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A Legal Decision That Could Change Social Media
Article provided by
- AutreOtherOtroAltresAltele
Summary
"Jurors found Meta and Google liable for building apps that inflicted mental-health problems on a teenager, and similar lawsuits are on the horizon.
By Kaitlyn Tiffany"
By Kaitlyn Tiffany"
Source of this article
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/2026/03/landmark-verdict-against-meta-and-google/686536/
Data sheet information
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22.04.2026
Licence CC BY-SA 4.0
Landmark L.A. jury verdict finds Instagram, YouTube were designed to addict kids
Article provided by
- AutreOtherOtroAltresAltele
Summary
"A Los Angeles jury found Instagram and YouTube liable for designing their platforms to addict young users.
The landmark verdict is potentially setting precedent for thousands of other pending lawsuits nationwide.
The case could reshape how tech companies are held accountable for children’s harm from their products."
"
The landmark verdict is potentially setting precedent for thousands of other pending lawsuits nationwide.
The case could reshape how tech companies are held accountable for children’s harm from their products."
"
Text
"After a grueling seven weeks of court proceedings and more than 40 hours of tense deliberations across nine days in one of the country’s most closely watched civil trials, jurors handed down a landmark decision in Los Angeles County Superior Court on Wednesday, finding Instagram and YouTube responsible for the suffering of a Chico, Calif., woman who charged the platforms were built to addict young users. "
By Sonja Sharp
By Sonja Sharp
Source of this article
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-03-25/social-media-lawsuit-trial-meta-google-verdict
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22.04.2026
Licence CC BY-SA 4.0
BIG NEWS: Germany has just made the standard Open Document Format (ODF) mandatory
Article provided by
- AutreOtherOtroAltresAltele
Summary
"The German federal government has quietly taken an extremely significant step: hidden amongst the technical specifications of the Deutschland-Stack – the rules that will govern the sovereign digital infrastructure supporting public administration at all levels of government, from federal ministries to local council offices – there is a short but highly significant line."
Text
Author: Italo Vignoli
Read the full article at the link below
Read the full article at the link below
Source of this article
https://blog.documentfoundation.org/blog/author/italovignoli/
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10.04.2026
Licence CC BY-SA 4.0
Top 10 European Open-Source Projects to Watch in 2025
Article provided by
- AutreOtherOtroAltresAltele
Summary
"Europe is leading the way as open-source technology undergoes a revolution. European developers are creating strong alternatives that give openness, compliance, and ethical artificial intelligence first priority as growing worries about data privacy, digital sovereignty, and security dangers linked with depending on US and Chinese tech giants call for."
Text
"Ten innovative European open-source initiatives transforming a major influence in 2025 are highlighted in this paper. These efforts cover artificial intelligence, cloud computing, cybersecurity, and web development. We will also go over their certificates, which show their dependability, security, and compliance in business settings."
Full article at the link below.
Full article at the link below.
Source of this article
https://dev.to/dev_tips/top-10-european-open-source-projects-to-watch-in-2025-5ea7
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27.06.2025
File entered by a member or friend of the network (single choice)
Assodev - Marsnet
Licence CC BY-SA 4.0
Digital Human Committee: action on the Code's laws is gathering pace
Article provided by
- CESEP
Summary
On 12 December, 6 February, 20 February and 13 March 2025 in Molenbeeck, the Digital Human Committee is organising its now famous training course/workshop ‘Digital Human Parliament’, a collective course based on the book ‘The Digital Code’ published in June 2024.
The first day will feature contributions from the Human Committee of La Louvière and Anne Löwenthal (from the ASBL l'ARC), who will provide feedback. The session on 20 February will be organised in collaboration with Elise Degrave. Unsurprisingly, it will focus on the legal aspects of the project, in practical terms. The closing day will focus on the ABCs of disseminating the laws, with a brainstorming session on possible joint actions and partnerships: collective recommendations to government departments, local appeals, etc. At the end of the day, there will be a festive get-together and a proposal for a charter.
The first day will feature contributions from the Human Committee of La Louvière and Anne Löwenthal (from the ASBL l'ARC), who will provide feedback. The session on 20 February will be organised in collaboration with Elise Degrave. Unsurprisingly, it will focus on the legal aspects of the project, in practical terms. The closing day will focus on the ABCs of disseminating the laws, with a brainstorming session on possible joint actions and partnerships: collective recommendations to government departments, local appeals, etc. At the end of the day, there will be a festive get-together and a proposal for a charter.
Text
And more, if you like!
Article 1
All public and private services must offer human support, with no strings attached
Article 2
Digital technology must be used to serve people: it is not up to people to adapt to digital technology.
Article 3
Administrative procedures must not involve recourse to a private service (private services have no democratic duty)
Article 4
Each and every one of us must talk about, imagine and implement alternatives to the digital “solutions” imposed on us.
Article 5
The use of digital tools may be prohibited or restricted in certain places and to certain age groups in order to protect health and physical integrity.
Article 6
It is illegal to create/feed a digital tool or programme that is harmful to the physical and/or mental health of users
Article 7
The right to digital disconnection may be invoked in the name of health by any person, under any circumstances
Article 8
Human skills are protected to guarantee the health of citizens and the security of the State.
Article written by Jean-Luc Manise
Making the invisible visible
Adèle Jacot created The Inhabitants of Images with Mélanie Peduzzi: "The Inhabitants of Images is a very small association that is part of the Rendre Visible Invisible front. This brings together various associations and individuals who have joined forces to fight poverty. Working groups have been set up, one of which deals with the issues raised by the digitalisation of services, alongside those focusing on housing and poverty. We sensed that digital technology was a problem, but it was rather vague. In the pre-covid period, it wasn't very successful. We didn't really know what to do with it.Vital emergencies
"After Covid, we resumed this working group. And then, all of a sudden, the need for it became apparent. Particularly with the problem of counters. It was often a matter of vital urgency for people who no longer had access to their administration, to social assistance, for completely absurd reasons. Of course, this particularly affected the most vulnerable people, the elderly, those who are less independent or who have less command of our language. They may be able to get by just fine orally, but all of a sudden, when things go digital, everything becomes more complicated.Leaving the posture of the volunteer hummingbird
"We have therefore set up a Human Digital Committee in Brussels. We are convinced that citizens want to get involved to change things. We believe in participatory democracy. Personally, I'm tired of being a little volunteer hummingbird and of seeing that, at the decision-making level, things aren't moving as quickly as they should. I'm also very disappointed by the lack of feedback and support we get from our local authorities.Digital. Everyone has a role, but everyone is free to come and go.
On 17 October 2021, the Day for Combating Poverty, around 30 people discussed digital issues, shouting out testimonials on stage. "We are writing a Digital Code. We are writing laws based on our lives and our suffering. We believe that we need to set limits to digital technology, at the level of the State, institutions, but also collectives and associations. Today, many groups, workers, citizens and politicians are sounding the alarm about the digitisation of our lives. Now is the time to join forces and come up with new digital regulations to protect people who are vulnerable to digital technology. Nearly one Belgian in two: 46% of the population according to the King Baudouin Foundation's digital inclusion barometer, 2022".More than 300 actors and actresses to write the laws
Savannah Desmedt, project manager and assistant. "There are over 300 of us who played a part in writing these laws. We're not advocating a return to paperless documents. We're arguing that it's up to digital technology to adapt to people, not the other way round. We are elderly people, isolated people, people with reading or writing difficulties, people with disabilities, young people, children, people in precarious situations, social workers, lawyers, bankers, public IT specialists, street educators, sociologists, artists, young people living on the streets, nurses, factory workers".Now it's up to the experts and politicians to listen to us.
"We are all Masters, Presidents, Ministers, Professors, Kings of life and survival. We are assuming our responsibilities to respond to the urgency: it's time to regulate the digital world. To protect our rights, to protect our mental and physical health, to protect our privacy, to protect our jobs, to protect our children, to protect the Earth... It's time to regulate digital technology, and to do that, we need everyone to talk about it. Everyone needs to be aware of the place digital technology is taking in our lives without our consent. We need a major debate! It's not the digital specialists who are going to tell us what's best for us and what's not. Quite the contrary. Now it's up to the experts and politicians to listen to us. We are the ones who are going to explain to them what is becoming a real threat to us and to democracy.Getting new digital services approved by the people who need them most
A first demand was formulated by the Committee and is being defended in 2022 by the Front Rendre Visible l'Invisible: "Maintain non-digital accessibility in public and private services to avoid social exclusion and environmental costs. Every service must retain the human touch, for example with counters, paper...! And if new digital tools are adopted, they must first be approved by a Human Committee, made up of people who are digitally excluded. In other words, people for whom digital technology does not make life easier, but rather more complicated, particularly when it comes to accessing their fundamental rights.In the Marolles district
In 2022, the Human Committee decided to target the Marolles district of Brussels as a sample area to expand the Committee and to work with residents to create the Digital Code, a code governing the use of digital technology. This is how Chapter 1 of the Digital Code on access to essential services and access to fundamental rights came into being. On 10 June 2022, in front of the Tour des Finances, around fifty citizens annotated the Code and demonstrated.A question of health
The Committee then collectively chose the second theme on which to write laws: health. In the same way as with Chapter 1, the group launched a collection of testimonies. At the same time, the Committee mobilised against the Brussels Digital Ordinance, culminating in a major demonstration on 10 October 2022. In October 2023, the group organised two large-scale street parliaments following several preparatory workshops.8 fundamental laws for access to the law and mental health
The Code du Numérique (Digital Code) is a self-proclaimed citizen's law, drawn up since 2021 by hundreds of people from all walks of life. This book brings together more than 3 years of actions and meetings in Brussels and Wallonia: meetings with citizens, legal researchers, politicians, intimate discussions, workshops, cardboard set designs, shared meals, demonstrations, etc. The central part includes 2 chapters, on access to the law and on mental and physical health. This text brings together testimonies, experiences (and suffering). It contains 8 fundamental laws. The aim of these laws is to rethink the place of digital technology in our lives, and to think about it in terms of the living - and not in terms of technical, philosophical or financial issues.Opening up debate in neighbourhoods, schools and institution
Finally, the aim of these collective laws is not to impose regulations, but to open up debate. This Code is a tool to inspire discussion and action in neighbourhoods, schools and institutions.And more, if you like!
Article 1
All public and private services must offer human support, with no strings attached
Article 2
Digital technology must be used to serve people: it is not up to people to adapt to digital technology.
Article 3
Administrative procedures must not involve recourse to a private service (private services have no democratic duty)
Article 4
Each and every one of us must talk about, imagine and implement alternatives to the digital “solutions” imposed on us.
Article 5
The use of digital tools may be prohibited or restricted in certain places and to certain age groups in order to protect health and physical integrity.
Article 6
It is illegal to create/feed a digital tool or programme that is harmful to the physical and/or mental health of users
Article 7
The right to digital disconnection may be invoked in the name of health by any person, under any circumstances
Article 8
Human skills are protected to guarantee the health of citizens and the security of the State.
Article written by Jean-Luc Manise
Source of this article
https://www.cesep.be/publication/code-du-numerique/
Data sheet information
Date Field
11.04.2025
File entered by a member or friend of the network (single choice)
Assodev - Marsnet
Licence CC BY-SA 4.0
Open Minds: an action and training platform dedicated to the voluntary sector
Article provided by
- Open Minds
- CESEP
Summary
The Open Minds project is in line with the petition circulating in favour of European digital sovereignty and the call from the Petites Singularités association for Europe to continue funding free software.
In 2022, CESEP entered into a strategic European partnership with a French CHATON, Assodev Marsnet, a Catalan cultural infrastructure management operator, Transit Projectes, and a Romanian community development NGO, ACDC. Two years later, the quartet announced the official opening of the platform of resources, actors and free solutions in the four countries involved, with the ambition of spreading the project across the whole of Europe.
In 2022, CESEP entered into a strategic European partnership with a French CHATON, Assodev Marsnet, a Catalan cultural infrastructure management operator, Transit Projectes, and a Romanian community development NGO, ACDC. Two years later, the quartet announced the official opening of the platform of resources, actors and free solutions in the four countries involved, with the ambition of spreading the project across the whole of Europe.
Text
They all point to their members' need for digital training.
"Thanks to open systems, Europe can build solutions in harmony with its values.
‘According to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, ’while it may be too late to reproduce digital giants, there is still time to achieve technological sovereignty in certain key areas". And the EU is calling on public authorities in the Member States to follow suit: "Thanks to open systems, Europe can build solutions that are in harmony with its values.
Article written by Jean-Luc Manise
An alternative to proprietary solutions
In Europe, ‘free’ online digital services based on proprietary software are increasingly setting the agenda for the circulation of information, access to culture, mobilisation and recommendation. The stakes are social, economic, political and cultural: first and foremost, the primary aim of this proprietary digital technology is not to promote the European values of solidarity, sharing and economic growth for all. It is to collect as much information as possible in order to generate as much profit as possible. Open Minds wants to propose an alternative based on free, local, open, transparent and emancipatory digital technology that respects citizens and the environment.Making digital political
Secondly, the Internet and proprietary software have a major impact on the way in which voluntary organisations operate, carry out their missions and interact with their audiences. Open-source alternatives and social networks that respect users' private data should give new energy to the public policies defended by the European voluntary sector, particularly in the field of lifelong learning and popular education.For European sovereignty
Thirdly, the digital transition that Europe must lead cannot be reduced to proprietary solutions marketed on the model of the exploitation of citizens' personal data. If it wants to retain its digital sovereignty, Europe must invest in tools that it can control. This is synonymous not only with industrial autonomy, but also with job creation.Empowering citizens
The Open Minds project aims to bring open and innovative digital solutions to the socio-cultural sector. It is in line with the priority identified by the Commission for the period 2019-2024: ‘A Europe fit for the digital age-Fostering a new generation of empowering technologies’. Open Minds is also fully in line with the ‘Think Open’ 2020-2023 strategy. Europe is characterised by a very high level of citizen involvement in associations and socio-cultural structures. The network of public structures and associations is very close. These two types of players interact to a very large extent when it comes to public (delegated) social and cultural services, within a framework that is generally debated collectively and democratically. The importance of this partnership is spectacularly illustrated in the survey: ‘Communication from the Commission on promoting the role of voluntary organisations and foundations in Europe’.92 million volunteers in Europe
Voluntary organisations, with 92 million volunteers in Europe, play a key role in adult education, and their projects always have an educational component. For example, an environmental protection association has an educational role to play in this area. On the other hand, it is necessary to train the public (volunteers, members and beneficiaries) so that they can participate in the collective action of the association. For example, an association dealing with disability issues will need to train its members so that they can contribute to an interactive map of places accessible to people with reduced mobility.A threat to the objectives of the voluntary sector
The sponsors of the Open Minds project believe that the digital solutions currently being offered to the voluntary sector do not correspond at all to the characteristics defined above. The proprietary, turnkey solutions that are usually on offer operate in ways that threaten the objectives of these associations while claiming to make their lives easier: the collection of information on users and the loss of control over their data threaten the privacy and autonomy of citizens while reinforcing dominant cultural models to the detriment of universal access to culture and a living, autonomous and critical relationship with it.No power to act
Finally, dependence on proprietary technologies hosted by global players, but whose decision-making centres are not in Europe, deprives European players of their power to influence the digital solutions they use. All of this is at odds with the missions and values of players in the socio-cultural sector, which are considered to be of paramount importance in Europe. The Open Minds project aims to select and document specific solutions for hosting, messaging, data storage and office and collaborative tools based on open source software, and to couple them with appropriate training programmes and support.The sector's need for digital training
The digital transition is bringing radical changes to the social and cultural sector. This article is presented by a major player in Europe. The European Network of Cultural Centres has 70 members, including 14 national networks. At local level, there are many players, including in Belgium the Fédération des Services Sociaux, the Association des Centres Culturels, La Concertation and ASTRAC, the network of cultural centre professionals.They all point to their members' need for digital training.
72% of associations need to make the digital transition
First of all, this means that educational and active staff need to acquire specific digital skills on an ongoing basis. Digital innovations can help associations operate more efficiently and increase the impact of their activities. They enable them to interact differently with their target audience and to innovate in terms of their offerings and services. According to a study on the digital maturity of the voluntary sector carried out in 2019 at the request of the King Baudouin Foundation, a large majority (87%) of voluntary organisations recognise the importance of digitisation. However, 72% of them do not feel (fully) committed to digital development. Many are faced with a lack of resources and expertise to invest in a digitisation process. Other obstacles include a lack of tools tailored to the voluntary sector. This is the need that the Open Minds project aims to address by targeting a large part of the sector: socio-cultural operators and, more broadly, the voluntary and non-profit sectors.European open source software strategy 2020-2023: when next?
Secondly, the choice of an open infrastructure also concerns Europe's industrial prospects. The European Union administration recalls this desire for independence in a communication dated 21 October 2020 and entitled ‘Open Source Software Strategy 2020-2023’: "Thanks to open source software, we can build new innovative digital solutions in support of our common policies and actions, and move towards technological sovereignty. Thanks to open code, innovation is progressive and based on the sharing of knowledge and skills. Openness also increases confidence in public services. It offers more possibilities for strengthening security, since the code can be freely inspected and improved.Ursula von der Leyen ‘Solutions in harmony with Europe's values’
"Thanks to open systems, Europe can build solutions in harmony with its values.
‘According to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, ’while it may be too late to reproduce digital giants, there is still time to achieve technological sovereignty in certain key areas". And the EU is calling on public authorities in the Member States to follow suit: "Thanks to open systems, Europe can build solutions that are in harmony with its values.
A decentralised model
At European level, there was as yet no platform dedicated to educational resources and free digital tools specifically designed for the socio-cultural sector. Finally, Open Minds' innovation lies in the project's decentralised model. Unlike the centralised model proposed by the ‘GAFAM’ players, this one is free, open, transparent and supportive. By definition, it allows solutions to be shared and transposed, as well as being consistent with the fundamental objectives of the target sector. In this respect, its novelty lies in the logic of European reappropriation of culture and data, as opposed to their capitalisation in the dominant American platforms.100% open-source solutions and training tailored to the needs of non-profit organisations
Finally, it is based on adaptation to the specific needs of a sector, by directly addressing workers, training managers and training operators present on this market. Based on the needs analysis carried out by the partners, the aim is to train social and cultural players in the use of digital tools and solutions that are easy to use, free of charge and part of the digital commons. The aim is to create Europe's first holistic collection of 100% free digital solutions entirely dedicated to the socio-cultural sector and meeting the needs identified.Article written by Jean-Luc Manise
Source of this article
https://www.cesep.be/publication/open-minds-une-plate-forme-daction-et-de-formation-dediee-au-secteur-associatif/
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Date Field
11.04.2025
File entered by a member or friend of the network (single choice)
Assodev - Marsnet
Licence CC BY-SA 4.0
Enshrine the right to disconnect in the constitution
Article provided by
- CESEP
Summary
This is the dream of Elise Degrave, Professor at the University of Namur, Researcher in Public Digital Law and Director of the Specialised Masters in Digital Law, who spoke with Sylvie Pinchart, Director of Lire et Ecrire communautaire, at the morning session organised in Namur on 7 November by Equipes Populaires. The theme of the day: the right to go offline and digital access.
Text
Why do you ask? Elise Degrave: "Because the Constitution is the queen of standards, the basic foundation throughout Belgium. If a fundamental right is enshrined in the Constitution, no one, no region and no community can take a step backwards. For the time being, with what is enshrined in the law, a government could very well go backwards and once again embrace the logic of all-digital by default."
Initially, Elise Degrave's thesis focused on digital administration, on how administrative services can be digitised while respecting the fundamental rights of citizens, in particular the right to privacy. Her research/action methodology took her to the Marolles district of Brussels, where the Human Digital Committee is active. "I found a wonderful place of solidarity and human warmth in the face of a digital world that isolates and complicates. One of the committee's participants told me: "I depend on the state for housing, food and transport. In the digital relationship that it establishes, for me a bug is mortifying".
The law is there to organise how we live together, not to put robots in place. "You have to realise that there is no law that imposes digitalisation. Today, the digitisation of society has not been democratically debated. It has not been debated publicly and has not been accepted politically. In fact, the opposite is true, with stereotypes such as ‘digital technology saves money’ being bandied about.
"If that's the case, where are the figures? A priori, it costs more than it brings in: you have to set up the tool, you have to pay the people who set up the tool, you have to fix the bugs and the day when the lawyers mobilise, the state will have to pay damages for all the harm caused to people who are currently excluded by digital technology".
