The University of Naples “L’Orientale” (hereinafter “L’Orientale”) has decided to propose a Jean Monnet Module on Digital citizenship in the European Union (hereinafter “DiCit”) to respond to the challenges arising from an increasingly complex digital world.
The institutions of the European Union are deeply aware of the fact that many citizens do not have the capacity to fully exploit the potential of digital technologies in their daily lives and for this reason the European Commission has developed the European Framework of Digital Competences for Citizens - DigComp - which mainly concerns the teaching, learning and assessment of these competences. However, being digitally competent is more than being able to use digital technologies; it means being able to use them in a critical and collaborative way. It follows that, in order to enjoy all the benefits and opportunities of the digital revolution, individuals and other private actors must fully understand their rights and obligations.
In light of the above, DiCit aims first and foremost to set up teaching activities and promote further research and discussion meetings, dedicated to the many aspects related to the ongoing digital revolution, during which academics and experts in the field can confront each other. These events will not be limited to legal scholars, but they will be open to experts in other areas (communication ethics, psychology, etc.), as well as to representatives of civil society and public institutions. The final aim of these activities will be the drafting of a European Digital Citizenship Charter (hereinafter the “Charter”), in which the set of rights and duties of a European digital citizen will be developed and illustrated in light of the complex supranational legal sources that regulate the use of the digital environment.
Teaching activities
Summer school
The Summer school will aim at offering to the participants a comprehensive analysis of the main issues related to the ongoing digital revolution, starting from the juridical tools at international and European level and extending the analysis to the main socio-economic implications of the digital revolution, seen in light of the goals and actions of the European Union in this field.
The activity will target not only students (Italian and foreign, undergraduate and PhD students, etc.) but also stakeholders variously interested in the issues examined.
All the students and experts involved will improve their competences on digital field. Moreover, the teaching activities will allow the dialogue between different scientific areas and ways of addressing the digital issues. All the materials used during the lessons will be made available before the teaching activities begin and will remain available even after on the DiCit website.
Series of seminars
The series of seminars are designed for a specific group of undergraduate students on one of our courses. They will be held by Professor Roberta Montinaro (academic coordinator of the DiCit Module) and will start in mid-March.
The Series will be launched by a one-day study meeting as a presentation of the DiCit Module's activities and, above all, of the Summer School to be held later on. The study meeting will be open not only to university students but also to a wider range of potentially interested parties (PhD students, researchers, etc.).
Research
The general objective of the research will be to analyze the ongoing digital revolution and its socio-economic implications from the point of view of national and above all supranational law, through a careful review of relevant literature and any other significant source (data and research elaborated by research bodies and studies commissioned by the various stakeholders). The research will make use of the knowledge of each of the participants in the project, who are experts in different fields and areas, and will be carried out through dialogue with academics from other universities and research institutes, as well as with the collaboration of representatives of public institutions and bodies in various capacities operating in areas interested in the research topics that will be dealt with.
Thanks to a strategic dissemination planning, research results are going to reach policymakers also with with the aim of stimulating both reflection on issues of denied rights and concrete actions. Moreover, results of the research will be object of diffusion among students thanks to the summer schools, Academic teaching of the professors involved in the action (as staff member and teachers too). This will also stimulate further research, theses and papers but also the important awareness of digital citizenship.
Events
A final interdisciplinary Conference on “The digital citizenship in the European Union: challenges and future developments” will be held during the last year of the project. The aim of the Conference will be to focus on the main challenges of the digital economy and the adequacy of the practical and theoretical solutions currently used, in order to determine whether these challenges can be addressed with the existing tools and conceptual categories, or whether they require innovative analysis and practical implementation tools (new disciplines, new practices, etc.).
The topics discussed will be adopted in a multidisciplinary and multi-level perspective: i.e. with the participation not only of experts from different areas, but also of members of the institutions and representatives of the various stakeholders interested in the topics dealt within the DiCit Module.
The Themes of the Conference will be drawn on the basis of the different issues discussed along the entire project during workshops and seminars and will be grounded on the results of research as well. The Conference will constitute also an occasion for describing and communicating to the public the main achievements and results of the project.
European Digital Citizenship Charter
The final aim of these activities will be the drafting of a European Digital Citizenship Charter (hereinafter the “Charter”), in which the set of rights and duties of an European digital citizen will be developed and illustrated in light of the complex supranational legal sources that regulate the use of the digital environment. The Charter will be divided into several sections, according to the recipients (individuals in general, minors and other vulnerable persons, consumers, etc.) and in consideration of the different areas and activities of the digital space (economic activities, activities of social relevance, activities involving the exercise of freedom and fundamental rights of individuals, etc.).
The Charter aims to be not only the product of the debate of the researchers and stakeholders involved but also a tool for the dissemination and circulation of the results of this debate; Above all, the Charter will be drafted in the form of a document to be transformed into an open digital resource and made available to the public as a basis for the discussion of issues related to digital citizenship and for communication between the stakeholders involved and the recipients of the activities to be carried out by the same stakeholders.
