Author: Nabeel Ahmed (Open North)
Review: Nasma Ahmed

Welcome to Digital Literacy for Residents (PE101), a basic course in the One-to-One Advisory Service. This course consists of three modules and provides an introduction to digital literacy as an essential component of meaningful civic engagement in the development, procurement, or deployment of public policies or initiatives relying on technology.

Digital literacy is thus essential not just for public consultation, but also for realizing the potential of civic tech initiatives (as described in Civic Tech for Open Smart Cities (PE102).

This course is not about digital literacy within government; rather, it describes the importance and scope of digital literacy outside government to ensure that residents and other stakeholders are able to engage with, provide informed consent to, and co-create smart city initiatives. The course will be especially useful for staff managing community engagement and outreach initiatives.

Once you have finished Digital Literacy for Residents (PE101) you should have an increased awareness and understanding of:

1. Key concepts of digital literacy (5-10 minutes)
Information: What are the terms and definitions that comprise this concept?

2. The power of digital literacy (5-10 minutes)
Activation: How does digital literacy enable democracy and inclusion for smart city initiatives?

3. How to develop digital literacy in your community (5-10 minutes)
Transformation: How can cities support residents in developing their competencies in the use of technology and data?