"They also say that digital is good for the environment. I recently learned that one conversation with this GPT represents 500 millilitres of water. That's something we need to be concerned about at a time when we want to put conversational robots in government offices to respond to citizens instead of agents. Without wishing to impugn any intentions, I think there is a certain political comfort in saying that we're not interested. We're not too aware of what's going on, so we won't have to be responsible for the damage afterwards.
"The other reason why digital is spreading the way it is the prevailing discourse of strong and weak. If you can do it, you're strong, you're digitally literate. If you can't do it, you're weak. Because you're disabled or elderly, or because you're completely rubbish at computers. We need to deconstruct this vision of technologism. The problem is that these tools are poorly designed. The software that is put in place contains a lot of bugs, and the response is often: ‘There's nothing we can do about it’. But when you get a 404 error on your screen, and you can't go any further with the procedure, this ‘it can't be helped’ can have disastrous consequences.
"The prevailing logic is to shift onto you the burden of work that should in principle be done by administrative staff whose job it is. It's as if you were at a local authority counter and someone said to you: I can't do the job any more. Come and take my place, sit down in front of the computer and do the procedure yourself". But the procedure is designed to be carried out by agents whose job it is and who are trained for it.
This means that the framework is already in place. It's already made for the strong, the normal people, and those who can't manage it, it's because they have a problem themselves. That's just not true. It's the infrastructure that needs to change. So we have to bear in mind one thing that we don't say enough about, and that is that digital technology, even if it is ultra-present, is only a tool. And so it must remain a choice. That's why, in my research, I work a lot on this. Freedom is linked to a key notion, which is the choice of whether or not to use it.
But things are changing. On 19 August, 16 associations took the Brussels Digital Ordinance, which aims to digitise 100% of public services, to the Constitutional Court. Unia, the independent inter-federal public institution that fights discrimination and promotes equality, and the service for combating poverty have taken a superb initiative. They have decided to refer the matter to the European Committee of Social Rights. The Committee will therefore be able to issue opinions and recommendations targeting Belgium in terms of its policies on digitisation of the administration, and to say, watch out, this is going too far. Finally, in Wallonia, the administrative simplification project launched on 3 October provides for, and I quote, ‘the digitisation of procedures while maintaining physical counters, so this is all going in the right direction’.
But the monitoring continues and the link between associative action and its translation into a logic of respect for the fundamental rights of citizens at a time of digital transition continues. and critical in the texts of law is beginning to find its cruising speed. Daniel Flinker Lire et Écrire Bruxelles: "After Brussels, it's the turn of Wallonia and then the Wallonia-Brussels Federation to legislate to digitise their administrations. The problem is that the draft decrees do not guarantee physical counters! The hiatus: a sentence that could leave some ambiguity. The Walloon draft says that administrations must provide ‘a physical reception desk, a telephone service OR contact by post’. This ‘or’ poses a fundamental problem. For example, it allows public authorities to communicate with their users by post without providing a physical reception service. To guarantee a human welcome in public services, it is therefore essential that the Walloon members of parliament amend the text they are being asked to vote on 20 November 2024. The ‘or’ must be changed to ‘and’. The same goes for the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, which will be issuing a similar decree very soon.
And the movement is calling for letters to be sent to regional politicians and commentators asking them to amend the decree: We are calling for the Wallonie numérique decree to be amended. One word is enough to change everything! The ‘or’ should be changed to ‘and’ in article 13 §1 3°. The decree must require administrations to provide: "a physical reception, a telephone service AND contact by post. We want the same thing for the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles. In the wake of this, it invited the association movement to a demonstration on 20 November. Two days later, a new press release appeared: "Yesterday, we alerted you. The draft Walloon decree (like that of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation) on the digitisation of administrations does not guarantee physical counters. It provides for offline contact with public services via ‘counters, telephones OR mail’.
Following an express and determined mobilisation of citizens and associations, we received a promise from the competent authorities that the Walloon text would be amended, so that administrations would guarantee counters, telephone services AND contacts by post. Duly noted and business to follow, as they say...
Article by Jean-Luc Manise
Image by Pete Linforth from Pixabay
The queen of standards
Why do you ask? Elise Degrave: "Because the Constitution is the queen of standards, the basic foundation throughout Belgium. If a fundamental right is enshrined in the Constitution, no one, no region and no community can take a step backwards. For the time being, with what is enshrined in the law, a government could very well go backwards and once again embrace the logic of all-digital by default."
The digital committee at Les Marolles
Initially, Elise Degrave's thesis focused on digital administration, on how administrative services can be digitised while respecting the fundamental rights of citizens, in particular the right to privacy. Her research/action methodology took her to the Marolles district of Brussels, where the Human Digital Committee is active. "I found a wonderful place of solidarity and human warmth in the face of a digital world that isolates and complicates. One of the committee's participants told me: "I depend on the state for housing, food and transport. In the digital relationship that it establishes, for me a bug is mortifying".
Digitalisation is not politically accepted
The law is there to organise how we live together, not to put robots in place. "You have to realise that there is no law that imposes digitalisation. Today, the digitisation of society has not been democratically debated. It has not been debated publicly and has not been accepted politically. In fact, the opposite is true, with stereotypes such as ‘digital technology saves money’ being bandied about.
Digital does not save money
"If that's the case, where are the figures? A priori, it costs more than it brings in: you have to set up the tool, you have to pay the people who set up the tool, you have to fix the bugs and the day when the lawyers mobilise, the state will have to pay damages for all the harm caused to people who are currently excluded by digital technology".
IT pollution
"They also say that digital is good for the environment. I recently learned that one conversation with this GPT represents 500 millilitres of water. That's something we need to be concerned about at a time when we want to put conversational robots in government offices to respond to citizens instead of agents. Without wishing to impugn any intentions, I think there is a certain political comfort in saying that we're not interested. We're not too aware of what's going on, so we won't have to be responsible for the damage afterwards.
Error 404
"The other reason why digital is spreading the way it is the prevailing discourse of strong and weak. If you can do it, you're strong, you're digitally literate. If you can't do it, you're weak. Because you're disabled or elderly, or because you're completely rubbish at computers. We need to deconstruct this vision of technologism. The problem is that these tools are poorly designed. The software that is put in place contains a lot of bugs, and the response is often: ‘There's nothing we can do about it’. But when you get a 404 error on your screen, and you can't go any further with the procedure, this ‘it can't be helped’ can have disastrous consequences.
Getting the work done
"The prevailing logic is to shift onto you the burden of work that should in principle be done by administrative staff whose job it is. It's as if you were at a local authority counter and someone said to you: I can't do the job any more. Come and take my place, sit down in front of the computer and do the procedure yourself". But the procedure is designed to be carried out by agents whose job it is and who are trained for it.
Freedom is linked to a key notion, which is the choice of whether or not to use digital technology
This means that the framework is already in place. It's already made for the strong, the normal people, and those who can't manage it, it's because they have a problem themselves. That's just not true. It's the infrastructure that needs to change. So we have to bear in mind one thing that we don't say enough about, and that is that digital technology, even if it is ultra-present, is only a tool. And so it must remain a choice. That's why, in my research, I work a lot on this. Freedom is linked to a key notion, which is the choice of whether or not to use it.
Referral to the European Committee of Social Rights
But things are changing. On 19 August, 16 associations took the Brussels Digital Ordinance, which aims to digitise 100% of public services, to the Constitutional Court. Unia, the independent inter-federal public institution that fights discrimination and promotes equality, and the service for combating poverty have taken a superb initiative. They have decided to refer the matter to the European Committee of Social Rights. The Committee will therefore be able to issue opinions and recommendations targeting Belgium in terms of its policies on digitisation of the administration, and to say, watch out, this is going too far. Finally, in Wallonia, the administrative simplification project launched on 3 October provides for, and I quote, ‘the digitisation of procedures while maintaining physical counters, so this is all going in the right direction’.
The draft decrees do not guarantee physical counters!
But the monitoring continues and the link between associative action and its translation into a logic of respect for the fundamental rights of citizens at a time of digital transition continues. and critical in the texts of law is beginning to find its cruising speed. Daniel Flinker Lire et Écrire Bruxelles: "After Brussels, it's the turn of Wallonia and then the Wallonia-Brussels Federation to legislate to digitise their administrations. The problem is that the draft decrees do not guarantee physical counters! The hiatus: a sentence that could leave some ambiguity. The Walloon draft says that administrations must provide ‘a physical reception desk, a telephone service OR contact by post’. This ‘or’ poses a fundamental problem. For example, it allows public authorities to communicate with their users by post without providing a physical reception service. To guarantee a human welcome in public services, it is therefore essential that the Walloon members of parliament amend the text they are being asked to vote on 20 November 2024. The ‘or’ must be changed to ‘and’. The same goes for the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, which will be issuing a similar decree very soon.
One word is enough
And the movement is calling for letters to be sent to regional politicians and commentators asking them to amend the decree: We are calling for the Wallonie numérique decree to be amended. One word is enough to change everything! The ‘or’ should be changed to ‘and’ in article 13 §1 3°. The decree must require administrations to provide: "a physical reception, a telephone service AND contact by post. We want the same thing for the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles. In the wake of this, it invited the association movement to a demonstration on 20 November. Two days later, a new press release appeared: "Yesterday, we alerted you. The draft Walloon decree (like that of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation) on the digitisation of administrations does not guarantee physical counters. It provides for offline contact with public services via ‘counters, telephones OR mail’.
Following an express and determined mobilisation of citizens and associations, we received a promise from the competent authorities that the Walloon text would be amended, so that administrations would guarantee counters, telephone services AND contacts by post. Duly noted and business to follow, as they say...
Article by Jean-Luc Manise
Image by Pete Linforth from Pixabay
Source of this article
https://www.cesep.be/publication/inscrire-le-droit-a-la-deconnexion-dans-la-constitution/
Data sheet information
Date Field
10.04.2025
File entered by a member or friend of the network (single choice)
Assodev - Marsnet
Licence CC BY-SA 4.0
A moratorium to freeze the digitisation of essential services at European level
Article provided by
- CESEP
Summary
Putting people first! This is the 2024 campaign of Lire et Écrire. The movement very quickly became involved in the question of how digital technology could be linked to its core business of literacy, by providing feedback from its learners and investigating a number of issues. In 2020, its first campaign on the forgotten digital divide was called Rosa. Today, Lire & Écrire is writing an open letter calling for a Europe-wide freeze on the digitisation of essential services. Sylvie Pinchart, director of Lire et Écrire Communautaire, explained her views at the morning session on ‘The right to offline and digital access’ organised in Namur on 7 November by Équipes Populaires.
Text
For the two organisations, precariousness and social exclusion require a legal guarantee, at no extra cost, of the various means of access to public and private services and, more broadly, to all services of general interest, so that no approach is exclusively digital. It is also important to facilitate the provision of digital tools, Internet access and support for the acquisition of digital skills for the most disadvantaged sections of the population. Ultimately, a system that is suitable for the most vulnerable groups in our society will be suitable for society as a whole.
Article by Jean-Luc Manise
Image by Manfred Steger from Pixabay
Starting from the ground up
"With the Covid crisis and the lightning acceleration of digitisation that has gone hand in hand with it, we have had to redefine our invariants in popular education and literacy. Our first public action, the Rosa campaign, denounced and highlighted a whole series of situations caused by the digitisation of services, which are all dead ends for people who are uncomfortable with digital technology. I think we very quickly gained the legitimacy to speak out publicly on the issue of the digitalisation of essential services, because we built it up from our own field of action. All our work stems from observations made in the field, which we have taken on board. We always make sure that we work with learners, on issues as complex as the European Committee of Social Rights or changes in anti-discrimination law. This is a requirement of lifelong learning. It takes time and energy, but it's a question of ethics.Brussels EPN network: barely 10 full-time equivalents
"As our actions have progressed, and in terms of who we are and what we stand for, we have gradually built up a political position that we have tried to define. The first trap we avoided was getting bogged down in the issue of digital inclusion. We were asked what we thought should be done to achieve digital inclusion. We need to put things into perspective. On the one hand, we're digitising everything and then we're asked what we can do about digital inclusion! In Brussels, it has been calculated that the EPN network has 10 stable full-time equivalents. That's a drop in the bucket compared to the digitalisation train. The question of whether people are for or against digital technology is not one that people ask themselves right off the bat!Political positioning
"So what is our political position today? We have two imperatives when it comes to economic services of general interest, whether they are private, public, commercial or non-commercial. We need to guarantee direct human access, without penalty, without extra cost, preferential rates and invest in digital accessibility. So it's not just people who have to adapt to programmes that have been tampered with to a greater or lesser extent, because now it's the users who do the programme testing. In our view, simplifying administrative procedures should benefit users, not administrations. When we communicate with the State in digital form, it must be on a voluntary, explicit and reversible basis. We need to set and support, or even impose, standards for digital accessibility and language.Questioning the European Committee of Social Rights
"On the other hand, it's interesting to talk to people who are thinking about these issues too. Within Lire et Ecrie, these discussions have given rise to a whole series of debates that we have more or less succeeded in investigating. In other words, we've been able to sit around a table and reflect, analyse the issues and come up with, and agree on, a course of action. At every level: political, educational and methodological. It has also led to a number of partnerships, including one with Unia and the Interfederal Centre for Combating Poverty. At the request of the non-profit organisation Lire et Ecrire, Unia analysed the current upheavals in anti-discrimination legislation and published an opinion on this phenomenon in collaboration with the Service de lutte contre la pauvreté, la précarité et l'exclusion sociale.An obstacle course
For the two organisations, the legal framework needs to be improved. "Doing your banking or making a doctor's appointment online, buying a train ticket using a digital terminal, requesting a document from the local authority, recognising a child, applying for a job online, paying in a shop using your phone, a banking application or even just a bank card... For many people in vulnerable situations, these everyday gestures, which may seem trivial, often represent a real obstacle course or are impossible because they do not have Internet access or the necessary digital equipment.Vulnerable groups in greater difficulty
The analysis carried out by Unia and the anti-poverty service, precariousness and social exclusion reveals that the first victims of these upheavals are people who are disadvantaged in socio-economic (income level) and cultural (diploma level) terms, in particular people who have difficulty reading and writing, but also the elderly or people with disabilities. ‘Since 2019, Unia has only received around a hundred reports relating to the ’digital divide". The victims probably don't identify the situation as discriminatory, because they have no (or little) knowledge of this concept, or perhaps don't know that Unia can help them.Recommendations
Aware of these difficulties and the low reporting rate, Unia has formulated several recommendations to draw attention to the potential discrimination of some of the most vulnerable groups. "At a time when public and private players seem to be moving forward freely in designing their digital tools and procedures, Unia is calling for an improvement in the legal framework by standardising Belgian anti-discrimination legislation. In particular, we are calling for the inclusion of the criterion of ‘social condition’ in these laws, in order to protect particularly vulnerable people. "Explains Patrick Charlier, Director of Unia. "The digitisation of our society is an irremediable process that can be beneficial provided that it is clearly signposted and that corrective measures are put in place to offset any negative effects on certain groups that are less well equipped.No purely digital approach
Unia and the the service to combat poverty, precariousness and social exclusion are calling in particular for a legal guarantee, at no extra cost, of the various methods of access to public and private services and, more broadly, to all services of general interest, so that no approach is purely digital. It is also important to facilitate the provision of digital tools, Internet access and support for the acquisition of digital skills for the most disadvantaged sections of the population. Ultimately, a system that is suitable for the most vulnerable groups in our society will be suitable for society as a whole.For the two organisations, precariousness and social exclusion require a legal guarantee, at no extra cost, of the various means of access to public and private services and, more broadly, to all services of general interest, so that no approach is exclusively digital. It is also important to facilitate the provision of digital tools, Internet access and support for the acquisition of digital skills for the most disadvantaged sections of the population. Ultimately, a system that is suitable for the most vulnerable groups in our society will be suitable for society as a whole.
A moratorium to freeze the digitisation of essential services at European level
Syvie Pinchart: "Together with a number of associations and prominent figures from civil society, we are also writing an open letter to the European Commission, the Council of the EU and the European Parliament. We are aware that we are going against a trend that is now considered inevitable, but we feel it is urgent to take action. With this in mind, we are calling for the adoption of a moratorium that would freeze the progress of digitisation of essential services at European level. We call for a moratorium to restore the accessibility of all essential services and ensure that non-digital channels of interaction between citizens and these services are maintained. These non-digital channels should be of high quality, available in sufficient quantity, and should not involve additional costs for users".Article by Jean-Luc Manise
Image by Manfred Steger from Pixabay
Source of this article
https://www.cesep.be/publication/un-moratoire-pour-geler-la-progression-de-la-numerisation-des-services-essentiels-a-lechelle-europenne/
Data sheet information
Date Field
10.04.2025
File entered by a member or friend of the network (single choice)
Assodev - Marsnet
Licence CC BY-SA 4.0
The digital state: algorithms outside the law
Article provided by
- CESEP
Summary
The OASIS software, which cross-references our data in order to identify potential tax evaders and have them audited, is not governed by any law. Neither the source code of the algorithms used nor the types of data it uses are published. What's more, any request for access is refused. Who decided on these tools? Who created these algorithms? According to what criteria? Doesn't OASIS lead to unfair decisions under the law? The answers to these questions can be found in Isabelle Degrave's new book: ‘L’État numérique et les droits humains.
Text
The problem is that OASIS is not governed by any law, and neither the source code of the algorithms used nor the type of data that feed it are published. Moreover, any request for access is refused. Who decided on these tools, who created these algorithms, according to which criteria. Does OASIS lead to unfair decisions in relation to the law? The official answer of the ONSS is always the same: we do not give you access to mathematical formulas used in the Datawarehous OASIS since their publication can harm the fight against tax fraud.
An application like OASIS is illegal. It reduces the role of the human to a scarecrow that has no control over the algorithmic decision The algorithm is then a decision-making algorithm. However, Article 22 of the GDPR prohibits “full” decisions. Frameworks exist such as the European Directive on air passenger data and decisions of the CJEU and the French Constitutional Council that prohibit the use of algorithms treating certain data such as the racial origin of a person, his religion, health or sexual orientation. There is also the AI Act which prohibits social rating tools that classify individuals according to their personal characteristics, whether actual, inferred or predicted. ? And Elise Degrave to welcome the decision of the data protection authority that calls for a clear explanation on the terms and guarantees of the algorithms used in each framework law for a «Datamining» tool.
