Abstract:

My Smart Quartier is an Erasmus+ KA204 project (2017-1-FR01-KA204-037375) aimed at characterising digital illiteracy in Europe, and propose methodologies and resources to implement formative programs for adults to boost the digital competences in citizens under a life-long learning framework, and enhance the participation and dialogue between civil society and the administration.

The digital competence takes into account five specific areas, as defined by DigCom 2.1 [1] of the European Union:
(i) Information and data literacy;
(ii) Communication and collaboration;
(iii) Digital content creation;
(iv) Safety and
(v) Problem solving. Within the second area of competence, one of the most relevant key lines of work is the promotion of citizen e-participation.

This line seeks the participation of society by means of public or private digital services, in order to look for opportunities of self-empowerment and fill the gaps of communication between civil society and administration in a more democratic, open and participative manner. Within this context, the actions of My Smart Quartier, which take place in Spain, Italy, France and Portugal, have started by updating the current state of the art of digital illiteracy in these countries and by highlighting relevant initiatives in citizen e-participation. In Spain, the governmental Digital Agenda is analysed, taking into account the objectives and specific plans that are related to the enhancement of digital competences. In particular, the main outcomes of the Plan of Digital Inclusion and Employability are revisited. Concerning initiatives focused on the citizen e-participation, different cases have been spotlighted; namely Decidim València, Decide Madrid, Decidim Barcelona, Hey Tenerife or Irekia. These analyses have permitted creating a specific survey to be delivered on-line through associations of neighbours and other citizen platforms. This survey will permit to establish the state of digital illiteracy and design specific formative programs to address the detected educational needs.

References:
[1] DigComp 2.1: The Digital Competence Framework for Citizens with eight proficiency levels and examples of use. ISBN 978-92-79-68005-2. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2017

Acknowledgements:
The authors acknowledge the support of the European Union by means of the Project My Smart Quartier, with reference number 2017-1-FR01-KA204-037375

Keywords:

Digital divide, e-participation, digital competences, participation, digital inclusion.