On October 14, Family Digital Literacy Day was held at the Smart City pavilion at Moscow’s VDNKh as part of the nationwide Digital Dictation campaign. The organizer of the promotion was RAEC, co-organizers were ANO Digital Economy and the Popular Front (PF). The Coordination Center for TLD .RU/.РФ was an event partner.
Family Digital Literacy Day began with a discussion on “Mom, dad, and me are a digital family: What do you need to know about the digital environment?”
The discussion was moderated by RAEC Director Sergei Grebennikov:
“Digital literacy is an important part of life for everyone today. You need to understand that the skills of living in an internet environment are important for each of us, regardless of age, gender or type of activity, since the internet has firmly taken its place in our daily routines. We study, shop, and can make doctor’s appointments thanks to internet services. And this is only a few of the tasks technology helps us with.
“I would also like to thank the Moscow Department of Information Technologies for this excellent opportunity to meet at the Smart City pavilion at VDNKh and talk with experts about what you need to know about the digital environment, from people who understand technology better and how not to be afraid of today’s internet capabilities.”
Invited experts discussed how to increase awareness of the capital's digital ecosystem projects and why it is important to monitor your level of digital literacy among other issues.
“People of Moscow are among the most advanced users of digital services in the world. Every day, citizens use the mos.ru website more than 2 million times, preferring to pursue everyday tasks online. It is important for the city that people navigate the diversity of digital services and understand how to use them in various, even non-standard, life situations. At the same time, when using internet resources more actively, it is important not to forget about information security, be able to competently manage your data and recognize cyber fraudsters in a timely manner. So, increasing digital literacy is important to the city of Moscow,” Dmitry Ontoyev, advisor to the head of the Moscow Department of Information Technologies said.
“The Coordination Center has several programs on the topic of safe internet, such as Explore the Internet & Govern It, which was created for schoolchildren; but today it is also interesting, let’s say, for adults – parents, teachers, those over 60, everyone. This is an interactive educational program that will explain the structure of digital technologies, explain applied digital skills, and teach you how to surf the internet safely. And all this is in the form of games, tests, quizzes, and online tournaments. We hold internet safety lessons in schools based on this program. Of course, if you are an active user of digital technologies and the internet, you are unlikely to avoid encountering cyber risks, but if you know the basic principles and ways to distinguish good from bad on the internet, you will certainly be able to notice this and avoid destructive effects. In other words, you need to observe and gain experience by participating, for example, in Digital Dictation or projects like Explore the Internet; and also be more attentive and develop critical thinking,” said Viktoria Bunchuk, head of social projects at the Coordination Center for TLD RU/.РФ and the Smart Internet Foundation.
“The methods of manipulation that attackers use when approaching people, whether it’s the digital environment or in person, are based on experience with a victim’s psychology and the vulnerability of human behavior. Therefore, our task as one of the largest digital services is to teach people to resist this manipulation and avoid it as much as possible. To do this, we design algorithms into our platform that, at a conscious and subconscious level, form a person’s habit of saying no when they try to force them to break the rules or deceive them, and we also proactively carry out a huge block of work when teaching digital literacy. Our goal is to create a protective circle around the user based on safety rules that he should follow to automaticity and learn them until it’s like a multiplication table. And at any time of the day or night, in any emotional state, he can resist such manipulations,” Andrei Rybintsev, director of data management at Avito, said.
“Children today are the first generation to grow up with rapidly evolving technology, so it is extremely important to pay special attention to the continuous improvement of digital literacy. It is gratifying that in the last few years, both the state and business have been implementing more initiatives and projects, like for example, the Digital Educational Program and Digital Dictation, aimed at teaching safe behavior online, Olga Franchuk, Project Manager for Personnel for the Digital Economy at ANO Digital Economy, said.
“We see that the level of people’s information culture has grown a lot. In the past, many people needed help finding information, but today they can easily do it on their own. Knowledge in our time exists in different formats, and the library is the guide that guarantees simple and comfortable access to it. The library’s task is to be adaptive, to maintain a balance between analogue and digital, and to serve as a place where you can learn new technologies,” Anton Purnik, head of the cybertechnology complex of the Russian State Youth Library, said.
Family Digital Literacy Day featured a series of lectures from leading companies in the IT industry. Guests also took tours around the multimedia exhibition at the Smart City pavilion and took part in nationwide testing.
After the official close of the testing, each participant in the national campaign will be able to work on their errors at the official website: ЦифровойДиктант.рф.
The main analytical results of the campaign will be reviewed on October 31.