Article by Jean-Luc Manise
Image by Tung Lam from Pixabay
The State sees us without itself being seen
Elise Degrave, Doctor of Legal Science and Professor at the Faculty of Law at the University of Namur, Director of the E-government research team at the Namur Digital Institute (Nadi/Crids), co-director of the E-government Chair at the University of Namur and member of the Walloon Digital Council: "There is very little interest in the actions of the digital State. It's a subject that's actually very little known, even among lawyers, who tend not to use arguments that they simply don't know. It's not well known, it's technical, it's behind the scenes, so it's obscure. But when we look at this issue, we see that the use of our data is accelerating. The government can see us, but it can't see itself.The Finance Minister has proposed giving our health data to insurance companies
In Belgium, in 2022, a draft bill put on the table the communication of our health data to insurance companies. It was tabled by the then Minister of Finance with the aim of achieving ‘greater efficiency in the management of insurance contracts’. Elise Degrave: "This bill provoked strong reactions, shaking people's confidence in the State in view of this potentially harmful re-use of data. The text, lacking sufficient safeguards to prevent abuses, was not successful. In France, demonstrations are monitored by drones. In Hungary, bad tax payers are showcased on the Internet. At Europe's borders, lie-detecting robots are used to select migrants.Our social life is guided by algorithms
Elise Degrave: "So many real cases that confirm the fears of a growing imbalance between the state and individuals when it comes to the re-use of their data. Technology is reshaping government, both in the way it operates and in its relationship with citizens. Whether it's choosing a child's secondary school, granting social assistance or identifying potential fraudsters, the work of human agents is guided by algorithms that can play a decisive role in administrative decision-making.The need for legality, equality and transparency
For the professor, the digitisation of government services poses three challenges. The first is legality. How can the digital state be regulated? A government with little concern for human rights could use our digital double in a harmful way, for example by organising targeted tracking of people based on their origin or sexual orientation. The second is equality? Does digitalisation mean vulnerability? "In public services, screens are gradually replacing staff. More and more people are finding it difficult to exercise their rights and meet their obligations in the ‘touchless’ society. The third challenge is transparency. "Digital technology is intangible and invisible. It is so difficult to identify what happens to the data entrusted to the State that even in the case of damaging bugs, finding the error is often like looking for a needle in a haystack.Politicize the digital
In response to these challenges, Elise Degrave proposes solutions for the digital world. Currently, as has been said, the competence of the legislator is undermined by the legislator himself, government and technology. To improve law in the digital age, it is necessary to awaken the legislator by politicising the digital and creating a legal framework for algorithmic decision systems. In addition, as digital technology raises new issues with which the legislator is not necessarily familiar, it should be supported by social impact analyses and what could be an “FASFC” algorithm.What to do, at what cost and under what political responsibility
According to Elise Degrave, three essential elements must “further permeate the work of the legislator”. This is first of all the goal pursued by the digitalization of the state and the imperative social need that each tool is supposed to meet. What are the real needs of digitalisation? Is it to make life easier for citizens? If so, why are so many people in trouble? Is it to save money? But is it certain to realize since this technology has a not negligible cost Is it rather to strengthen the efficiency of the state? What about the robustness of these tools? Second, the legislator must assess how the proposed tool is the “necessary” solution to achieve these objectives. Third, the policy authority for each technology must be clearly identified, that is to say clearly identify the minister or ministers whose responsibility will be triggered in case of a problem.”Create a legal framework
The OASIS software (anbtifrande organisation des services d'inspection sociale) is a good example of a tool for centralising and exploiting citizens' data without adequate legal framework. For her investigation, Elise Degrave contacted the administration and detailed her questions about OASIS. Answer of the administration: all the answers to your questions are in a file of more than 150 pages that I can transmit you, the technical documentation of detection algorithms is of course confidential. Then one evening at the faculty, a phone call: “Ms. Degrave, we are two administrative officers. You are clearly trying to understand. We will help you, but you must swear to us that our name will never come out of your research" As a climate of trust and transmit, we certainly saw better.OASIS has become a black box
Elise Degrave: “In fact, OASIS is a data warehouse that centralizes a mass of information related to employers and workers for profiling purposes. These include tax data, social security data and pension data from several databases held by the state. The software intersects all of this and generates a list of potential fraudsters for inspectors to check. If OASIS is effective, in 10% of the cases the suspects are mistakenly so without understanding why because according to both agents, OASIS has become a black box.”The problem is that OASIS is not governed by any law, and neither the source code of the algorithms used nor the type of data that feed it are published. Moreover, any request for access is refused. Who decided on these tools, who created these algorithms, according to which criteria. Does OASIS lead to unfair decisions in relation to the law? The official answer of the ONSS is always the same: we do not give you access to mathematical formulas used in the Datawarehous OASIS since their publication can harm the fight against tax fraud.
An application like OASIS is illegal. It reduces the role of the human to a scarecrow that has no control over the algorithmic decision The algorithm is then a decision-making algorithm. However, Article 22 of the GDPR prohibits “full” decisions. Frameworks exist such as the European Directive on air passenger data and decisions of the CJEU and the French Constitutional Council that prohibit the use of algorithms treating certain data such as the racial origin of a person, his religion, health or sexual orientation. There is also the AI Act which prohibits social rating tools that classify individuals according to their personal characteristics, whether actual, inferred or predicted. ? And Elise Degrave to welcome the decision of the data protection authority that calls for a clear explanation on the terms and guarantees of the algorithms used in each framework law for a «Datamining» tool.
For an FASFC of algorithms
Another proposal by Elise Degrave: 'Algorithms should be submitted to an independent authority, an FASFC of algorithmishems responsible for controlling the algorithms and authorising their use or not. For this control, this authority should be able to access all the necessary elements such as training data, source code, test results and be able to dialogue with their designers. It should also be able to require administrations to test the algorithm on dummy data sets before putting it into operation on the entire population to ensure, among other things, that it does not discriminate. On the other hand, as her experience progresses, she could develop a “blacklist” of public sector algorithms that pose a risk to human rights. We think of predictive algorithms that use criteria protected by anti-discrimination legislation such as age, financial status, social background, gender to prevent the algorithm from targeting vulnerable segments of the population.”Article by Jean-Luc Manise
Image by Tung Lam from Pixabay
Source of this article
https://www.cesep.be/publication/letat-numerique-des-algorithmes-hors-la-loi/
Data sheet information
Date Field
10.04.2025
Licence CC BY-SA 4.0
What is free and ethical digital technology?
Article provided by
- Open Minds
- ASSODEV
Summary
It allows nonprofits to choose tools that align with their values:
transparency, sharing, autonomy, respect for human rights, and privacy protection.
Why is it important for nonprofits?
Free and ethical digital technology is based on two pillars: open source software and data-friendly online services.It allows nonprofits to choose tools that align with their values:
transparency, sharing, autonomy, respect for human rights, and privacy protection.
Text
It can be used, copied, modified, and shared freely.
It promotes transparency and digital independence.
It is accessible, easy to use, and economical because the license is free.
These are therefore software programs that can be
- Used freely
- Modified according to your needs
- Shared with others
- Audited for greater transparency
Examples: LibreOffice, Firefox, Thunderbird, GIMP, VLC
- They don't display ads or track users
- They use open and transparent technologies
- They are often offered by non-profit organizations
Examples: Nextcloud, DuckDuckGo, Framapad, Mastodon, PeerTube, OpenStreetMap, etc.
✔ Mastery of tools and independence from GAFAM
✔ Consistency with civic and solidarity values
✔ Less dependency, more cooperation
Where to start?
➔ Test the services offered by framasoft.org
➔ Find an ethical web host on chatons.org
➔ Ask other associations or networks for advice
➔ Use directories or resource and solution platforms like Open Minds
In summary: Free and ethical digital technology allows associations to make meaningful digital choices.
➢ More respect, less surveillance.
➢ More autonomy, less dependency.
➢ More sharing, less centralization.
Free software is software that offers the freedom to use, study, modify, and redistribute copies.
Its source code is open and accessible, and it is developed by a community of contributors.
It is protected by a free license that guarantees these four essential freedoms.
It is an alternative to "proprietary" software, which "prives" of freedoms, and is often created by large commercial companies.
Free software is perfectly consistent with the values of nonprofit organizations: it promotes autonomy, transparency, solidarity, collaboration, and shared innovation, while being respectful of citizens and the environment.
Benefits for nonprofits:
• Reduced costs (no paid licenses).
• Flexibility and customization of tools based on specific needs.
• Reliability, performance and ease of use.
• Respect for ethics and support for a supportive and open digital ecosystem.
These digital solutions are easy to use, free, and part of the digital common good.
By requiring fewer resources, they allow you to keep your computers longer, which is more environmentally friendly.
Ethical online services are digital platforms and tools that use open-source software and respect user privacy, transparency, and rights.
They do not collect personal data for advertising or commercial purposes.
These services are consistent with the values of nonprofit organizations: they preserve data confidentiality, avoid intrusive surveillance, and encourage responsible use of technology.
Benefits for nonprofit organizations:
• Protection of sensitive member and volunteer data.
• Compliance with the principles of respect and solidarity.
• Reliability, performance and ease of use.
• Respect for ethics, no advertising or tracking, use of open and transparent technologies, and are often offered by cooperatives or local nonprofit organizations. Using them means supporting responsible and transparent businesses, promoting local employment, preserving our digital sovereignty, and reducing our dependence on multinationals that profit by exploiting our data and making us dependent.
It's essential to ask yourself the question: who produces the service I use?
https://www.openmindsproject.eu** contact@openmindsproject.eu
What is free software?
It is software with a free license and open source code.It can be used, copied, modified, and shared freely.
It promotes transparency and digital independence.
It is accessible, easy to use, and economical because the license is free.
These are therefore software programs that can be
- Used freely
- Modified according to your needs
- Shared with others
- Audited for greater transparency
Examples: LibreOffice, Firefox, Thunderbird, GIMP, VLC
What are ethical online services?
- They don't collect your data without consent- They don't display ads or track users
- They use open and transparent technologies
- They are often offered by non-profit organizations
Examples: Nextcloud, DuckDuckGo, Framapad, Mastodon, PeerTube, OpenStreetMap, etc.
Why is this important for associations?
✔ Respect for the privacy of members and users✔ Mastery of tools and independence from GAFAM
✔ Consistency with civic and solidarity values
✔ Less dependency, more cooperation
Where to start?
➔ Test the services offered by framasoft.org
➔ Find an ethical web host on chatons.org
➔ Ask other associations or networks for advice
➔ Use directories or resource and solution platforms like Open Minds
In summary: Free and ethical digital technology allows associations to make meaningful digital choices.
➢ More respect, less surveillance.
➢ More autonomy, less dependency.
➢ More sharing, less centralization.
What is free software?
Free software is software that offers the freedom to use, study, modify, and redistribute copies.
Its source code is open and accessible, and it is developed by a community of contributors.
It is protected by a free license that guarantees these four essential freedoms.
It is an alternative to "proprietary" software, which "prives" of freedoms, and is often created by large commercial companies.
Free software is perfectly consistent with the values of nonprofit organizations: it promotes autonomy, transparency, solidarity, collaboration, and shared innovation, while being respectful of citizens and the environment.
Benefits for nonprofits:
• Reduced costs (no paid licenses).
• Flexibility and customization of tools based on specific needs.
• Reliability, performance and ease of use.
• Respect for ethics and support for a supportive and open digital ecosystem.
These digital solutions are easy to use, free, and part of the digital common good.
By requiring fewer resources, they allow you to keep your computers longer, which is more environmentally friendly.
What are ethical online services?
Ethical online services are digital platforms and tools that use open-source software and respect user privacy, transparency, and rights.
They do not collect personal data for advertising or commercial purposes.
These services are consistent with the values of nonprofit organizations: they preserve data confidentiality, avoid intrusive surveillance, and encourage responsible use of technology.
Benefits for nonprofit organizations:
• Protection of sensitive member and volunteer data.
• Compliance with the principles of respect and solidarity.
• Reliability, performance and ease of use.
• Respect for ethics, no advertising or tracking, use of open and transparent technologies, and are often offered by cooperatives or local nonprofit organizations. Using them means supporting responsible and transparent businesses, promoting local employment, preserving our digital sovereignty, and reducing our dependence on multinationals that profit by exploiting our data and making us dependent.
It's essential to ask yourself the question: who produces the service I use?
https://www.openmindsproject.eu** contact@openmindsproject.eu
Data sheet information
Date Field
07.04.2025
File entered by a member or friend of the network (single choice)
Assodev - Marsnet
Licence CC BY-SA 4.0
Open Minds, a platform of free digital solutions for the sociocultural sector
Article provided by
- Open Minds
- ASSODEV
Summary
Open Minds is a European project that facilitates the digital transition of nonprofits toward free and ethical solutions, consistent with their values.
A collaborative platform for the ethical digital transition
Open Minds is a European project that facilitates the digital transition of nonprofits toward free and ethical solutions, consistent with their values.
Text
✔ Find the right digital tools for your projects
✔ Identify suitable training and partners
✔ Share your experiences and discover those of others
✔ Increase efficiency while protecting your data
Available in 5 languages (French, English, Spanish, Romanian, Catalan), the platform offers:
🔹 200+ solutions: selected open source software and services for nonprofits
🔹 500+ open source stakeholders and ethical service providers
🔹 60+ training courses to improve your skills
🔹 160+ educational resources
🔹 50+ testimonials, opinions, and feedback
🔹 50+ articles to understand the challenges of open source digital technology
A calendar, a glossary, an FAQ, a community forum, and more.
Supported by four European partners:
CESEP (Belgium), Assodev-Marsnet (France), Transit (Spain), and ACDC (Romania)
➔ Equip yourself with the best open source tools
➔ Give your team digital autonomy
➔ Join a network of committed stakeholders
Come and discover open source and ethical digital solutions at:👉
https://www.openmindsproject.eu
Choose a resource type: solutions, stakeholders, training, educational resources, etc.
Use the search field (magnifying glass) and enter:
• the name of the solution you use for which you are looking for a free alternative
• a use or feature, the name of the free software you are looking for, or a word
Use the filters on the right
• Choose the solution category
• Select "essential" and "very useful" (important and useful for associations)
• Used by Open Minds partners to find effective software
• Select "easy" and "very easy to use"
• Specify the type of solution: software to install or online service
Let's take back control of digital technology, together.
This platform is a shared asset, built by and for nonprofits. By contributing,
you support digital autonomy, solidarity, and equitable access to open-source tools.
Share your favorites, your feedback, your ideas: every contribution
counts to help this mutual aid network grow.
We invite you to:
• Register on the platform (top right menu) and on the contributors map
• Share your opinion or testimonial on software or online services
• Give a positive review praising the platform in the guestbook
• Complete the evaluation questionnaires and suggest improvements (resources menu)
• Create your stakeholder profile (for organizations)
• Create resource profiles: solutions, training, tools, events, articles, etc.
• Share on the groups and discussion lists or on the forum
If needed, don't hesitate to consult the FAQ
https://www.openmindsproject.eu** contact@openmindsproject.eu
Assodev for Open Minds
Why use Open Minds?
✔ Find the right digital tools for your projects
✔ Identify suitable training and partners
✔ Share your experiences and discover those of others
✔ Increase efficiency while protecting your data
A wealth of content at your fingertips
Available in 5 languages (French, English, Spanish, Romanian, Catalan), the platform offers:
🔹 200+ solutions: selected open source software and services for nonprofits
🔹 500+ open source stakeholders and ethical service providers
🔹 60+ training courses to improve your skills
🔹 160+ educational resources
🔹 50+ testimonials, opinions, and feedback
🔹 50+ articles to understand the challenges of open source digital technology
A calendar, a glossary, an FAQ, a community forum, and more.
A committed European project
Supported by four European partners:
CESEP (Belgium), Assodev-Marsnet (France), Transit (Spain), and ACDC (Romania)
Take action!
🚀 ➔ Nonprofits, simplify your digital transition:➔ Equip yourself with the best open source tools
➔ Give your team digital autonomy
➔ Join a network of committed stakeholders
Come and discover open source and ethical digital solutions at:👉
https://www.openmindsproject.eu
How to use the platform and search effectively:
Choose a resource type: solutions, stakeholders, training, educational resources, etc.
Use the search field (magnifying glass) and enter:
• the name of the solution you use for which you are looking for a free alternative
• a use or feature, the name of the free software you are looking for, or a word
Use the filters on the right
• Choose the solution category
• Select "essential" and "very useful" (important and useful for associations)
• Used by Open Minds partners to find effective software
• Select "easy" and "very easy to use"
• Specify the type of solution: software to install or online service
Why and how to contribute to the platform?
Let's take back control of digital technology, together.
This platform is a shared asset, built by and for nonprofits. By contributing,
you support digital autonomy, solidarity, and equitable access to open-source tools.
Share your favorites, your feedback, your ideas: every contribution
counts to help this mutual aid network grow.
We invite you to:
• Register on the platform (top right menu) and on the contributors map
• Share your opinion or testimonial on software or online services
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07.04.2025
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The European Union: Driving innovation and digital sovereignty through Free and Open Source Software
Article provided by
- ASSODEV
Summary
The European Union (EU) actively supports and finances free and open source software (FOSS), recognising its importance for innovation, digital sovereignty and reducing technological dependencies on non-European suppliers. Here is an overview of EU initiatives and funding programmes related to free software.
Text
Horizon Europe
• Horizon Europe, the EU’s research and innovation framework programme (2021-2027), supports open source projects, particularly in areas such as cybersecurity, artificial intelligence and digital infrastructure.
• Calls for proposals often prioritize open technologies to ensure interoperability and sustainability of solutions.
DIGITAL Europe
• This programme focuses on building the EU’s digital capabilities, including developing open source solutions for key technologies such as cloud computing, blockchain and advanced data processing.
• Supports projects that incorporate open standards and open source frameworks to foster collaboration and innovation.
CEF Digital (Connecting Europe Facility)
• As part of the CEF Digital, the EU funds projects that improve cross-border digital services, often requiring the use of open standards and open source components for seamless interoperability.
EU-FOSSA (Free and Open Source Software Audit of the EU)
• EU-FOSSA was launched to improve the security and reliability of widely used open source software.
• The programme has funded code audits and bug-finding programmes for key software used within EU institutions and beyond.
Interoperability and open source in the public sector
• The European Commission promotes open source through the Open Source Observatory (OSOR), providing advice, case studies and tools to help public administrations adopt open source solutions.
• The European Interoperability Framework (EIF) encourages the use of open source software for public services to ensure transparency and reusability.
• Digital sovereignty: reduce reliance on proprietary technologies and promote control of digital infrastructures.
• Cost-effectiveness: reduce costs for governments and businesses through reusable software components.
• Collaboration and innovation: to encourage cross-border and intersectoral collaboration in Europe and beyond.
By funding and promoting Free Software, the EU aims to create a more competitive, innovative and secure digital ecosystem while fostering collaboration and transparency.
Resources:
- Horizon Europe : https://research-and-innovation.ec.europa.eu/funding/funding-opportunities/funding-programmes-and-open-calls/horizon-europe_en?prefLang=fr&etrans=fr
- EU-FOSSA 2 - Audit of free and open software : https://commission.europa.eu/about/departments-and-executive-agencies/digital-services/eu-fossa-2-free-and-open-source-software-auditing_en?prefLang=fr&etrans=fr
- Open Source Observatory (OSOR) : https://interoperable-europe.ec.europa.eu/collection/open-source-observatory-osor?utm
- 8ra – Hypercloud open source européen : https://www.heise.de/en/news/Gitex-Europe-EU-states-work-on-the-open-source-hyper-cloud-8ra-10392647.html
- European open source software strategy : https://commission.europa.eu/about/departments-and-executive-agencies/digital-services/open-source-software-strategy_en?utm
- European summit on open source policy 2025 : https://openforumeurope.org/the-eu-open-source-policy-summit-2025-what-did-we-learn-and-where-do-we-go-from-here/?utm
- Digital Europe Programme (DIGITAL) : https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/activities/digital-programme
Free software funding programs
Horizon Europe
• Horizon Europe, the EU’s research and innovation framework programme (2021-2027), supports open source projects, particularly in areas such as cybersecurity, artificial intelligence and digital infrastructure.
• Calls for proposals often prioritize open technologies to ensure interoperability and sustainability of solutions.
DIGITAL Europe
• This programme focuses on building the EU’s digital capabilities, including developing open source solutions for key technologies such as cloud computing, blockchain and advanced data processing.
• Supports projects that incorporate open standards and open source frameworks to foster collaboration and innovation.
CEF Digital (Connecting Europe Facility)
• As part of the CEF Digital, the EU funds projects that improve cross-border digital services, often requiring the use of open standards and open source components for seamless interoperability.
Key Open Source Initiatives
EU-FOSSA (Free and Open Source Software Audit of the EU)
• EU-FOSSA was launched to improve the security and reliability of widely used open source software.
• The programme has funded code audits and bug-finding programmes for key software used within EU institutions and beyond.
Interoperability and open source in the public sector
• The European Commission promotes open source through the Open Source Observatory (OSOR), providing advice, case studies and tools to help public administrations adopt open source solutions.
• The European Interoperability Framework (EIF) encourages the use of open source software for public services to ensure transparency and reusability.
Benefits of EU investment in Free and Open Source Software
• Digital sovereignty: reduce reliance on proprietary technologies and promote control of digital infrastructures.
• Cost-effectiveness: reduce costs for governments and businesses through reusable software components.
• Collaboration and innovation: to encourage cross-border and intersectoral collaboration in Europe and beyond.
By funding and promoting Free Software, the EU aims to create a more competitive, innovative and secure digital ecosystem while fostering collaboration and transparency.
Resources:
- Horizon Europe : https://research-and-innovation.ec.europa.eu/funding/funding-opportunities/funding-programmes-and-open-calls/horizon-europe_en?prefLang=fr&etrans=fr
- EU-FOSSA 2 - Audit of free and open software : https://commission.europa.eu/about/departments-and-executive-agencies/digital-services/eu-fossa-2-free-and-open-source-software-auditing_en?prefLang=fr&etrans=fr
- Open Source Observatory (OSOR) : https://interoperable-europe.ec.europa.eu/collection/open-source-observatory-osor?utm
- 8ra – Hypercloud open source européen : https://www.heise.de/en/news/Gitex-Europe-EU-states-work-on-the-open-source-hyper-cloud-8ra-10392647.html
- European open source software strategy : https://commission.europa.eu/about/departments-and-executive-agencies/digital-services/open-source-software-strategy_en?utm
- European summit on open source policy 2025 : https://openforumeurope.org/the-eu-open-source-policy-summit-2025-what-did-we-learn-and-where-do-we-go-from-here/?utm
- Digital Europe Programme (DIGITAL) : https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/activities/digital-programme
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19.03.2025
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Forget Chrome—Google Starts Tracking All Your Devices In 8 Weeks
Article provided by
- AutreOtherOtroAltresAltele
Summary
"Zak Doffman writes about security, surveillance and privacy."
