Launch of the Universal Digital Civil Service: four entities for the development of four projects for Veneto and Emilia-Romagna

Launch of the Universal Digital Civil Service: for the first time four local authorities are collaborating for the development of four projects for Veneto and Emilia-Romagna.

Il Department for Youth Policies and Universal Civil Service has recently published the selection notice for the Universal Digital Civil Service. The Digital Civil Service is a mode of Civil Service through which young people make their digital skills available to the country, thus helping people who have difficulty using the web, electronic devices and the various online services of the Public Administration (PA).
THEUniversity of Padua, as lead body, together with Municipality of Padua, Volunteer Service Center (CSV) of Padua and Rovigo and the Veneto Consortium Set of CsNational onfcooperative participated in the national tender with the presentation of a program entitled SCD-NADIVE – New Alliances for Digital in Veneto and Emilia-Romagna.

It is a co-programming that unites for the first time four local authorities (in Italy so far the maximum number of cooperating bodies was two) and envisages the development of 4 projects – one for each participating organization – who will take action for the Veneto Region in the provinces of Padua, Rovigo, Venice and Verona and for the Emilia Romagna Region with Bologna, Ravenna and Reggio-Emilia. The available places are 22 in all for a total state funding of approximately €140.000. The program was financed together with 75 others throughout the national territory for a total of 4.629 young female and male volunteer workers between 18 and 28 years old.

“The Digital Civil Service is an initiative that is part of the Universal Civil Service institute and aims to expand and increase the digital capabilities and skills of citizens. These skills are necessary to live and act online: read, write, discuss, decode and publish multimedia products, participate in initiatives conveyed in online environments. Precisely thanks to these skills, citizens will be able to take on a responsible role and act in all contexts mediated by technologies. Digital citizenship has a significant impact, also in terms of simplification, on relationships between people, with businesses and public administration" he states Monica Fedeli, vice-rector of the Third Mission and relations with the territory of the University of Padua.

“The Civil Service represents for many young people their first approach to a structured working context and is an opportunity to put their skills into practice through an experience of active citizenship and participation. Experimentation in the digital field, in particular, has a dual objective: to facilitate access to services by the most vulnerable sections of the population and, at the same time, strengthen the digital skills of young people to provide them with useful tools for better employability. By promoting intergenerational relationships and supporting young people in their training, the Digital Civil Service confirms itself as an experience of professional and human growth, capable of strengthening the social cohesion of communities" continues Cristina Piva, councilor for Volunteering and Civil Service of the Municipality of Padua.

“I am very happy that this project has become reality, because we will address important issues for our community and the Third Sector. Young girls and boys, with their digital skills and their desire to help others, will have a fundamental role in facing the challenge of our times: digital evolution" he adds Luca Marcon, President of the CSV of Padua and Rovigo. “In recent years, technological innovation and digitalisation have, on the one hand, become an opportunity to streamline procedures and improve processes, but on the other, they have caused new social and economic inequalities. Faced with this scenario, the Third Sector is called to become a driver of change, with actions to support the most fragile sections of the population, to transform digital from an obstacle to an opportunity for inclusion and an opportunity for internal growth within social enterprises. In this context, the Digital Civil Service proves to be a valuable experience because it allows young people to actively participate in this change and, at the same time, brings social networks into dialogue with the young generations who will become the managers of tomorrow and will lead , in an innovative way, this commitment to building a more equitable, inclusive and welcoming society" he concludes Tiziana Boggian, President of the Veneto Insieme Consortium.

We are in a historical phase in which the lack of digital skills marks the gap among those accessing services and to tools because he knows how to use them and those who do not have access or fails to use them. This gap is exacerbated in situations of social marginality, economic precariousness, low level of education, disability or gender difference. In Veneto only 24% of people in the 16-74 age group have advanced digital skills (2019 data) and 42% use the internet to interact with the PA (2021 data). Furthermore, 54% of people in the 16-74 age group - therefore more than half - use the Internet inappropriately, without the necessary skills to consciously exercise their digital citizenship rights (2022 Veneto Statistical Report Data). In Emilia Romagna, 83% of the population between 16 and 74 years old regularly uses the Internet, with a percentage that rises to 96% in people aged 16-34 (Istat data 2022). According to the ICT Report on citizens and businesses, in Emilia Romagna (2021) only 44% of the active population has advanced skills; the percentage is reduced to 37% when the use of the Internet as an interface with the PA is considered.

Creating a digital identity, managing email, booking a medical visit or enrolling in an online course: these will be some of the main tasks of the “digital facilitators”, the volunteers of the Digital Civil Service who will support citizens in the use of new technologies.
The entities participating in the program act through the projects to build links and network for the benefit of a segment of the population that finds itself excluded, in order to share experiences of good practices already tested in previous digital programming, promote the digital skills of young volunteers, promote its development in the targets involved and strengthen cohesion through peer education experiences and intergenerational meetings.

The four projects
- The project Open education: citizenship and digital inclusion of the University of Padua involves the involvement of young people who turn to other young people to orient themselves and prepare in digital environments during their studies, limiting the exclusion, for example, of foreign students.
– The contribution of the project Train-Digital Minds of CSV Padua and Rovigo has the objective of transferring basic digital skills, fundamental for keeping alive the associational fabric of the Padua and Rovigo areas and for improving the quality of life of people with disabilities, for whom digital, if known, is a perfect tool for the breaking down of barriers.
- The project PadovaDigitale of the Municipality of Padua aims to reduce the digital divide of the adult and elderly population, facilitate access to services and prevent potential situations of exclusion and marginality, encouraging participation in community life and intergenerational exchange.
- The project DIGIT the future of the Veneto Insieme Consortium, Sol.Co. Verona and Confcooperative Emilia-Romagna members of the national network of Confcooperative/Federsolidarietà contributes to promoting digital services for the people most at risk of digital exclusion: young people, women involved in rehabilitation programmes, unemployed people, migrants, elderly people, adults with physical and mental disabilities, minors in of disadvantage, but also to citizens without digital skills.

For information on the Universal Digital Civil Service: il website.
Unipd.
Municipality of Padua.
CSV of Padua and Rovigo.
Veneto Insieme Consortium.