The second Digital Competencies Conference, which is to be held virtually on 18 February with the tagline ‘ Digital Citizenship in a Time of Pandemic’, will bring together experts to address the digital skills and competencies needed in the current scenario shaped by Covid-19 which has shifted many activities and interactions online.
The conference is organised by the Catalan Government’s Ministry of Digital Policies and Public Administration, Barcelona City Council’s local economic development agency Barcelona Activa, the Open University of Catalonia (UOC) and Blanquerna-Ramon Llull University in partnership with the Eurecat technology centre and Mobile World Capital Barcelona. It will unpack key aspects in developing digitally-empowered citizenship: the reference frameworks for digital competencies, the digital divide and inequalities, and digital wellbeing and security.
This year’s event will feature Liliana Arroyo, PhD in Sociology and a researcher at Esade’s Institute for Social Innovation, who will explore people’s digital skills in a hybrid environment. She will be accompanied by the input of key individuals from the digital environment who will share their views on the lessons learned from the health crisis and the future strategies which will have to be addressed in digital skills.
The reference frameworks for digital competencies will be discussed by Clara Centeno, Senior Researcher at the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre, Human Capital and Employment Unit; Ricard Faura, Head of the Government of Catalonia’s Digital Inclusion and Training Service; Teresa Romeu, associate lecturer at the UOC’s Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences and a researcher in the Edul@b research group, and Miquel Àngel Prats, senior lecturer at Blanquerna-URL and lead researcher in the eduTIC strand in Blanquerna-URL’s PSITIC research group.
Meanwhile, Sandra Gómez, research specialist at the Ferrer i Guàrdia Foundation; Michael Donaldson, Chief Technology Officer and CIO at Barcelona City Council, and Marta Bricall, Senior Manager Advisory Services at KPMG, will address the digital divide and inequalities.
Speakers on digital wellbeing and security will include Nereida Carrillo, a promoter of Learn to Check; Daniel Vargas a specialist in educational content at Common Sense Education; Davinia Ligero, from the Catalan Audiovisual Council, and the Cybersecurity Agency of Catalonia.
In the afternoon, the event will host practical workshops and technological resources to spearhead this change.