Text
"With Google’s last tracking u-turn fresh in the mind, here comes another one. Not only have cookies won a stay of execution, it now looks like digital fingerprinting is back as well. But as one regulator has pointed out, Google itself has said that this type of tracking “subverts user choice and is wrong.” And yet here we are—wrong or not. “We think this change is irresponsible,” the regulator warns.
For its part, Google cites advances in so-called privacy-enhancing technologies (PETs) as raising the bar for user privacy, enabling it to loosen the shackles on advertisers and the hidden trackers that underpin the internet and make the whole ecosystem work. This, it says, will unlock “new ways for brands to manage and activate their data safely and securely,” while “also giving people the privacy protections they expect.” The risk is that this simply rolls the dark side of tracking cookies forward into a new era, and in a way that is impossible for users to unpick to understand their risks."
For its part, Google cites advances in so-called privacy-enhancing technologies (PETs) as raising the bar for user privacy, enabling it to loosen the shackles on advertisers and the hidden trackers that underpin the internet and make the whole ecosystem work. This, it says, will unlock “new ways for brands to manage and activate their data safely and securely,” while “also giving people the privacy protections they expect.” The risk is that this simply rolls the dark side of tracking cookies forward into a new era, and in a way that is impossible for users to unpick to understand their risks."
Source of this article
https://www.forbes.com/sites/zakdoffman/2024/12/21/forget-chrome-google-will-start-tracking-you-and-all-your-smart-devices-in-8-weeks/
Data sheet information
Date Field
27.12.2024
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Social software: communication tools
Article provided by
- TRANSIT
Summary
"Social software is software that collects, extends and generates value from the social behaviour of human beings."
Tom Coates
Product Strategy
Tom Coates
Product Strategy
Text
The Internet has become the new work space. Who doesn’t miss the email that doesn’t arrive to finish a project? Or those websites that you visit regularly to find out the state of the art on a given subject? It is no longer just a macro library where you can find information. It is where we spend time that is worth its weight in gold.
It is no longer just a macro library where you can find information. It is where we spend time that is worth its weight in gold. It has become a backbone of our work. What can we do so that it does not absorb us and so that we can use it as a tool?
What can we do so that it does not absorb us and so that we can use it as a tool? Software has become a technological platform. The lines of code that make up a program, the connection of different modules of a program that offer a new interaction between different people physically linked, thus take on an important role. (Fuente et al., 2010)
There has been a paradigm shift, technology has ceased to be a physical thing, it is no longer just the latest fashionable gadget or the latest and most powerful hardware (machinery). Software has become a technological platform. The lines of code that make up a programme, the connection of different modules of a programme that offer a new interaction between different people physically linked… Free software occupies an important space (Winner, 1993).
The shaping of the virtual public sphere is strategic, and social software plays an important part. Knowledge professionals are the key actors who can put the user at the centre of a new process (Nieborg & Poell, 2018).
New technologies allow the development of a critical mass of more democratic and participative citizens (Rodríguez, 2023) (Sánchez, 1970) (Fuente et al., 2010). New Internet tools such as newsgroups, forums, chat rooms, message boards, mailing lists and collaborative editing systems (wikis), point-to-point applications such as peer-to-peer messaging and blogs are multiplying on the Internet, allowing people from all over the world to interact, expand on topics, discuss, debate and grow with a new public opinion (Sánchez, 1970).
We live in a society in which we cannot ignore the advances we are making on a daily basis. This represents a fundamental change, as technology is no longer simply a physical device, but a platform for social interaction where new ways of interconnection and participation between people are being developed (Antón, 2012).
According to Angela McFarlane (2009), information and communication technologies must be seen as a set of skills and competencies, a set of tools to do what we always do, but in a more efficient, effective and economical way, as well as a transforming agent with a revolutionary impact. Many institutions believe that ICTs can change the world because of their communicative value, their capacity for service and data transfer, the importance of disseminating knowledge and the social interconnectivity they allow.
The change in communication, technological, cultural, economic and social progress that is taking place in society can no longer be explained only by the effects of the media, but by the concepts of intelligence and knowledge that are driving the appearance and presence of information and communication technologies in our everyday environment. Nowadays, content, services and communications are distributed at a rapid pace.
The increase in the use of Web 2.0 has been preceded by the development of social software tools. These are enabling ordinary people (who have no prior knowledge of computers or programming) to communicate, cooperate and publish in a transparent and fast way. The Internet has become more social and has recovered its initial philosophy. A space for the shared generation of knowledge, for cooperative work at a distance and for the worldwide publication of any kind of content (texts, images, sounds and videos). People want to communicate, share and cooperate with other people.
Social software is defined as a set of technological tools or supports that enable the expansion of interaction between individuals or groups, social feedback that allows a group to measure the contributions of certain individuals (known as ‘digital reputation’ or meritocracy) and the creation of social networks. As Stowe Boyd comments, ‘social software is not designed for control, but for collective creation through personal contact, mutual interaction and influence, without having a pre-defined project’.
Social software is becoming a technological platform with enormous potential for managing knowledge, interpersonal relationships and institutions at all levels. Cultural professionals are key players in making these tools true channels of communication and public opinion. These tools must be used with effective criteria, as they are a vehicle for building community and projects.
The rise of open source software has democratised access to these tools, making them more widely available and accessible to people from all walks of life. This has enabled more people and communities to harness the power of social software to improve their interactions, collaboration and knowledge sharing. The availability of free and open source software has played a key role in enabling wider adoption and use of these social technologies (Fuente et al., 2010). Social software should be used as a tool within a project and also as a tool in the project approach.
The basic idea of ‘no cultural project without its digital aspect’ takes full shape with the application of social software to projects. It complements, makes the users participants and an involved part of the project. You have to be on the internet, but not in a meaningless way. You have to do things, and doing things means making an effort to make it work. This also implies that from each project there should be a two-way approach at this level with the population or users.
There is a general tendency to be afraid of including ICTs in cultural projects. Has the approach to the project changed? No, I think that the inclusion of NNTT broadens its possibilities. Not all new technologies need expert knowledge to be used. The universe of possibilities that is opening up before us expands our productive capacities and our capacity to process information. Social software is usually built in open source programming, normally PHP, HTML and XML, and connected to databases that are also open source, such as MySQL.
Social software applications are designed for people, designed to be useful and to be installed by people with little or no computer and programming skills. In some cases it is necessary to know a series of terms (see the glossary at the end of the book) to be able to know what to do in each moment, you can always ask for help from the people who manage the server where the web is hosted. The basic functions of social software applications are as follows:
The most visible and widespread example that has existed and still persists are blogs. Blogs are the most active and fastest growing example of social software. They are personal publishing systems, like frequently updated online diaries, with entries in reverse chronological order and a multitude of links. They represent the evolution of the primitive and aesthetic personal webs and are multiplying thanks to their wide bandwidth, their simplicity of use and their free access. No specialised knowledge is required. There are different kinds of websites: individual personal, professional personal, group…
What was known as the ‘blogosphere’ in its early days is allowing a resurgence of the public sphere. At the beginning of the year 2000, there were less than 30 thousand blogs; by the end of 2005, it was estimated that there were 53 million; by 2024, almost 600 million blogs coexist.
For professionals in the cultural and knowledge sector, social software offers them competitive advantages to be able to communicate, share and manage knowledge more efficiently, while at the same time being a way to broaden the scope and impact of their projects. It is necessary to explore, experiment and learn to use these technologies effectively in order to make the most of their potential (Sánchez, 1970) (Bote-López, 2021) (Fuente et al., 2010).
Contextualisation
The Internet has become the new work space. Who doesn’t miss the email that doesn’t arrive to finish a project? Or those websites that you visit regularly to find out the state of the art on a given subject? It is no longer just a macro library where you can find information. It is where we spend time that is worth its weight in gold.
It is no longer just a macro library where you can find information. It is where we spend time that is worth its weight in gold. It has become a backbone of our work. What can we do so that it does not absorb us and so that we can use it as a tool?
What can we do so that it does not absorb us and so that we can use it as a tool? Software has become a technological platform. The lines of code that make up a program, the connection of different modules of a program that offer a new interaction between different people physically linked, thus take on an important role. (Fuente et al., 2010)
There has been a paradigm shift, technology has ceased to be a physical thing, it is no longer just the latest fashionable gadget or the latest and most powerful hardware (machinery). Software has become a technological platform. The lines of code that make up a programme, the connection of different modules of a programme that offer a new interaction between different people physically linked… Free software occupies an important space (Winner, 1993).
The shaping of the virtual public sphere is strategic, and social software plays an important part. Knowledge professionals are the key actors who can put the user at the centre of a new process (Nieborg & Poell, 2018).
New technologies allow the development of a critical mass of more democratic and participative citizens (Rodríguez, 2023) (Sánchez, 1970) (Fuente et al., 2010). New Internet tools such as newsgroups, forums, chat rooms, message boards, mailing lists and collaborative editing systems (wikis), point-to-point applications such as peer-to-peer messaging and blogs are multiplying on the Internet, allowing people from all over the world to interact, expand on topics, discuss, debate and grow with a new public opinion (Sánchez, 1970).
We live in a society in which we cannot ignore the advances we are making on a daily basis. This represents a fundamental change, as technology is no longer simply a physical device, but a platform for social interaction where new ways of interconnection and participation between people are being developed (Antón, 2012).
According to Angela McFarlane (2009), information and communication technologies must be seen as a set of skills and competencies, a set of tools to do what we always do, but in a more efficient, effective and economical way, as well as a transforming agent with a revolutionary impact. Many institutions believe that ICTs can change the world because of their communicative value, their capacity for service and data transfer, the importance of disseminating knowledge and the social interconnectivity they allow.
The change in communication, technological, cultural, economic and social progress that is taking place in society can no longer be explained only by the effects of the media, but by the concepts of intelligence and knowledge that are driving the appearance and presence of information and communication technologies in our everyday environment. Nowadays, content, services and communications are distributed at a rapid pace.
The increase in the use of Web 2.0 has been preceded by the development of social software tools. These are enabling ordinary people (who have no prior knowledge of computers or programming) to communicate, cooperate and publish in a transparent and fast way. The Internet has become more social and has recovered its initial philosophy. A space for the shared generation of knowledge, for cooperative work at a distance and for the worldwide publication of any kind of content (texts, images, sounds and videos). People want to communicate, share and cooperate with other people.
Social software, tools available to everyone thanks to free software
Social software is defined as a set of technological tools or supports that enable the expansion of interaction between individuals or groups, social feedback that allows a group to measure the contributions of certain individuals (known as ‘digital reputation’ or meritocracy) and the creation of social networks. As Stowe Boyd comments, ‘social software is not designed for control, but for collective creation through personal contact, mutual interaction and influence, without having a pre-defined project’.
Social software is becoming a technological platform with enormous potential for managing knowledge, interpersonal relationships and institutions at all levels. Cultural professionals are key players in making these tools true channels of communication and public opinion. These tools must be used with effective criteria, as they are a vehicle for building community and projects.
The rise of open source software has democratised access to these tools, making them more widely available and accessible to people from all walks of life. This has enabled more people and communities to harness the power of social software to improve their interactions, collaboration and knowledge sharing. The availability of free and open source software has played a key role in enabling wider adoption and use of these social technologies (Fuente et al., 2010). Social software should be used as a tool within a project and also as a tool in the project approach.
The basic idea of ‘no cultural project without its digital aspect’ takes full shape with the application of social software to projects. It complements, makes the users participants and an involved part of the project. You have to be on the internet, but not in a meaningless way. You have to do things, and doing things means making an effort to make it work. This also implies that from each project there should be a two-way approach at this level with the population or users.
There is a general tendency to be afraid of including ICTs in cultural projects. Has the approach to the project changed? No, I think that the inclusion of NNTT broadens its possibilities. Not all new technologies need expert knowledge to be used. The universe of possibilities that is opening up before us expands our productive capacities and our capacity to process information. Social software is usually built in open source programming, normally PHP, HTML and XML, and connected to databases that are also open source, such as MySQL.
Social software applications are designed for people, designed to be useful and to be installed by people with little or no computer and programming skills. In some cases it is necessary to know a series of terms (see the glossary at the end of the book) to be able to know what to do in each moment, you can always ask for help from the people who manage the server where the web is hosted. The basic functions of social software applications are as follows:
- Create, edit and share content collaboratively (González et al., 2014).
- Interact with other users: communication, comments, voting…
- Manage social networks, communities, contacts and relationships.
- Publish, distribute and consume their own and other people’s content.
- There are social software applications that are online services, directly accessible through their websites, where you can enjoy a space to share, create or categorise content through a quick, simple and free registration process. There are other applications that do require a minimum of technical knowledge, such as packages for installing portals or blogs on a web server. Hybrid solutions are also available.
The most visible and widespread example that has existed and still persists are blogs. Blogs are the most active and fastest growing example of social software. They are personal publishing systems, like frequently updated online diaries, with entries in reverse chronological order and a multitude of links. They represent the evolution of the primitive and aesthetic personal webs and are multiplying thanks to their wide bandwidth, their simplicity of use and their free access. No specialised knowledge is required. There are different kinds of websites: individual personal, professional personal, group…
What was known as the ‘blogosphere’ in its early days is allowing a resurgence of the public sphere. At the beginning of the year 2000, there were less than 30 thousand blogs; by the end of 2005, it was estimated that there were 53 million; by 2024, almost 600 million blogs coexist.
Final note
For professionals in the cultural and knowledge sector, social software offers them competitive advantages to be able to communicate, share and manage knowledge more efficiently, while at the same time being a way to broaden the scope and impact of their projects. It is necessary to explore, experiment and learn to use these technologies effectively in order to make the most of their potential (Sánchez, 1970) (Bote-López, 2021) (Fuente et al., 2010).
References
- Antón, A. M. G. (2012). El fenómeno de las redes sociales y los cambios en la vigencia de los Derechos Fundamentales. En Revista de Derecho de la UNED (RDUNED) (Issue 10). https://doi.org/10.5944/rduned.10.2012.11097
- Bote-López, S. (2021). Redes sociales y el desarrollo empresarial, en el contexto del COVID-19. En Revista Científica Arbitrada de Investigación en Comunicación Marketing y Empresa REICOMUNICAR (Vol. 4, Issue 7, p. 8). https://doi.org/10.46296/rc.v4i7.edespjun.0027
- Fuente, A., Herrero, J., & Gracia, E. (2010). Internet y apoyo social: sociabilidad online y ajuste psicosocial en la sociedad de la información [Internet and social support: Online sociability and psychosocial adjustment in the information society]. En Acción Psicológica (Vol. 7, Issue 1). Servicio de Psicología Aplicada (UNED). https://doi.org/10.5944/ap.7.1.201
- González, F. J. G., Durlan, C., Gómez, S., & Mendizábal, G. A. (2014). El reto de la Evaluación del Impacto Social de la Tecnología en España. En Política y Sociedad (Vol. 51, Issue 2). Complutense University of Madrid. https://doi.org/10.5209/rev_poso.2014.v51.n2.42390
- Nieborg, D. B., & Poell, T. (2018). The platformization of cultural production: Theorizing the contingent cultural commodity. In New Media & Society (Vol. 20, Issue 11, p. 4275). SAGE Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444818769694
- Rodríguez, H. J. M. (2023). Entre el entretenimiento y la socialización: un acercamiento a la cultura digital adolescente a través de TikTok. En RICSH Revista Iberoamericana de las Ciencias Sociales y Humanísticas (Vol. 12, Issue 23, p. 71). https://doi.org/10.23913/ricsh.v12i23.307
- Sánchez, L. (1970). Patrones del comportamiento viral. En Documentación de las Ciencias de la Información (Vol. 39, p. 313). Complutense University of Madrid. https://doi.org/10.5209/dcin.54421
- Winner, L. (1993). Upon Opening the Black Box and Finding It Empty: Social Constructivism and the Philosophy of Technology. In Science Technology & Human Values (Vol. 18, Issue 3, p. 362). SAGE Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1177/016224399301800306
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17.12.2024
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The European Commission wants to better distribute its open source software
Article provided by
- AutreOtherOtroAltresAltele
Summary
"Open Source: A single repository will be used to provide the open source software that the European Commission wants to make available to all."
Text
"The European Commission today announces new rules8759&lang=fr){.newtab} Open source software that will make its software solutions publicly available as soon as they offer potential benefits to citizens, businesses or other public services.' It will be licensed under EUPL, the European Union public license created in 2007."
Article by Thierry Noisette
Published on 08/12/2021 at 20:38 | Updated on 29/04/2024 at 18:21
Image: The Berlaymont building, headquarters of the European Commission in Brussels, June 2015. Photo: Fred Romero / Wikimedia.jpg){.newtab} Commons / CC by
Article by Thierry Noisette
Published on 08/12/2021 at 20:38 | Updated on 29/04/2024 at 18:21
Image: The Berlaymont building, headquarters of the European Commission in Brussels, June 2015. Photo: Fred Romero / Wikimedia.jpg){.newtab} Commons / CC by
Source of this article
https://www.zdnet.fr/blogs/l-esprit-libre/la-commission-europeenne-veut-mieux-diffuser-ses-logiciels-open-source-39933847.htm
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12.12.2024
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A petition for an «EU-Linux»: a call for European digital sovereignty
Article provided by
- AutreOtherOtroAltresAltele
Summary
"A recent petition to the European Parliament proposes the development of an open source operating system, called 'EU-Linux', to equip public administrations in the Member States."
Text
"According to its author, an anonymous Austrian citizen, this initiative aims at reducing the European Union’s dependence on proprietary software, notably those of Microsoft"
Article posted by Stefane Fermigier on 17 November 2024 at linuxfr.org
Article posted by Stefane Fermigier on 17 November 2024 at linuxfr.org
Source of this article
https://linuxfr.org/news/une-petition-pour-un-eu-linux-un-appel-a-la-souverainete-numerique-europeenne
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19.11.2024
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Digital transition: what are the challenges for the voluntary sector and Continuing Education?
Article provided by
- Open Minds
- CESEP
Summary
It was in the 90s that the first wave of the Internet hit our associations. We had to have a website to present our missions and increase the visibility of our actions. It was at this time that a young start-up, Google, was born. The company owes its runaway success to the power of its search algorithm. Today, these famous automatic calculations punctuate our daily lives, and those of our audiences. It’s not a question of rejecting everything out of hand – we don’t have the means to do that anyway. It’s a question, at our level, of giving shape to this movement by decoding it. It’s also about committing ourselves to fundamental values such as defending our (digital) freedoms and making conscious choices about the way we get information, how we buy, how we entertain ourselves and how we access culture.
The recipe for the operation of privately-owned ‘traditional’ media is based on a very simple formula: attract attention with spectacular information and present advertising messages in the same package. One of the first people to implement this recipe was the founder of the Sun daily newspaper in New York in 1983. The circulation of the existing newspapers, the New York Enquirer and the Morning Courier, did not exceed 2,500 copies. They cost 6 cents. Benjamin Day launched a daily newspaper packed with news for six times less. It was a huge success. Today, something radically new is happening. The major industrial players on the Internet are still operating on the same principle, attracting attention in order to offer goods and services for purchase, but they are doing so thanks to the massive collection of user data, in an increasingly rapid (close to real time) and personalised way (this is the business model of Google and Facebook), and with the strategy of suggesting things that we like, but which we wouldn’t necessarily have thought of. Thanks to the algorithms that digest all the traces we leave on the Internet, which they compare with those of millions of other users to produce behavioural profiles. The power of recommendation is there. We can criticise it, but it will not disappear. Our role as an association is to influence it and, at our level, to formulate counter-proposals.
The recipe for the operation of privately-owned ‘traditional’ media is based on a very simple formula: attract attention with spectacular information and present advertising messages in the same package. One of the first people to implement this recipe was the founder of the Sun daily newspaper in New York in 1983. The circulation of the existing newspapers, the New York Enquirer and the Morning Courier, did not exceed 2,500 copies. They cost 6 cents. Benjamin Day launched a daily newspaper packed with news for six times less. It was a huge success. Today, something radically new is happening. The major industrial players on the Internet are still operating on the same principle, attracting attention in order to offer goods and services for purchase, but they are doing so thanks to the massive collection of user data, in an increasingly rapid (close to real time) and personalised way (this is the business model of Google and Facebook), and with the strategy of suggesting things that we like, but which we wouldn’t necessarily have thought of. Thanks to the algorithms that digest all the traces we leave on the Internet, which they compare with those of millions of other users to produce behavioural profiles. The power of recommendation is there. We can criticise it, but it will not disappear. Our role as an association is to influence it and, at our level, to formulate counter-proposals.
