On October 24th, YouthProAktiv was part of a European Conference on Digital Footprint organized by European Digital Learning Network & Lifelong Learning Platform and DIGIT project partners.

A Digital Footprint is one’s unique set of digital activities, actions, and communications that leave a data trace on the internet or on a computer or other digital device and can identify the particular person.  In this event researchers, civil society activists, nongovernmental organizations and different companies discussed ideas on raising citizens awareness on digital footprint issues and challenges.

The conference started with Introduction to the topic of digital footprint. During the introduction part, speakers Mia Piria Forbes, Liliana Carrilo (Serial Entrepreneur and Researcher, Dotorresa Computer), Gianluca Coppola (President, European Digital Learning Network; DLearn), Ms Pydzinska and Brikena Xhomaqi (Director, Lifelong Learning Platform) presented the work of their organizations and discussed the huge impact of digital footprints on peoples identity, reputation, E-reputation and data handling ethics.

During the discussion, speakers shared their concerns on data privacy giving some recommendations on how to make the population more aware and informed on how much data they share:

1. Provide the necessary resources and tools to educators in order to shape up “responsible internet users”
2. Boost educators competences in order to help people understand digital issues, implications, side effects and misuse.
3. Ease the learning process in a family context to raise responsible citizens for the future of digitalization.
4. Provide the right instruments for citizens in order to promote conscious use of the broader concept of online identity.

In this event, four workshops were organized (European Digital Learning Network & Lifelong Learning Platform together with DIGIT project partners):

1. Cyber volunteers for digital citizenship! (Angel Sola Lopez, Cibervoluntarios, ES)
2. Ethical implication of data management (Brandan Tierney and Damian Gordon, Technology University Dublin, IE)
3. Game-Based learning co-creation for Responsible Online Identity (Ilias Batzogiannis, Platon School of Katerini, GR)
4. Intellectual property and identity: its about digital rights! (Gerhard Seiler, 21st Century Competence Centre, DE).

Through the four workshops participants got to learn ethics and online responsibility on a deeper level, gaining deeper knowledge on dealing with important issues such as teenagers and their protection in the Digital World.

This event was both crucial and beneficial in terms of raising awareness on how much information we put online.