evolve to meet the current skills needs and to equip their staff and users with the skills relevant for today’s digital environment.