Text
It’s not a question of becoming a computer scientist, but of becoming aware of what’s happening and decoding it. Today, the digital industry is producing increasingly powerful systems for anticipating our thoughts and desires. When you start typing search terms into the Google search engine, you are instantly presented with a list of suggested results that may guide you towards the right answer, or cause you to change your train of thought. This list of results is not displayed by chance. It is the product of automatic calculations, the famous algorithms, which have been written by programmers according to precise specifications and criteria. All their work at the moment – and it’s a race against time because the revenues involved are on a par with Google’s – is to extend the ‘intelligence’ of these calculation systems to the maximum amount of data available: the traces we leave on the Internet, but also our movements via geolocation and the way we live via connected objects. By becoming aware of and analysing these processes, we are in a way regaining some control over our choices. And we can work to develop this autonomy in our audiences.
We can also get moving. By definition, associations lack the resources. Obliged to keep up with the information technology movement, to become more professional and to communicate, they were initially forced to sign up to the monopoly set up by Microsoft. With too little money, there was a lot of unlicensed copying. A few associations, including CESEP, chose to promote an open and free technology: free software. With little success. At the time, programmes were harder to install and use, less functional and less user-friendly. There was the political aspect, of course. Free software is based on openness (we know the grammar of the code) and everyone can participate in the development of software that respects privacy. There was also the economic aspect: unlike MS Office, its equivalent LibreOffice is free. That was before SocialWare, a non-profit organisation set up in 2007 by Bernard Martin, the former director of Compaq Belgium, which offers associations access to the Microsoft suite and a few other proprietary software packages at cost price, excluding administrative costs. Today, more than 8,000 associations have signed up to the programme.
All of a sudden, the interest has been put into perspective. Without wiping the slate clean, without of course excluding the free, high-performance services of a Google or the broadcasting power of a Facebook, associations have a role to play and a position to take. Wherever possible, they should favour open source solutions. The main obstacles are time and resources to install applications and train users. There are, however, relays, such as the Linux users’ associations (LUG), present throughout the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, which organise mornings of meetings and installations (free and fun) of this software. Or the Abelli association (Belgian Association for the Promotion of Free Software), which organises an annual information and awareness day on free software for associations. This year, it is due to take place on 20 October at PointCulture’s Botanique premises.
Marc Van Craesbeek, director of Abelli: “The challenge is to raise awareness of the societal issues surrounding the consumption of digital products. Personally, it’s by using free applications and through the free community that I’m gradually becoming aware of these issues. Developing a rational attitude to digital tools is at the heart of my investment at Abelli. Education about the Internet and its risks is becoming increasingly important as the ignorance of Internet principles is exploited by a few companies that think they can get away with anything. Fake news, rumours and disinformation have always existed. The Internet gives them a prodigious platform for dissemination. Thinking about IT in terms of this prism and making our audiences aware of it is a major challenge for the Continuing Education sector.
The other challenge is to use digital technology to develop more “critical and human” recommendation systems to counter the power of commercial algorithms. This was the thrust of a day of “brainstorming and building non-market alternatives” organised by Point Culture on 24 May as part of its series of conferences entitled “pour un humanisme plus critique et humain” (“for a more critical and humane humanism”). The idea: how to use free software so that our associations can have an impact, on their own scale and locally, in the face of suggestion and recommendation systems based on algorithms. For Pierre Hemptinne, director of cultural mediation at PointCulture, it is unacceptable for automatic calculation formulas to measure access to cultural goods for commercial purposes. So we need to form a network to open up the game, to surprise, to branch out, to work together to create cultural commons that are not under commercial control.
The final challenge we face as an association is to reflect on the impact of digital time on our organisations and our audiences. Because everything is moving so fast, so fast that we are in danger of focusing only on that, forgetting what is essential. Pierre Hemptinne: “One of the problems, which is presented as the main positive advantage of digital technology, is direct access. You have direct, rapid access to what you want to hear, see or buy. But in return, and without it being made explicit, this gives you direct access to yourself. You eliminate as many critical filters as possible. Perhaps we can even consider that this discredits any critical work in itself. This collection of data on the tastes and colours of each and every person also allows cultural practices to be instrumentalised in a way that was unimaginable just a few years ago. The digital prescription for consumption is imprinted on people’s neurons, shaping their minds and determining the forms of intelligence that will be available in the future”.
Pierre Hemptinne: “These days, everything has to move fast. We’re looking for the buzz. But if we want to build a different society culturally, we have to take things slowly. It requires detours, latency, complex reflexive itineraries… The problem is that the politics of the mind is in the hands of those who intend to exploit the human mind according to this short-termist logic, and no longer at all on the side of a ‘public vision’ that is primarily thought out for the common good, in the long term, taking the time to examine the consequences of what is being put in place. The speed with which things are happening, which we are fed in a kind of adoration, is not inevitable, it’s a strategy to occupy the field. There is an urgent need to defend slowness…
Article from CESEP
Deciphering
It’s not a question of becoming a computer scientist, but of becoming aware of what’s happening and decoding it. Today, the digital industry is producing increasingly powerful systems for anticipating our thoughts and desires. When you start typing search terms into the Google search engine, you are instantly presented with a list of suggested results that may guide you towards the right answer, or cause you to change your train of thought. This list of results is not displayed by chance. It is the product of automatic calculations, the famous algorithms, which have been written by programmers according to precise specifications and criteria. All their work at the moment – and it’s a race against time because the revenues involved are on a par with Google’s – is to extend the ‘intelligence’ of these calculation systems to the maximum amount of data available: the traces we leave on the Internet, but also our movements via geolocation and the way we live via connected objects. By becoming aware of and analysing these processes, we are in a way regaining some control over our choices. And we can work to develop this autonomy in our audiences.
Getting involved
We can also get moving. By definition, associations lack the resources. Obliged to keep up with the information technology movement, to become more professional and to communicate, they were initially forced to sign up to the monopoly set up by Microsoft. With too little money, there was a lot of unlicensed copying. A few associations, including CESEP, chose to promote an open and free technology: free software. With little success. At the time, programmes were harder to install and use, less functional and less user-friendly. There was the political aspect, of course. Free software is based on openness (we know the grammar of the code) and everyone can participate in the development of software that respects privacy. There was also the economic aspect: unlike MS Office, its equivalent LibreOffice is free. That was before SocialWare, a non-profit organisation set up in 2007 by Bernard Martin, the former director of Compaq Belgium, which offers associations access to the Microsoft suite and a few other proprietary software packages at cost price, excluding administrative costs. Today, more than 8,000 associations have signed up to the programme.
ALTERNATIVES
All of a sudden, the interest has been put into perspective. Without wiping the slate clean, without of course excluding the free, high-performance services of a Google or the broadcasting power of a Facebook, associations have a role to play and a position to take. Wherever possible, they should favour open source solutions. The main obstacles are time and resources to install applications and train users. There are, however, relays, such as the Linux users’ associations (LUG), present throughout the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, which organise mornings of meetings and installations (free and fun) of this software. Or the Abelli association (Belgian Association for the Promotion of Free Software), which organises an annual information and awareness day on free software for associations. This year, it is due to take place on 20 October at PointCulture’s Botanique premises.
Raising awareness of societal issues
Marc Van Craesbeek, director of Abelli: “The challenge is to raise awareness of the societal issues surrounding the consumption of digital products. Personally, it’s by using free applications and through the free community that I’m gradually becoming aware of these issues. Developing a rational attitude to digital tools is at the heart of my investment at Abelli. Education about the Internet and its risks is becoming increasingly important as the ignorance of Internet principles is exploited by a few companies that think they can get away with anything. Fake news, rumours and disinformation have always existed. The Internet gives them a prodigious platform for dissemination. Thinking about IT in terms of this prism and making our audiences aware of it is a major challenge for the Continuing Education sector.
More critical and humane recommendation systems
The other challenge is to use digital technology to develop more “critical and human” recommendation systems to counter the power of commercial algorithms. This was the thrust of a day of “brainstorming and building non-market alternatives” organised by Point Culture on 24 May as part of its series of conferences entitled “pour un humanisme plus critique et humain” (“for a more critical and humane humanism”). The idea: how to use free software so that our associations can have an impact, on their own scale and locally, in the face of suggestion and recommendation systems based on algorithms. For Pierre Hemptinne, director of cultural mediation at PointCulture, it is unacceptable for automatic calculation formulas to measure access to cultural goods for commercial purposes. So we need to form a network to open up the game, to surprise, to branch out, to work together to create cultural commons that are not under commercial control.
Thinking about digital time
The final challenge we face as an association is to reflect on the impact of digital time on our organisations and our audiences. Because everything is moving so fast, so fast that we are in danger of focusing only on that, forgetting what is essential. Pierre Hemptinne: “One of the problems, which is presented as the main positive advantage of digital technology, is direct access. You have direct, rapid access to what you want to hear, see or buy. But in return, and without it being made explicit, this gives you direct access to yourself. You eliminate as many critical filters as possible. Perhaps we can even consider that this discredits any critical work in itself. This collection of data on the tastes and colours of each and every person also allows cultural practices to be instrumentalised in a way that was unimaginable just a few years ago. The digital prescription for consumption is imprinted on people’s neurons, shaping their minds and determining the forms of intelligence that will be available in the future”.
Against the dictatorship of the moment
Pierre Hemptinne: “These days, everything has to move fast. We’re looking for the buzz. But if we want to build a different society culturally, we have to take things slowly. It requires detours, latency, complex reflexive itineraries… The problem is that the politics of the mind is in the hands of those who intend to exploit the human mind according to this short-termist logic, and no longer at all on the side of a ‘public vision’ that is primarily thought out for the common good, in the long term, taking the time to examine the consequences of what is being put in place. The speed with which things are happening, which we are fed in a kind of adoration, is not inevitable, it’s a strategy to occupy the field. There is an urgent need to defend slowness…
Article from CESEP
Source of this article
https://com.openmindsproject.eu/?p=725
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Project Partners Convene in Bucharest for Open Minds Management Meeting
Article provided by
- Open Minds
- ACDC
Summary
On October 17 and 18, project partners of the Open Minds initiative gathered in Bucharest for a crucial project management meeting hosted by the Romanian partner, the Association of Community Development Consultants. Attended exclusively by project partners, the meeting focused on assessing progress, planning future activities, and strengthening collaboration to achieve the project’s goals.
Text
The Open Minds project aims to bridge the digital divide within Europe’s socio-cultural sector by enhancing digital skills and accessibility. The need for digital transition became more evident during the health crisis, highlighting the necessity to improve digital competencies among social and cultural organizations.
During the meeting, partners reviewed the status of completed activities and strategized on upcoming initiatives. The discussions centered around three main pillars of the project:
The Bucharest meeting reinforced the partnership among the organizations involved, unifying their efforts towards making open-source solutions more accessible to communities. By focusing on internal coordination and management, the partners have set clear directions for the next phases of the project.
With a solid plan and a committed team, the Open Minds project is poised to make significant strides in reducing the digital divide. The partners are dedicated to supporting the socio-cultural sector’s digital transformation, ensuring that organizations can engage more effectively with their communities in the digital age.
Article from ACDC
Advancing Digital Inclusion in the Socio-Cultural Sector
The Open Minds project aims to bridge the digital divide within Europe’s socio-cultural sector by enhancing digital skills and accessibility. The need for digital transition became more evident during the health crisis, highlighting the necessity to improve digital competencies among social and cultural organizations.
Key Objectives and Progress
During the meeting, partners reviewed the status of completed activities and strategized on upcoming initiatives. The discussions centered around three main pillars of the project:
- Developing a Database of Free Software Resources
- The project is creating an open-source digital solutions platform to provide free access to software resources tailored for the socio-cultural sector. This will empower organizations to adopt cost-effective digital tools.
- Establishing a Digital Training Environment
- Recognizing that access to tools is not enough, the project includes a training platform to enhance digital skills among social and cultural players. This environment offers courses to help users effectively utilize digital resources.
- Promoting Open Source Adoption through Publications
- The project plans regular publications to encourage the shift towards free and open-source software, providing insights and guidance to facilitate sustainable digital transitions within the sector.
Strengthening Collaboration
The Bucharest meeting reinforced the partnership among the organizations involved, unifying their efforts towards making open-source solutions more accessible to communities. By focusing on internal coordination and management, the partners have set clear directions for the next phases of the project.
Looking Ahead
With a solid plan and a committed team, the Open Minds project is poised to make significant strides in reducing the digital divide. The partners are dedicated to supporting the socio-cultural sector’s digital transformation, ensuring that organizations can engage more effectively with their communities in the digital age.
Article from ACDC
Source of this article
https://com.openmindsproject.eu/?p=743
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06.11.2024
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Why software should not have an owner
Article provided by
- AutreOtherOtroAltresAltele
Summary
"Digital information technologies contribute to the general interest by making it easier to copy and modify. Computers promise to make it easier for everyone."
Text
"Not everyone wants this simplification. The copyright system attributes computer programs to “owners”, most of whom wish to keep the potential benefits for themselves and not open them up to the public. They want to be the only ones who can copy and modify the software we use.
The copyright system developed in parallel with printing, a mass copying technique. Copyright was appropriate for this technology because it imposed restrictions only on large producers of copies. It did not deprive the readers of their freedoms: the average reader, who did not have a printing press, could copy books only with his pen and inkwell, and few readers were prosecuted for this."
Excerpt from the article by Richard Stallman published on https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/why-free.fr.html
Image : https://www.stallman.org///
The copyright system developed in parallel with printing, a mass copying technique. Copyright was appropriate for this technology because it imposed restrictions only on large producers of copies. It did not deprive the readers of their freedoms: the average reader, who did not have a printing press, could copy books only with his pen and inkwell, and few readers were prosecuted for this."
Excerpt from the article by Richard Stallman published on https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/why-free.fr.html
Image : https://www.stallman.org///
Source of this article
https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/why-free.fr.html
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02.10.2024
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Richard Stallman, inventor of free software and thinker of a libertarian internet
Article provided by
- AutreOtherOtroAltresAltele
Summary
"Wikipedia is celebrating its 20th anniversary in this month of January 2021. But the collaborative encyclopedia would not exist without the vision of Richard Stallman, a genius programmer, initiator of free software and fervent advocate of knowledge sharing."
Text
"This is often the first site you visit when searching on the internet, Wikipedia. This collaborative encyclopedia was designed by a visionary, Richard Stallman, who led in the 1980s a digital and intellectual revolution with free software. This alternative digital universe offers a libertarian and decentralized vision of the internet, contrary to the vision of GAFAM.
Sébastien Broca, lecturer in information and communication sciences at the Université Paris 8: "There’s a building at MIT called the Bill Gates Building and Stallman says his own custom is to give him a big finger when he walks in front of it."
Excerpt from the article by Yann Lagarde on radiofrance.fr
Sébastien Broca, lecturer in information and communication sciences at the Université Paris 8: "There’s a building at MIT called the Bill Gates Building and Stallman says his own custom is to give him a big finger when he walks in front of it."
Excerpt from the article by Yann Lagarde on radiofrance.fr
Source of this article
https://www.radiofrance.fr/franceculture/richard-stallman-inventeur-du-logiciel-libre-et-penseur-d-un-internet-libertaire-5355561
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27.09.2024
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Digital inclusion through free software
Article provided by
- Open Minds
- ASSODEV
Summary
Digital inclusion is essential in an increasingly connected world, where access to technology and information becomes a prerequisite for full participation in society. Open source software plays a crucial role in this process, providing accessible, scalable and affordable tools for people and communities that are often marginalized by economic or technological barriers. Here’s how free software contributes to digital inclusion.
Text
One of the main advantages of free software is its very low or no cost, as it is often available for free. Unlike proprietary software, which requires the purchase of expensive licenses, free software can be downloaded, used and shared at no cost, which is crucial for individuals and organizations with limited resources.
For example, operating systems like GNU/Linux or office suites such as LibreOffice allow users to replace expensive proprietary software like Windows or Microsoft Office. This allows schools, associations and even individuals to save financial resources while accessing tools of equivalent quality.
Free software also plays a crucial role in the education and development of digital skills. By allowing anyone interested to study and modify the code, these tools provide hands-on training in computer systems programming and management. The use of such software in educational settings provides students with a greater understanding of the technologies they use and valuable skills for the job market.
Initiatives like code.org or school projects that use Linux and other free software encourage students to experiment, develop and create. In addition, the absence of costs allows more educational institutions to equip their students with advanced technologies without being constrained by licensing costs.
Digital inclusion must also include privacy and digital sovereignty. Unlike many proprietary software programs, which often collect data about their users, open source software generally respects more the rights of users in terms of privacy and control over data. Users can audit the code and ensure that no sensitive data is collected without their consent.
In a world where data monitoring and extraction are ubiquitous, free software offers an ethical alternative, allowing individuals and organizations to regain control over their personal information.
Finally, the collaborative aspect of free software promotes the creation of inclusive communities where users, regardless of their origin, expertise or place of residence, can contribute to the development and improvement of software. This global collaboration, based on open and sharing principles, creates tools that meet the needs of a diverse range of users, contributing to digital inclusion.
In short, free software is a powerful solution to promote digital inclusion. Their affordability, flexibility and ability to empower users and protect their rights make free software an indispensable lever for bridging the digital divide and enabling everyone to participate fully in the digital age. By investing in training initiatives and promoting the use of free software in under-represented communities, we can contribute to a more equitable and connected society.
Sources :
- Free Software Foundation (FSF) : https://www.fsf.org
- April.org : https://www.april.org
- Framasoft : https://framasoft.org
- La Quadrature du Net : https://www.laquadrature.net
Economic and free access
One of the main advantages of free software is its very low or no cost, as it is often available for free. Unlike proprietary software, which requires the purchase of expensive licenses, free software can be downloaded, used and shared at no cost, which is crucial for individuals and organizations with limited resources.
For example, operating systems like GNU/Linux or office suites such as LibreOffice allow users to replace expensive proprietary software like Windows or Microsoft Office. This allows schools, associations and even individuals to save financial resources while accessing tools of equivalent quality.
Education and skills development
Free software also plays a crucial role in the education and development of digital skills. By allowing anyone interested to study and modify the code, these tools provide hands-on training in computer systems programming and management. The use of such software in educational settings provides students with a greater understanding of the technologies they use and valuable skills for the job market.
Initiatives like code.org or school projects that use Linux and other free software encourage students to experiment, develop and create. In addition, the absence of costs allows more educational institutions to equip their students with advanced technologies without being constrained by licensing costs.
Digital sovereignty and data protection
Digital inclusion must also include privacy and digital sovereignty. Unlike many proprietary software programs, which often collect data about their users, open source software generally respects more the rights of users in terms of privacy and control over data. Users can audit the code and ensure that no sensitive data is collected without their consent.
In a world where data monitoring and extraction are ubiquitous, free software offers an ethical alternative, allowing individuals and organizations to regain control over their personal information.
Community and global collaboration
Finally, the collaborative aspect of free software promotes the creation of inclusive communities where users, regardless of their origin, expertise or place of residence, can contribute to the development and improvement of software. This global collaboration, based on open and sharing principles, creates tools that meet the needs of a diverse range of users, contributing to digital inclusion.
In short, free software is a powerful solution to promote digital inclusion. Their affordability, flexibility and ability to empower users and protect their rights make free software an indispensable lever for bridging the digital divide and enabling everyone to participate fully in the digital age. By investing in training initiatives and promoting the use of free software in under-represented communities, we can contribute to a more equitable and connected society.
Sources :
- Free Software Foundation (FSF) : https://www.fsf.org
- April.org : https://www.april.org
- Framasoft : https://framasoft.org
- La Quadrature du Net : https://www.laquadrature.net
Data sheet information
Date Field
26.09.2024
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The benefits of free software
Article provided by
- Open Minds
- ASSODEV
Summary
Open source software plays a central role in modern technological development. Unlike proprietary software, they offer crucial freedoms to users, including access to source code, the ability to modify and redistribute software. Here is an overview of the main advantages of free software.
Text
- Examine the source code to understand how the software works.
- Modify the software to suit their specific needs.
- Redistribute the modified versions to the community.
This allows users to no longer rely solely on software vendors for corrections or improvements.
In short, free software is a powerful alternative to proprietary software, offering freedom, security, economy and innovation. Whether you are an organization looking to reduce your costs while maintaining flexibility, or a developer willing to contribute to open source projects, free software is a sustainable and cost-effective solution for the technological future.
Sources :
- Free Software Foundation (FSF) : https://www.fsf.org/
- GNU Operating System : https://www.gnu.org/
- Open Source Initiative (OSI) : https://opensource.org/
- Articles de la Commission européenne : https://interoperable-europe.ec.europa.eu/topic/ict/open-source-software
Freedom and control
One of the main strengths of open source software is the freedom it offers to users. They can:- Examine the source code to understand how the software works.
- Modify the software to suit their specific needs.
- Redistribute the modified versions to the community.
This allows users to no longer rely solely on software vendors for corrections or improvements.
Enhanced security
Opening the code allows thousands of developers and security specialists to constantly scan and improve the software. Unlike proprietary software, where code is often hidden, free software benefits from a collective verification process, thus increasing its security. Security vulnerabilities are quickly identified and corrected, reducing the risk of exploits.Reduced cost
The vast majority of free software is free. Whether it’s for businesses or individuals, this represents a significant savings compared to the expensive licenses of proprietary software. In addition, updates and upgrades are also free of charge, eliminating hidden costs associated with subscriptions or license renewals.Independence from suppliers
With proprietary software, users are often tied to a specific vendor. If this provider decides to stop the development or change its terms of use, users may find themselves in a difficult situation. Free software, on the other hand, allows total independence, because the user can continue to use, maintain or even develop the software independently of the original creator.Interoperability
Open source software is often developed with special attention to compatibility with other systems. Unlike proprietary software, which can favor closed formats, free software generally uses open standards, facilitating integration with other tools and platforms.Personalization
Flexibility is a key advantage of free software. Companies and developers can modify the software to suit specific needs, creating tailor-made solutions. This customization is practically impossible with proprietary software, because access to the source code is restricted.Community and innovation
The free software model is often carried by an active community of developers and users. This community shares ideas, proposes improvements and contributes to the evolution of the software. Innovation is done collectively, which allows projects to develop rapidly and incorporate new functionalities according to the needs of users.Sustainability and sustainability
Free software does not depend on a single company to survive. Even if the original project is abandoned by its creators, the community can continue to develop it. This sustainability ensures that free software remains available and usable in the long term, which is not always the case for proprietary software that may be abandoned or obsolete.In short, free software is a powerful alternative to proprietary software, offering freedom, security, economy and innovation. Whether you are an organization looking to reduce your costs while maintaining flexibility, or a developer willing to contribute to open source projects, free software is a sustainable and cost-effective solution for the technological future.
Sources :
- Free Software Foundation (FSF) : https://www.fsf.org/
- GNU Operating System : https://www.gnu.org/
- Open Source Initiative (OSI) : https://opensource.org/
- Articles de la Commission européenne : https://interoperable-europe.ec.europa.eu/topic/ict/open-source-software
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26.09.2024
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What is free software?
Article provided by
- Open Minds
- ASSODEV
Summary
Free software is a computer program whose use, study, modification and redistribution are authorized and encouraged by its creators. Unlike proprietary software, which imposes strict restrictions on what the user can do with it, free software gives its users a lot of freedom. These freedoms are often summarized by the four essential freedoms of free software, defined by the Free Software Foundation (FSF).
Text
1. Freedom to run the program: The user is free to use the software for any purpose, without restrictions. Whether for personal, professional, academic or commercial purposes, the software can be run freely.
3. Freedom to modify the program: The user can modify the software to suit their own needs. This is possible through access to the source code. Changes can be personal or shared with the community, which contributes to collective software improvement.
4. Freedom to redistribute: Users are free to redistribute copies of the software, whether in its original or modified form. This allows the community to share improvements and bug fixes, benefiting everyone.
These freedoms offer great flexibility, both for individual users and companies.
3. Transparency: With access to the source code, it is possible to know exactly what the software does. This prevents the implementation of malicious or unwanted features, such as spyware.
4. Independence from publishers: Open source software helps to avoid dependency on proprietary software publishers. Users are not obliged to follow any forced updates or license changes imposed by a company.
- Technical support: Some businesses or individuals may have difficulty getting professional support if they encounter a problem, even though online communities are often very active.
- Compatibility: Some free software may have compatibility issues with proprietary software or systems.
More information on the subject:
- https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html//
The four freedoms of free software
1. Freedom to run the program: The user is free to use the software for any purpose, without restrictions. Whether for personal, professional, academic or commercial purposes, the software can be run freely.
3. Freedom to modify the program: The user can modify the software to suit their own needs. This is possible through access to the source code. Changes can be personal or shared with the community, which contributes to collective software improvement.
4. Freedom to redistribute: Users are free to redistribute copies of the software, whether in its original or modified form. This allows the community to share improvements and bug fixes, benefiting everyone.
These freedoms offer great flexibility, both for individual users and companies.
Difference between free and open source software
It is important to note that although the terms free and open source software are often used interchangeably, they have different nuances. The term open source focuses on the availability of source code, while free software places greater emphasis on basic user rights. Free software is primarily a matter of ethics and freedom, while open source focuses on the practical benefits of open collaboration.The benefits of free software
1. Cost: Most open source software is free of charge, providing significant savings for individuals and businesses.3. Transparency: With access to the source code, it is possible to know exactly what the software does. This prevents the implementation of malicious or unwanted features, such as spyware.
4. Independence from publishers: Open source software helps to avoid dependency on proprietary software publishers. Users are not obliged to follow any forced updates or license changes imposed by a company.
The challenges of free software
While free software has many advantages, it also has its challenges:- Technical support: Some businesses or individuals may have difficulty getting professional support if they encounter a problem, even though online communities are often very active.
- Compatibility: Some free software may have compatibility issues with proprietary software or systems.
Conclusion
Free software is a powerful and ethical alternative to proprietary software. By promoting freedom, transparency and collaboration, they offer reliable and sustainable solutions for many uses, while allowing everyone to contribute to their evolution. They are a driving force for technological innovation and a fundamental pillar of the modern digital economy.More information on the subject:
- https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html//
Data sheet information
Date Field
24.09.2024
File entered by a member or friend of the network (single choice)
Assodev - Marsnet
Licence CC BY-SA 4.0
For a Public Digital Service
Article provided by
- CESEP
Summary
The Covid crisis has given a powerful boost to digital technology in general and distance learning and working tools in particular. It’s a fact that the digital transition has become unavoidable. Its rapid deployment during the pandemic confirms the omnipresence of American technologies on all digital fronts. Nevertheless, voices are increasingly being heard at all levels in favour of a digital strategy based on a European industrial tool that guarantees the values defended by the Union, starting with respect for the privacy of its citizens. Belnet’s Jitsi Meet service, iMio’s Jitsi Visio, the BigBlueButton portal being developed by Educode and Domaine Public’s 2 Jitsi and BigBlueButton platforms are examples that should be followed and expanded.
Text
Data surveillance
Europe is increasingly wary of the omnipresence of American industrial facilities on its soil, dreaming of local digital champions and independent digital technology. Have you heard of Palantir? Seventeen years after it was founded with CIA money (via the In-Q-Tel fund), this data surveillance specialist triumphantly floated on Wall Street at the end of September. Its business is the analysis of large quantities of data for the counter-terrorism (Gotham suite of applications) and financial (Metropolis suite of applications) sectors. The Los Angeles Police Department is a customer of Gotham, which it uses for predictive purposes to anticipate criminal threats. For the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, Palantir has developed a management and monitoring platform that centralises the data collected by the various U.S. intelligence agencies. Investigative Case Management, as it is known, has made it possible to identify and track migrants and/or asylum seekers, share information and investigate them in order to make arrests and raid their workplaces. Similarly, Amnesty International denounces the fact that the US ICE agency has used Palantir’s technology to “plan massive operations, such as in Mississippi in August 2019, in which children were separated from their parents and caregivers, causing irreparable harm to the families and communities involved. These operations have resulted in prolonged detentions and expulsions”.
Palantir is not my friend
Here we go beyond the issue of the monetisation of sensitive data, which can be understood in the case of the Gafa, to consider Europe’s sovereignty in digital matters, as raised by Dutch MEP Sophie in’t Veld in a question she drafted on 10 June on relations between Palantir and the European Union. The day before, the European Commissioner for Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson, had revealed that Europool, the European Police Office, had been using Palantir since 2006 to analyse data relating to the fight against terrorism. Taking advantage of the health crisis, Palantir offered various European health agencies, including those in France (via the Paris hospitals), Germany, Switzerland and Austria, its help and expertise in tracing the virus and better dispatching resources in terms of personnel, masks, respirators and bed management. While France has declined the offer, having like Belgium decided to develop its own application, Spain and Greece have reportedly accepted Palantir’s proposal. The British government, for its part, has entrusted Palantir with the Covid 19 data of British patients. According to Dutch MEP Sophie in’t Veld, writing on the blog of the German tink tank “aboutintel.eu” in an article entitled “Palantir is not our friend”, this collaboration is dangerous in many respects.
Europe, the last bastion of privacy
“Palantir is one of Silicon Valley’s most controversial private technology companies, specialising in providing big data analysis software to governments and businesses. Its co-founder, Peter Thiel, is a technology billionaire who also happens to be the founder of Paypal and the first investor in Facebook. He pursues a decidedly right-wing political agenda, notably as a sponsor of the 2016 Trump campaign. More importantly, Palantir works for US security and intelligence agencies such as the NSA and CIA, helping the former to spy on the entire world as revealed by Edward Snowden. This is where European politicians should draw the line. A democratically legitimised body, be it a national government or the European Commission, should not facilitate the surveillance of European citizens by foreign security services. The MEP goes on to call for Palantir to be sidelined from Europe’s digital fabric and for the development of strategic technological independence, in order to assert and assume its status as “the last bastion of privacy”.
A free European administration
The European Union administration reiterates this desire for independence in a communication dated 21 October entitled “Open Source Software Strategy 2020-2023”: “Thanks to open source software, we can build new innovative digital solutions in support of our common policies and actions, and work towards technological sovereignty. Thanks to open code, innovation is progressive and based on the sharing of knowledge and skills. Openness also increases confidence in public services. It offers greater scope for enhancing security, since the code can be freely inspected and improved. According to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, “while it may be too late to reproduce digital giants, there is still time to achieve technological sovereignty in certain key areas”. And the EU is calling on public authorities in the Member States to follow suit: “Public administrations should not only use open source software, but also, as far as possible, contribute to the relevant developer communities. Thanks to open systems, Europe can build solutions in harmony with its values: unity in diversity, openness and inclusiveness, non-discrimination and respect for privacy”.
Open access software at the NCM
What echo are French-speaking Belgian politicians and public authorities giving to this desire for European openness and digital autonomy? The least we can say is that they are moving forward in a scattered fashion, Belgian style, one might be tempted to say. Back to basics. In the 2019 parliamentary elections, what role will digital autonomy play in the party manifestos? For the MR and Défi parties, the answer is unequivocal: no reference to free software, simply a reference, on the MR side, to the desire to develop “open access software”, to regulate this development and to favour free solutions. The main sector targeted: education, an area where, as we know, Microsoft is at the helm of the flagship, with Google on the bridge and Zoom in the hold. The PS says it would like to see “the use of free software in government departments, as well as the pooling of acquisitions of new technologies in order to achieve economies of scale”.
A strategic vision of digital for the cdH
The position of the cdH is more marked and ambitious. At the beginning of January 2019, Vanessa Matz brought the Gafam tax project to the House, but it was rejected by the Finance Committee (N-VA and Open VLD voted against, MR and CD&V abstained). The Liège MP listed the measures included in her party’s programme. These include “making free and open source software available to students, encouraging the promotion of free logic, including within public administrations and organisations of public interest or providing public services, supporting the development and dissemination of free software, which makes an effective contribution to reducing the digital divide and combating computer piracy. It can also be used free of charge,” adds Vanessa Matz, “which is very important in education and for jobseekers, for example. They also encourage sharing and innovation in the digital field. The general public should be better informed of the existence of these tools, as well as the correspondences with the corresponding proprietary tools”.
At the PTB, a cultural and political dimension
The PTB also places great emphasis on free software as a tool for appropriating digital culture and as a political instrument for digital sovereignty. To meet the first objective, encouraging access to digital culture, the PTB is proposing to encourage the use of free software, by promoting creative commons licences, creating an online public library and media library and setting up a central digital application for access to cultural works. The second involves working towards digital autonomy. “Faced with the Web giants, we will make the use of data subject to the obligation to work according to the principles of open source, open architecture, open standards and open data. To free ourselves from the stranglehold of the big technology multinationals, we are extending the use of computer operating systems and free software in public services. We want public authorities to adopt open source software in all their activities. This will guarantee their independence from large international technology companies. The new programmes of public services (administration, but also public companies such as the SNCB) will also be created in open source”.
Ecolo: for equal and fair access to digital technology
Ecolo, the only party that has decided to make open source the standard for its internal digital operations, is also developing a political vision of open source. “Every ICT user must be protected and free in his or her choice of hardware and software,” stresses Simon Rasquin, Ecolo policy adviser. “In this context, Ecolo is defending free software because the issue goes far beyond computer hardware: defending free software means defending a social project that echoes the social and environmental changes that ecologists have always supported. The aim of the movement is to combat the appropriation of information, knowledge and technological developments by the few, thereby preventing equal and fair access to IT and technological innovations, which is the driving force behind the digital economy”. For Ecolo, “open source software also embodies fundamental social values, since it promotes emancipation, creation and collaboration in the face of the competitive and closed model of proprietary software. “In concrete terms, the Green Party is proposing to systematise the use of open source software in the public sector: public authorities, administrations and schools.
The Walloon governments of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation make a commitment (on paper)
So much for everyone’s positions. A summary can be found in the 2019-2024 policy statements of the Walloon governments and the Wallonia-Brussels Federation. The aim is to “promote and use, as far as possible, open standards and free software in public administrations, public interest bodies and ministerial offices”. It also aims to “promote the use of open source software in schools and strengthen initial and in-service training for teachers in this area”. Last but not least, the government intends to “promote the use of open source software among citizens and businesses, in particular through awareness-raising and/or training initiatives, and develop open source software training for professional use”.
Where is the roadmap?
There is a will, there is a framework. Then there’s reality, and here we have to say that we’re looking for the roadmap. In its written declaration, the government indicates its firm intention not only to defend but to promote the use of open source in the key sectors of administration and education. Faced with the crisis at Covid, which forced the latter to work remotely with students, how did the politicians act? Linda Doria, a teacher and media education officer at the ASBL Centre Audiovisuel de Liège, takes a look back in an article on digital technology in schools available on the CAV website. Questioned by one of her free network teaching colleagues about the adoption of the ‘Rentrée numérique’ project run by the ASBL EducIT in her school, she felt it was important to look at this type of new digital teaching tool. Along with the ASBL Educode’s Relie project, this was the only structured project offered to the teaching staff. Everything else has amounted to declarations of intent and an invitation to muddle through.
Google in the schoolbag
“Faced with what was felt to be an urgent need to monitor pupils’ learning using digital tools at all costs during the lockdown, the POs, school principals and teachers put in place various solutions. To compensate for the lack of resources and tools offered by the education administration in FWB, as well as the difficulty of mastering these tools, solutions that were easy to use and access were used most of the time. Teachers have used tools such as Gsuite (Google’s suite of applications for collaborative working and online production), Teams (Microsoft’s collaborative platform for video conferencing, among other things) and private messaging services such as Messenger and WhatsApp from Facebook. At the same time, the EducIT association has launched its ‘Digital Back-to-School’ project, which it presented to the taskforce set up by ministers Pierre-Yves Jeholet, Caroline Desire and Frédéric Daerden: “The idea is to offer each school the possibility of using the Internet for the first time. The idea is to offer each pupil a Chromebook, a computer running Google’s OS, for €60 a year for 3 years, plus a balance of €30. On its website, a teaching kit is available for teachers. It includes a connection and synchronisation tool (Google Chrome), a virtual classroom (Google Classroom), a storage space (Google Drive) and a video conferencing facility (Google Meet). Welcome to the Google Friends community…
Forced to buy from the owner?
Linda Doria asks: “Using tools from GAFAM at school, as is the case with the Chromebook, inevitably raises the question of consent. Will pupils or teachers (if the school signs a leasing contract to use software or hardware from GAFAM, for example) be obliged to consent to the use of these tools? On the other hand, the collection and processing of data centralised at Google could well infringe the privacy of pupils and teachers. Even if the company undertakes, through the G Suite for Education accounts, not to use the data collected for advertising purposes and not to resell this data to third parties, the company does in fact collect the data.
A critical stance on the use of digital technology and tools in schools
The teacher also regrets the lack, or even absence, of critical questioning of these tools. “Politicians, the media, schools and the general public believe that it is vital to educate young people (and the not-so-young) about the media. This is particularly true of issues that are very much in vogue these days, such as fake news, social networking, cyber-bullying and screen addiction. There is an urgent need to broaden the representations of the fields of action of media education. The choice of a computer, its operating system, software and online services are all issues that schools, through media education, need to consider”.
White Card – Carte blanche
The white card for “education under an open licence and for responsible, critical and civic education” signed on 7 July by some sixty people from the worlds of education, politics and associations is along the same lines: “Faced with the rise of widespread digital surveillance, keeping control of our data and our tools is a major challenge. Free and open source software is the only answer, and is a necessary but not sufficient condition for regaining this control. Free software has no restrictions on use. You can understand how it works, adapt it without limit and share it again. GAFAM have made no mistake about it: their global infrastructure relies entirely on open source software. Open Source software runs the entire Internet infrastructure, including our smartphones. This proves that open source software is a foundation on which to create local, high value-added jobs that are difficult to relocate. In France, open source software services account for 10% of the IT market, with annual growth of 9%, and represent 60,000 jobs. What’s more, open source software, like openly licensed content such as Wikipedia, is one of the biggest collective knowledge creation projects. In this way, they highlight the notion of the common good and enable the emancipation of each individual, in line with the mission of education, which is to train responsible and aware citizens.
Thinking about digital tools
Education is going to make increasing use of digital educational content: free software makes it easier to share and reuse content. The Walloon government and the government of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation have clearly understood this, as stated in their 2019-2024 policy statement. We, teachers, parents and citizens, remain attentive to the necessary ethical and global reflection that must now precede choices concerning digital tools for schools, and we call on them to “ask questions outside the box. We would like to see the government’s commitments implemented as widely and as quickly as possible, and we would like to know what progress has been made one year after the promises made in the DPC and DPR. We believe that digital technology should continue to be a tool at the service of human beings, extending the thinking of those who use it, complementing existing resources and not replacing them.”
Not RGPD compliant
By the way, on 7 July this year, the Berlin Data Protection Authority ruled that most videoconferencing services are not compliant with the RGPD. Zoom, Google Meet, Skype and Microsoft Teams do not comply with European legislation on the processing of personal data. Hence the importance of initiatives such as Educode, the Jitsi services set up by the Walloon inter-municipal organisation iMio for local authorities in Wallonia and the CPASs, the Jitsi and BigBlueButton bodies operating on the website of the alternative Brussels host Domaine Public, and the Jitsi service available on the website of the national research and education network Belnet.
Digital must be a public service
We should be able to go further. On the Renater site, the French equivalent of Belnet, the education and research community has access to a complete library of entirely free tools and services. Alongside the ‘Rendez-vous’ videoconferencing space, there is an event organiser (Evento), a large file transfer application (FileSender), an IT project hosting and management space (SourceSup), a work platform for mailing lists (Universalistes) and a collaborative messaging system (Partage). The Wallonia and Brussels regions have launched a popular online consultation to imagine the future of Covid. One of the key proposals, at a time of digital transition, must be the establishment of a genuine digital public service, in line with the declarations of intent of its governments.
Jean-Luc Manise
Director of Digital Transformation at CESEP and freelance journalist
Europe is increasingly wary of the omnipresence of American industrial facilities on its soil, dreaming of local digital champions and independent digital technology. Have you heard of Palantir? Seventeen years after it was founded with CIA money (via the In-Q-Tel fund), this data surveillance specialist triumphantly floated on Wall Street at the end of September. Its business is the analysis of large quantities of data for the counter-terrorism (Gotham suite of applications) and financial (Metropolis suite of applications) sectors. The Los Angeles Police Department is a customer of Gotham, which it uses for predictive purposes to anticipate criminal threats. For the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, Palantir has developed a management and monitoring platform that centralises the data collected by the various U.S. intelligence agencies. Investigative Case Management, as it is known, has made it possible to identify and track migrants and/or asylum seekers, share information and investigate them in order to make arrests and raid their workplaces. Similarly, Amnesty International denounces the fact that the US ICE agency has used Palantir’s technology to “plan massive operations, such as in Mississippi in August 2019, in which children were separated from their parents and caregivers, causing irreparable harm to the families and communities involved. These operations have resulted in prolonged detentions and expulsions”.
Palantir is not my friend
Here we go beyond the issue of the monetisation of sensitive data, which can be understood in the case of the Gafa, to consider Europe’s sovereignty in digital matters, as raised by Dutch MEP Sophie in’t Veld in a question she drafted on 10 June on relations between Palantir and the European Union. The day before, the European Commissioner for Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson, had revealed that Europool, the European Police Office, had been using Palantir since 2006 to analyse data relating to the fight against terrorism. Taking advantage of the health crisis, Palantir offered various European health agencies, including those in France (via the Paris hospitals), Germany, Switzerland and Austria, its help and expertise in tracing the virus and better dispatching resources in terms of personnel, masks, respirators and bed management. While France has declined the offer, having like Belgium decided to develop its own application, Spain and Greece have reportedly accepted Palantir’s proposal. The British government, for its part, has entrusted Palantir with the Covid 19 data of British patients. According to Dutch MEP Sophie in’t Veld, writing on the blog of the German tink tank “aboutintel.eu” in an article entitled “Palantir is not our friend”, this collaboration is dangerous in many respects.
Europe, the last bastion of privacy
“Palantir is one of Silicon Valley’s most controversial private technology companies, specialising in providing big data analysis software to governments and businesses. Its co-founder, Peter Thiel, is a technology billionaire who also happens to be the founder of Paypal and the first investor in Facebook. He pursues a decidedly right-wing political agenda, notably as a sponsor of the 2016 Trump campaign. More importantly, Palantir works for US security and intelligence agencies such as the NSA and CIA, helping the former to spy on the entire world as revealed by Edward Snowden. This is where European politicians should draw the line. A democratically legitimised body, be it a national government or the European Commission, should not facilitate the surveillance of European citizens by foreign security services. The MEP goes on to call for Palantir to be sidelined from Europe’s digital fabric and for the development of strategic technological independence, in order to assert and assume its status as “the last bastion of privacy”.
A free European administration
The European Union administration reiterates this desire for independence in a communication dated 21 October entitled “Open Source Software Strategy 2020-2023”: “Thanks to open source software, we can build new innovative digital solutions in support of our common policies and actions, and work towards technological sovereignty. Thanks to open code, innovation is progressive and based on the sharing of knowledge and skills. Openness also increases confidence in public services. It offers greater scope for enhancing security, since the code can be freely inspected and improved. According to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, “while it may be too late to reproduce digital giants, there is still time to achieve technological sovereignty in certain key areas”. And the EU is calling on public authorities in the Member States to follow suit: “Public administrations should not only use open source software, but also, as far as possible, contribute to the relevant developer communities. Thanks to open systems, Europe can build solutions in harmony with its values: unity in diversity, openness and inclusiveness, non-discrimination and respect for privacy”.
Open access software at the NCM
What echo are French-speaking Belgian politicians and public authorities giving to this desire for European openness and digital autonomy? The least we can say is that they are moving forward in a scattered fashion, Belgian style, one might be tempted to say. Back to basics. In the 2019 parliamentary elections, what role will digital autonomy play in the party manifestos? For the MR and Défi parties, the answer is unequivocal: no reference to free software, simply a reference, on the MR side, to the desire to develop “open access software”, to regulate this development and to favour free solutions. The main sector targeted: education, an area where, as we know, Microsoft is at the helm of the flagship, with Google on the bridge and Zoom in the hold. The PS says it would like to see “the use of free software in government departments, as well as the pooling of acquisitions of new technologies in order to achieve economies of scale”.
A strategic vision of digital for the cdH
The position of the cdH is more marked and ambitious. At the beginning of January 2019, Vanessa Matz brought the Gafam tax project to the House, but it was rejected by the Finance Committee (N-VA and Open VLD voted against, MR and CD&V abstained). The Liège MP listed the measures included in her party’s programme. These include “making free and open source software available to students, encouraging the promotion of free logic, including within public administrations and organisations of public interest or providing public services, supporting the development and dissemination of free software, which makes an effective contribution to reducing the digital divide and combating computer piracy. It can also be used free of charge,” adds Vanessa Matz, “which is very important in education and for jobseekers, for example. They also encourage sharing and innovation in the digital field. The general public should be better informed of the existence of these tools, as well as the correspondences with the corresponding proprietary tools”.
At the PTB, a cultural and political dimension
The PTB also places great emphasis on free software as a tool for appropriating digital culture and as a political instrument for digital sovereignty. To meet the first objective, encouraging access to digital culture, the PTB is proposing to encourage the use of free software, by promoting creative commons licences, creating an online public library and media library and setting up a central digital application for access to cultural works. The second involves working towards digital autonomy. “Faced with the Web giants, we will make the use of data subject to the obligation to work according to the principles of open source, open architecture, open standards and open data. To free ourselves from the stranglehold of the big technology multinationals, we are extending the use of computer operating systems and free software in public services. We want public authorities to adopt open source software in all their activities. This will guarantee their independence from large international technology companies. The new programmes of public services (administration, but also public companies such as the SNCB) will also be created in open source”.
Ecolo: for equal and fair access to digital technology
Ecolo, the only party that has decided to make open source the standard for its internal digital operations, is also developing a political vision of open source. “Every ICT user must be protected and free in his or her choice of hardware and software,” stresses Simon Rasquin, Ecolo policy adviser. “In this context, Ecolo is defending free software because the issue goes far beyond computer hardware: defending free software means defending a social project that echoes the social and environmental changes that ecologists have always supported. The aim of the movement is to combat the appropriation of information, knowledge and technological developments by the few, thereby preventing equal and fair access to IT and technological innovations, which is the driving force behind the digital economy”. For Ecolo, “open source software also embodies fundamental social values, since it promotes emancipation, creation and collaboration in the face of the competitive and closed model of proprietary software. “In concrete terms, the Green Party is proposing to systematise the use of open source software in the public sector: public authorities, administrations and schools.
The Walloon governments of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation make a commitment (on paper)
So much for everyone’s positions. A summary can be found in the 2019-2024 policy statements of the Walloon governments and the Wallonia-Brussels Federation. The aim is to “promote and use, as far as possible, open standards and free software in public administrations, public interest bodies and ministerial offices”. It also aims to “promote the use of open source software in schools and strengthen initial and in-service training for teachers in this area”. Last but not least, the government intends to “promote the use of open source software among citizens and businesses, in particular through awareness-raising and/or training initiatives, and develop open source software training for professional use”.
Where is the roadmap?
There is a will, there is a framework. Then there’s reality, and here we have to say that we’re looking for the roadmap. In its written declaration, the government indicates its firm intention not only to defend but to promote the use of open source in the key sectors of administration and education. Faced with the crisis at Covid, which forced the latter to work remotely with students, how did the politicians act? Linda Doria, a teacher and media education officer at the ASBL Centre Audiovisuel de Liège, takes a look back in an article on digital technology in schools available on the CAV website. Questioned by one of her free network teaching colleagues about the adoption of the ‘Rentrée numérique’ project run by the ASBL EducIT in her school, she felt it was important to look at this type of new digital teaching tool. Along with the ASBL Educode’s Relie project, this was the only structured project offered to the teaching staff. Everything else has amounted to declarations of intent and an invitation to muddle through.
Google in the schoolbag
“Faced with what was felt to be an urgent need to monitor pupils’ learning using digital tools at all costs during the lockdown, the POs, school principals and teachers put in place various solutions. To compensate for the lack of resources and tools offered by the education administration in FWB, as well as the difficulty of mastering these tools, solutions that were easy to use and access were used most of the time. Teachers have used tools such as Gsuite (Google’s suite of applications for collaborative working and online production), Teams (Microsoft’s collaborative platform for video conferencing, among other things) and private messaging services such as Messenger and WhatsApp from Facebook. At the same time, the EducIT association has launched its ‘Digital Back-to-School’ project, which it presented to the taskforce set up by ministers Pierre-Yves Jeholet, Caroline Desire and Frédéric Daerden: “The idea is to offer each school the possibility of using the Internet for the first time. The idea is to offer each pupil a Chromebook, a computer running Google’s OS, for €60 a year for 3 years, plus a balance of €30. On its website, a teaching kit is available for teachers. It includes a connection and synchronisation tool (Google Chrome), a virtual classroom (Google Classroom), a storage space (Google Drive) and a video conferencing facility (Google Meet). Welcome to the Google Friends community…
Forced to buy from the owner?
Linda Doria asks: “Using tools from GAFAM at school, as is the case with the Chromebook, inevitably raises the question of consent. Will pupils or teachers (if the school signs a leasing contract to use software or hardware from GAFAM, for example) be obliged to consent to the use of these tools? On the other hand, the collection and processing of data centralised at Google could well infringe the privacy of pupils and teachers. Even if the company undertakes, through the G Suite for Education accounts, not to use the data collected for advertising purposes and not to resell this data to third parties, the company does in fact collect the data.
A critical stance on the use of digital technology and tools in schools
The teacher also regrets the lack, or even absence, of critical questioning of these tools. “Politicians, the media, schools and the general public believe that it is vital to educate young people (and the not-so-young) about the media. This is particularly true of issues that are very much in vogue these days, such as fake news, social networking, cyber-bullying and screen addiction. There is an urgent need to broaden the representations of the fields of action of media education. The choice of a computer, its operating system, software and online services are all issues that schools, through media education, need to consider”.
White Card – Carte blanche
The white card for “education under an open licence and for responsible, critical and civic education” signed on 7 July by some sixty people from the worlds of education, politics and associations is along the same lines: “Faced with the rise of widespread digital surveillance, keeping control of our data and our tools is a major challenge. Free and open source software is the only answer, and is a necessary but not sufficient condition for regaining this control. Free software has no restrictions on use. You can understand how it works, adapt it without limit and share it again. GAFAM have made no mistake about it: their global infrastructure relies entirely on open source software. Open Source software runs the entire Internet infrastructure, including our smartphones. This proves that open source software is a foundation on which to create local, high value-added jobs that are difficult to relocate. In France, open source software services account for 10% of the IT market, with annual growth of 9%, and represent 60,000 jobs. What’s more, open source software, like openly licensed content such as Wikipedia, is one of the biggest collective knowledge creation projects. In this way, they highlight the notion of the common good and enable the emancipation of each individual, in line with the mission of education, which is to train responsible and aware citizens.
Thinking about digital tools
Education is going to make increasing use of digital educational content: free software makes it easier to share and reuse content. The Walloon government and the government of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation have clearly understood this, as stated in their 2019-2024 policy statement. We, teachers, parents and citizens, remain attentive to the necessary ethical and global reflection that must now precede choices concerning digital tools for schools, and we call on them to “ask questions outside the box. We would like to see the government’s commitments implemented as widely and as quickly as possible, and we would like to know what progress has been made one year after the promises made in the DPC and DPR. We believe that digital technology should continue to be a tool at the service of human beings, extending the thinking of those who use it, complementing existing resources and not replacing them.”
Not RGPD compliant
By the way, on 7 July this year, the Berlin Data Protection Authority ruled that most videoconferencing services are not compliant with the RGPD. Zoom, Google Meet, Skype and Microsoft Teams do not comply with European legislation on the processing of personal data. Hence the importance of initiatives such as Educode, the Jitsi services set up by the Walloon inter-municipal organisation iMio for local authorities in Wallonia and the CPASs, the Jitsi and BigBlueButton bodies operating on the website of the alternative Brussels host Domaine Public, and the Jitsi service available on the website of the national research and education network Belnet.
Digital must be a public service
We should be able to go further. On the Renater site, the French equivalent of Belnet, the education and research community has access to a complete library of entirely free tools and services. Alongside the ‘Rendez-vous’ videoconferencing space, there is an event organiser (Evento), a large file transfer application (FileSender), an IT project hosting and management space (SourceSup), a work platform for mailing lists (Universalistes) and a collaborative messaging system (Partage). The Wallonia and Brussels regions have launched a popular online consultation to imagine the future of Covid. One of the key proposals, at a time of digital transition, must be the establishment of a genuine digital public service, in line with the declarations of intent of its governments.
Jean-Luc Manise
Director of Digital Transformation at CESEP and freelance journalist
Data sheet information
Date Field
29.05.2024 - 09:35
Licence CC BY-SA 4.0
Empowering the Socio-Cultural Sector: Open Source Solutions in Suceava and Romania
Article provided by
- Open Minds
- ACDC
Summary
In the rapidly evolving digital landscape, the socio-cultural sector stands at the intersection of tradition and innovation, heritage and progress. However, amidst the digital transformation sweeping across society, this sector often finds itself grappling with unique challenges, from limited resources to outdated technologies. In Suceava and Romania at large, these challenges are particularly pronounced, highlighting the pressing need for accessible and sustainable solutions. Enter the Open Minds project, a beacon of hope ushering in a new era of empowerment and innovation for the socio-cultural sector through open source solutions.
Text
The Digital Divide in the Socio-Cultural Sector
The socio-cultural sector plays a pivotal role in shaping societal norms, preserving cultural heritage, and fostering community cohesion. Yet, despite its significance, this sector often lags behind in terms of technological adoption and innovation. Limited funding, lack of technical expertise, and reliance on proprietary software further exacerbate the digital divide, hindering the sector’s ability to thrive in the digital age. In Suceava and Romania, where socio-cultural richness abounds, bridging this gap is not just a necessity but also a cultural imperative.
The Promise of Open Source Solutions
Enter open source solutions – a paradigm shift in the way technology is developed, distributed, and utilized. Open source software, characterized by its transparency, flexibility, and collaborative ethos, holds immense potential to revolutionize the socio-cultural sector. By providing free access to source code, open source solutions empower organizations to customize software to their specific needs, circumventing the limitations imposed by proprietary systems. Moreover, the open source community fosters knowledge sharing, innovation, and collective problem-solving, enabling organizations to stay agile and adaptable in the face of evolving challenges.
Open Minds: Empowering the Socio-Cultural Sector
Against this backdrop of opportunity and necessity arises the Open Minds project – a visionary initiative dedicated to empowering the socio-cultural sector through open source solutions. Rooted in the belief that digital empowerment is a fundamental right, Open Minds seeks to democratize access to technology, catalysing socio-cultural innovation and inclusion across Suceava and Romania.
Bridging the Digital Divide
At its core, Open Minds is committed to bridging the digital divide by providing organizations in the socio-cultural sector with the tools and resources they need to thrive in the digital age. Through workshops, training programs, and collaborative projects, Open Minds equips participants with the knowledge and skills required to harness the power of open source software effectively. From museum curators preserving historical artifacts to community theatres promoting local talent, organizations of all sizes and scopes benefit from the transformative potential of open source solutions.
Fostering Collaboration and Innovation
Central to the OpenMinds ethos is the belief in the transformative power of collaboration and innovation. By fostering a vibrant ecosystem of knowledge sharing and co-creation, Open Minds empowers organizations to leverage collective intelligence in addressing shared challenges and seizing emerging opportunities. Through community-driven initiatives and collaborative projects, participants not only enhance their technological proficiency but also cultivate a culture of innovation and resilience within the socio-cultural sector.
Driving Sustainable Impact
Beyond mere technological empowerment, OpenMinds is driven by a commitment to driving sustainable impact in the socio-cultural sector. By promoting the adoption of open source solutions, Open Minds enables organizations to reduce reliance on costly proprietary software, freeing up resources for core mission activities. Moreover, the collaborative nature of open source development fosters a culture of sustainability, where organizations prioritize long-term viability and community benefit over short-term gains.
Charting a Path Forward
As Suceava and Romania embark on the journey towards digital transformation, the socio-cultural sector stands at a pivotal crossroads. By embracing open source solutions and leveraging the transformative potential of initiatives like Open Minds, organizations can not only overcome existing challenges but also unlock new opportunities for growth, innovation, and societal impact. Together, let us chart a path forward towards a more inclusive, resilient, and vibrant socio-cultural landscape – powered by the principles of openness, collaboration, and empowerment.
The socio-cultural sector plays a pivotal role in shaping societal norms, preserving cultural heritage, and fostering community cohesion. Yet, despite its significance, this sector often lags behind in terms of technological adoption and innovation. Limited funding, lack of technical expertise, and reliance on proprietary software further exacerbate the digital divide, hindering the sector’s ability to thrive in the digital age. In Suceava and Romania, where socio-cultural richness abounds, bridging this gap is not just a necessity but also a cultural imperative.
The Promise of Open Source Solutions
Enter open source solutions – a paradigm shift in the way technology is developed, distributed, and utilized. Open source software, characterized by its transparency, flexibility, and collaborative ethos, holds immense potential to revolutionize the socio-cultural sector. By providing free access to source code, open source solutions empower organizations to customize software to their specific needs, circumventing the limitations imposed by proprietary systems. Moreover, the open source community fosters knowledge sharing, innovation, and collective problem-solving, enabling organizations to stay agile and adaptable in the face of evolving challenges.
Open Minds: Empowering the Socio-Cultural Sector
Against this backdrop of opportunity and necessity arises the Open Minds project – a visionary initiative dedicated to empowering the socio-cultural sector through open source solutions. Rooted in the belief that digital empowerment is a fundamental right, Open Minds seeks to democratize access to technology, catalysing socio-cultural innovation and inclusion across Suceava and Romania.
Bridging the Digital Divide
At its core, Open Minds is committed to bridging the digital divide by providing organizations in the socio-cultural sector with the tools and resources they need to thrive in the digital age. Through workshops, training programs, and collaborative projects, Open Minds equips participants with the knowledge and skills required to harness the power of open source software effectively. From museum curators preserving historical artifacts to community theatres promoting local talent, organizations of all sizes and scopes benefit from the transformative potential of open source solutions.
Fostering Collaboration and Innovation
Central to the OpenMinds ethos is the belief in the transformative power of collaboration and innovation. By fostering a vibrant ecosystem of knowledge sharing and co-creation, Open Minds empowers organizations to leverage collective intelligence in addressing shared challenges and seizing emerging opportunities. Through community-driven initiatives and collaborative projects, participants not only enhance their technological proficiency but also cultivate a culture of innovation and resilience within the socio-cultural sector.
Driving Sustainable Impact
Beyond mere technological empowerment, OpenMinds is driven by a commitment to driving sustainable impact in the socio-cultural sector. By promoting the adoption of open source solutions, Open Minds enables organizations to reduce reliance on costly proprietary software, freeing up resources for core mission activities. Moreover, the collaborative nature of open source development fosters a culture of sustainability, where organizations prioritize long-term viability and community benefit over short-term gains.
Charting a Path Forward
As Suceava and Romania embark on the journey towards digital transformation, the socio-cultural sector stands at a pivotal crossroads. By embracing open source solutions and leveraging the transformative potential of initiatives like Open Minds, organizations can not only overcome existing challenges but also unlock new opportunities for growth, innovation, and societal impact. Together, let us chart a path forward towards a more inclusive, resilient, and vibrant socio-cultural landscape – powered by the principles of openness, collaboration, and empowerment.
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15.05.2024 - 09:35
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Licence CC BY-SA 4.0
Open Minds: Empowering European Society through Digitalisation
Article provided by
- Open Minds
- TRANSIT
Summary
In today’s landscape, digitalisation has emerged as a fundamental element driving progress and development in all spheres of society. The ability to adapt and leverage digital tools has become a prerequisite for success at both individual and organisational levels. Recognising this urgent need, the Open Minds project has emerged as a beacon of hope, dedicated to strengthening the digital skills of one of the key sectors of European society: that encompassing social and cultural actors, as well as the general public with whom they interact.
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What is Open Minds?
Open Minds is an ambitious project that aims to bridge the digital divide and promote digital inclusion among the various strata of European society. Its main objective is to empower social and cultural actors, as well as the general public, by equipping them with the digital skills needed to successfully navigate the digital age. This project not only focuses on providing technical knowledge, but also aims to foster an open and receptive mindset towards technology and its possibilities.
The Context of the Health Crisis: Increased Urgency
During the recent health crisis, the needs in terms of digital transition intensified considerably. The pandemic highlighted the magnitude of the digital divide and the urgency of increasing digital skills in all sectors of society. As the world was forced to adapt to new forms of online work, education and socialisation, it became clear that those with limited digital skills were at a disadvantage. From conducting virtual meetings to the transition to e-commerce, the ability to understand and use digital tools became a determining factor for survival and success.
The Role of Open Minds in European Society
In this context, the Open Minds project emerges as a catalyst for change, offering tangible solutions to address the digital divide. By specifically targeting social and cultural actors as well as the general public, Open Minds recognises the importance of empowering those who have a significant impact on society. Social and cultural actors play a crucial role in shaping societal norms and values, and by empowering them digitally, it opens the door to greater innovation and citizen participation.
The Objectives of Open Minds
The objectives of the Open Minds project are multifaceted and cover several key aspects of digitalisation:
1. increasing digital skills: the primary objective of Open Minds is to provide participants with the necessary skills to thrive in the digital age. This ranges from basic competencies, such as the use of productivity tools and web browsing, to more advanced skills, such as programming and data analysis.
2. Promoting digital literacy: Beyond simply teaching technical skills, Open Minds seeks to promote a deeper understanding of how technology works and how it can affect society at large. This involves teaching participants about issues such as online security, data privacy and digital ethics.
3. Foster innovation and creativity: Open Minds aims to foster a spirit of innovation and creativity among participants, encouraging them to use their digital skills to address social and cultural problems in innovative ways. This may include developing mobile applications to solve community problems or creating digital content that promotes diversity and inclusion.
4. Facilitating digital inclusion: One of the key pillars of Open Minds is to promote digital inclusion by ensuring that everyone has access to digital learning opportunities, regardless of their socio-economic background or level of education. This may involve creating specific programmes for marginalised communities or developing accessible resources for people with disabilities.
The Open Minds Approach: Empowerment and Collaboration
What sets Open Minds apart is its focus on empowerment and collaboration. The project is not only about imparting knowledge, but also about enabling participants to become agents of change in their own communities. Through participatory methodologies and active learning practices, Open Minds fosters a sense of autonomy and confidence in participants, encouraging them to take an active role in creating a more inclusive and equitable digital future.
The Future of Open Minds: Lasting Impact on European Society
As the Open Minds project progresses, its impact on European society becomes increasingly evident. As more people acquire digital skills and become advocates for digital inclusion, the potential for social transformation increases exponentially. From strengthening social and cultural organisations to empowering individuals to make the most of digital opportunities, Open Minds is laying the foundations for a more vibrant and equitable digital future in Europe and beyond.
The ethics behind the use of open source software
The technology itself lacks a defined personality or intentions, so it cannot be labelled as “respectful” or “disrespectful” towards those who use it. However, the way in which companies and developers employ and design technology can have an impact on the privacy and well-being of users. It is crucial that both developers and companies consider users’ rights and privacy when creating and employing technology, and that users have control over how their data is handled.
Adopting an ethical and responsible approach to the use of technology involves taking users’ privacy into account and ensuring that users have control over their personal information. Open source technology can facilitate this by allowing users to examine and modify the source code of an application or device, which increases transparency and security. However, it is also essential to consider other aspects such as equitable access and inclusion when designing and employing technology.
Acting ethically when using technology involves reflecting on how it affects people and the world as a whole, and making conscious choices to minimise harms and maximise benefits. This involves, among other things, respecting users’ privacy, ensuring they have control over their data, preventing online discrimination and harassment, and considering how technology impacts on equity and inclusion. It also encompasses considerations of environmental impact and animal rights. Acting ethically in the use of technology is an ongoing process that requires constant reflection and a willingness to adapt and change as new information and ethical considerations arise.
In addition, it is essential to consider environmental impact when designing and using technology ethically. The development and use of technology can have a significant ecological footprint, from the manufacture of electronic devices to the consumption of energy during their operation. It is therefore important to adopt sustainable practices, such as energy efficiency, recycling of electronic components and waste reduction, to mitigate negative environmental impact. FOSS can also play a role in this regard by encouraging the reuse and life extension of devices, which contributes to the reduction of e-waste. By considering the impact on the environment, it promotes more ethical and responsible technology that not only benefits users, but also the planet as a whole.
Open Minds is an ambitious project that aims to bridge the digital divide and promote digital inclusion among the various strata of European society. Its main objective is to empower social and cultural actors, as well as the general public, by equipping them with the digital skills needed to successfully navigate the digital age. This project not only focuses on providing technical knowledge, but also aims to foster an open and receptive mindset towards technology and its possibilities.
The Context of the Health Crisis: Increased Urgency
During the recent health crisis, the needs in terms of digital transition intensified considerably. The pandemic highlighted the magnitude of the digital divide and the urgency of increasing digital skills in all sectors of society. As the world was forced to adapt to new forms of online work, education and socialisation, it became clear that those with limited digital skills were at a disadvantage. From conducting virtual meetings to the transition to e-commerce, the ability to understand and use digital tools became a determining factor for survival and success.
The Role of Open Minds in European Society
In this context, the Open Minds project emerges as a catalyst for change, offering tangible solutions to address the digital divide. By specifically targeting social and cultural actors as well as the general public, Open Minds recognises the importance of empowering those who have a significant impact on society. Social and cultural actors play a crucial role in shaping societal norms and values, and by empowering them digitally, it opens the door to greater innovation and citizen participation.
The Objectives of Open Minds
The objectives of the Open Minds project are multifaceted and cover several key aspects of digitalisation:
1. increasing digital skills: the primary objective of Open Minds is to provide participants with the necessary skills to thrive in the digital age. This ranges from basic competencies, such as the use of productivity tools and web browsing, to more advanced skills, such as programming and data analysis.
2. Promoting digital literacy: Beyond simply teaching technical skills, Open Minds seeks to promote a deeper understanding of how technology works and how it can affect society at large. This involves teaching participants about issues such as online security, data privacy and digital ethics.
3. Foster innovation and creativity: Open Minds aims to foster a spirit of innovation and creativity among participants, encouraging them to use their digital skills to address social and cultural problems in innovative ways. This may include developing mobile applications to solve community problems or creating digital content that promotes diversity and inclusion.
4. Facilitating digital inclusion: One of the key pillars of Open Minds is to promote digital inclusion by ensuring that everyone has access to digital learning opportunities, regardless of their socio-economic background or level of education. This may involve creating specific programmes for marginalised communities or developing accessible resources for people with disabilities.
The Open Minds Approach: Empowerment and Collaboration
What sets Open Minds apart is its focus on empowerment and collaboration. The project is not only about imparting knowledge, but also about enabling participants to become agents of change in their own communities. Through participatory methodologies and active learning practices, Open Minds fosters a sense of autonomy and confidence in participants, encouraging them to take an active role in creating a more inclusive and equitable digital future.
The Future of Open Minds: Lasting Impact on European Society
As the Open Minds project progresses, its impact on European society becomes increasingly evident. As more people acquire digital skills and become advocates for digital inclusion, the potential for social transformation increases exponentially. From strengthening social and cultural organisations to empowering individuals to make the most of digital opportunities, Open Minds is laying the foundations for a more vibrant and equitable digital future in Europe and beyond.
The ethics behind the use of open source software
The technology itself lacks a defined personality or intentions, so it cannot be labelled as “respectful” or “disrespectful” towards those who use it. However, the way in which companies and developers employ and design technology can have an impact on the privacy and well-being of users. It is crucial that both developers and companies consider users’ rights and privacy when creating and employing technology, and that users have control over how their data is handled.
Adopting an ethical and responsible approach to the use of technology involves taking users’ privacy into account and ensuring that users have control over their personal information. Open source technology can facilitate this by allowing users to examine and modify the source code of an application or device, which increases transparency and security. However, it is also essential to consider other aspects such as equitable access and inclusion when designing and employing technology.
Acting ethically when using technology involves reflecting on how it affects people and the world as a whole, and making conscious choices to minimise harms and maximise benefits. This involves, among other things, respecting users’ privacy, ensuring they have control over their data, preventing online discrimination and harassment, and considering how technology impacts on equity and inclusion. It also encompasses considerations of environmental impact and animal rights. Acting ethically in the use of technology is an ongoing process that requires constant reflection and a willingness to adapt and change as new information and ethical considerations arise.
In addition, it is essential to consider environmental impact when designing and using technology ethically. The development and use of technology can have a significant ecological footprint, from the manufacture of electronic devices to the consumption of energy during their operation. It is therefore important to adopt sustainable practices, such as energy efficiency, recycling of electronic components and waste reduction, to mitigate negative environmental impact. FOSS can also play a role in this regard by encouraging the reuse and life extension of devices, which contributes to the reduction of e-waste. By considering the impact on the environment, it promotes more ethical and responsible technology that not only benefits users, but also the planet as a whole.
Data sheet information
Date Field
29.04.2024
Licence CC BY-SA 4.0
Digital inclusion: the voluntary sector has a critical political role to play
Article provided by
- Open Minds
- CESEP
- AutreOtherOtroAltresAltele
Summary
If there’s one challenge that voluntary organisations need to rise to, it’s this. For a long time, voluntary organisations have focused on their “core” mission, defending the rights they have co-constructed with their members: the right to vote, the right to form associations, the right to abortion, the right to social security, the right to housing, the right to gender identity, the right to education and the right to culture. In their eyes, the screens of these audiences were no more than tools. The forced digitisation being driven by public and economic authorities and the pandemic now make them an obligatory point of entry to these essential rights. It would be a major mistake for the sector to approach this from a purely technical standpoint.
Text
The digital divide: once a buzzword, the concept is no longer popular. Today we prefer to talk about digital inclusion, reducing digital inequalities, digital appropriation and digital mediation. When we put a document on the table on this subject, we call it “action plan for digital mediation for all Walloons” or “Walloon digital inclusion plan” or even in Brussels “digital appropriation plan”.
Historically, digital inclusion policies originated in Wallonia in the early 2000s with the launch of the ICT Mobilisation Plan by the then Minister for Employment and Training. That same year, the same Marie Arena financed the publication by Philippe Allard and Pierre Lelong of the book “Les espaces publics numériques, moteur d’un internet participatif”. The first initiative was aimed at improving the digital skills of jobseekers. The second aims to facilitate “the setting up of not-for-profit spaces open to the public with a project for individual and/or group support to promote access, initiation and appropriation of the Internet, multimedia and office automation. The “genesis” of the first scheme will be entrusted to the Laboratoire de soutien aux Synergies Education Technologie at the University of Liège, which will be responsible for the programme, methodology and content development. Its funding will be structural, set by decree, a new version of which is expected next year. The EPN system will be supported on an ad hoc basis through calls for tender and equipment grants, one of the largest of which is the €15,000 envelope allocated at the end of last year to each of the 166 approved structures. It will be run by the Technofutur TIC digital skills centre under an annual agreement worth €150,000. As a sign of the times, the said Centre is now taking over the running of the network of PMTIC operators, in coordination with the Laboratoire de soutien aux Synergies Education Technologie at the University of Liège, which continues to be the driving force behind the scheme.
The PMTIC is a training scheme. Each recognised operator (in 2019, 54 approved operators, including 17 EPNs, trained 2,400 beneficiaries, corresponding to 97,000 hours of training) is responsible for providing training to jobseekers at a cost of €7.50 per hour per trainee, within an overall framework of 48 hours divided into 4 training units: first contacts with the digital world; email and social networks; browsing and searching for information; office automation. The initiative will mainly be of interest to the voluntary sector, in particular what are now known as CISPs (Centres d’Insertion Socio-Professionnelle), which already offer training to jobseekers. The large number of people they initially attracted became increasingly rare over the years. At the same time, administrative and certification requirements will increase, and the funding of the scheme will be repeatedly questioned by politicians. All this will weaken the network and reduce the number of operators. In 2018, the support grant to LabSET for supervising the network came to an end. Thanks to the willingness of the Liège lab, the scheme continued to operate on its own funds in slow mode. Today, a 2-year agreement links LabSET to the Technofutur ICT Skills Centre, one for educational coordination, the other for facilitation, technical training and communication, while a new decree is in the pipeline for an expanded, modernised and refinanced version of PMTIC. Clearly, the issues of skills acquisition, digital mediation and digital inclusion are becoming increasingly important and sensitive.
Digital mediation: 500 Walloon players
It was against this backdrop that, in mid-April 2019, Pierre Lelong and Eric Blanchart, respectively Project Manager and Project Manager for the Wallonia EPN Resource Centre, co-signed the Memorandum entitled “Pour une politique de la médiation numérique en Wallonie – Insérer les citoyens dans une société inclusive et innovante”. This document places great emphasis on decompartmentalisation. The authors estimate that there are 500 players directly or indirectly involved in digital mediation. The spectrum is wide: from public reading to cultural centres and museums, not forgetting CPAS and PCS, community technology centres, front-line associations working with vulnerable groups, continuing education associations, third places, CoderDojos and, of course, EPNs and PMTIC operators. They advocate the emergence of a regional ecosystem thanks to a cross-disciplinary, unifying project: “Stakeholders, players in the field, decision-makers and final beneficiaries have everything to gain from a coordinated, broad, visible and coherent system of all the initiatives working around digital mediation. The authors call for the establishment of a structured network of third places offering a coordinated range of digital services to the public.
Digital relay agent
EPNs have their place: in September last year, proposals for “an action plan for digital mediation for all Walloons” were submitted by the SPW Economy, Employment and Research and the Digital Agency, in collaboration with all the players involved in inclusion. The proposed actions include strengthening the system and introducing a common minimum skills base for vulnerable groups. Eric Blanchart: “Whether they go to Saint-Nicolas, Comines-Warneton or Virton, to a library, as part of a Social Cohesion Plan (PCS) or to a local EPN, citizens will thus be guaranteed to find the same content linked to the basic digital skills described in the European DigComp reference framework”. The authors of the action plan base the restructuring and strengthening of the system on a multi-level model. The structures closest to the citizens, communes and CPAS, would be invited to appoint a “digital relay agent” as the first point of contact for those who have lost touch with the digital world. It would then be up to them to link up with a local EPN, the number of which is set to increase via a new call for proposals.
Structural funding for Walloon EPNs
Existing EPNs would be allocated an annual structural subsidy, including a co-financing obligation for the promoter (typically 50%). Indicative amount of this subsidy? 25,000 euros. Alongside this (re)funding, there remains the thorny question of the job and status of the multimedia animator. Eric Blanchart: “The path we had mapped out to raise the awareness of the Conseil Régional de la Formation and other training bodies has failed. The political will wasn’t strong enough, we didn’t have enough influence to be able to see it through, even if we did manage, with Forem, to produce a reference framework on the job of multimedia animator. But now there’s the European Start Digital project, supported in Wallonia by Forem, SPW, AdN, the CISP interfederation, Ifapme and interMire, the association providing support and assistance to the eleven Regional Employment Missions, one of whose missions is to develop and train digital mediators and facilitators and to recognise a range of skills. The issue has therefore been relaunched: it could lead to recognition and enhancement of the profession, if not of facilitator then at least of digital mediator, in which EPN facilitators could find themselves”.
Brussels Digital Accessibility Players' Collective
In Brussels, the emergence and networking of digital inclusion players, first and foremost the EPNs, is the result of players in the field and, more specifically, in 2008, the desire of 4 associations to make the work of the EPNs more visible: l’Atelier du Web, Fobagra, FIJ & Banlieues. The Collectif des Acteurs Bruxellois de l’Accessibilité Numérique / Digitale Inclusie Brusselse Actoren Collectief will become a not-for-profit organisation in the summer of 2019. Caban’s aim? “To promote the inclusion of all citizens in a fair, equitable and sustainable digital society. To achieve this, the association’s mission is to bring together the associations and other bodies fighting against the digital divide in Brussels. At the centre of this effort are the EPNs, of which there are currently some 20 approved structures”.
Proposals for structural support for Brussels EPNs
In its 2021-2024 digital appropriation plan, the Brussels Region places these structures at the forefront. The aim is both to provide high-quality support for the EPNs in Brussels and to standardise the services they offer. Above all, their resources need to be strengthened. With this in mind, the digital inclusion coordination committee led by the CIRB, which is responsible for developing and implementing the digital appropriation plan in Brussels, has sent Clerfayt proposals for the structural funding of the EPNs, based on a human and financial inventory drawn up by CABAN. In the meantime, these structures, which are largely run by multimedia facilitators whose jobs are often insecure, have benefited for the past ten years from a closed budget of €100,000 used by the CIRB to ‘rematerialise’, year in, year out, 4 EPNs a year. With the health crisis and the rise of digital technology (and therefore digital inequalities), the region has freed up additional resources. Last year, an exceptional budget of €480,000 was voted as part of the special measures for digital inclusion. The breakdown was as follows: €30,000 in exceptional support for approved EPNs (10 EPNs received €3,000), €50,000 was allocated for CABAN’s missions and €400,000 was entrusted to the King Baudouin Foundation for the “Digital Brussels” call for projects.
30 projects
The 30 winning projects (24 French-speaking and 6 Dutch-speaking) were selected by a panel of independent experts. They are currently being rolled out. The target audiences of the selected projects correspond logically to those addressed by the EPNs: young people, job seekers, people with disabilities, sick children taking distance learning courses, senior citizens, occupants of social housing, women from immigrant backgrounds. Some projects organise mobile social teams, others seek out people in difficulty to offer them support in the Espaces Publics Numériques (EPNs), and still others create ‘buddies’ and peer helpers… The Etterbeek EPN uses these resources to provide support for teenagers (schooling, job hunting, administration). The Saint-Gilles EPN offers a mobile EPN formula, while the Evere Cultural Centre and the Jette CPAS call on a public computer specialist to visit the homes of people with digital difficulties. Awareness-raising workshops have been set up by the Foyer des jeunes des Marolles for young people and mothers. In the same district, Habitat et Rénovation Ixelles is offering a local EPN to provide “tailored” support to residents of social housing in the Marolles district. The ASBL OIRD offers training to children and families living on the margins of society in the Canal area of Molenbeek. The Centre Féminin d’Education Permanente de Saint-Josse-Ten-Noode offers migrant women tailor-made training courses. At Entraide Bruxelles in Laeken, newcomers (with little or no knowledge of French) learn how to consult online service sites. In Etterbeek, a project aims to make touch-screen terminals available to the homeless to enable them to access help and information websites more easily.
800,000 for digital inclusion in Brussels
In February this year, the 2021-2024 appropriation plan was approved. It provides for an annual budget of €900,000, of which €100,000 is allocated to Easy Brussels for administrative simplification and €800,000 to the CIRB for the remainder of the operationalisation of the plan, which is steered by the digital inclusion unit through a working group bringing together, around the Centre d’Informatique pour la Région Bruxelloise, public players (Bruxelles Formation, Actiris, perspective. brussels, Women in Tech, Bruxelles Social, the SPFB), local players (CABAN, Passwerk, WeTechCare) and private players (BNP Paribas Fortis).
Tania Maamary, digital inclusion coordinator at CIRB: “From this budget, we are going to allocate €200,000 this year to (re)materialise the approved EPNs”. That’s around €10,000 per structure.
A special place for the King Baudouin Foundation
It has to be said that the KBF occupies a special place and plays a special role on the map of digital inclusion in Belgium. The fight against poverty is part of its 2020-2024 business plan. In its roadmap, it includes the digital aspect of precariousness, which reinforces the isolation and fragility of people who are already on the margins of society. Its objective? To promote digital inclusion by stepping up support for the acquisition of basic digital skills for the most vulnerable sections of the population”. To underpin its strategy, the FRB has funded dedicated research on the subject and published the first digital inclusion barometer in August 2020. Today, any document or proposal relating to digital appropriation and inclusion policies in Belgium must refer to it. It will also be sponsoring the launch of the social start-up WeTechCare Belgium, a subsidiary identical in spirit and mission to its French “parent company”, WeTechCare.
A benchmark barometer
Quentin Mertens, senior FRB project coordinator: “Digital technology is not neutral in that it increasingly conditions access to essential services such as health, housing and administration. Two years ago, we zoomed in on existing figures, mainly from Statbel, to quantify the phenomenon. But there was no dedicated research on the subject. With the 2020 Digital Inclusion Barometer, that has now been done. This in-depth research work confirms the scale of a problem that, in our view, remains underestimated. To say that 40% of the Belgian population is in a situation of digital vulnerability is to say that the day-to-day lives of these people are likely to be impacted, or even degraded, because of a lack of access to digital technology (8%) or a very low level of skills in this area (32%). “Four out of ten Belgians are at risk of digital exclusion and, unsurprisingly, digital inequalities reinforce social inequalities. For the head of the FRB, EPNs are good, but not enough. In 2019, the EPNs in Wallonia reached 60,000 people. Impressive”, explains Quentin Mertens, “but not enough in view of the one million people in Wallonia who are experiencing digital difficulties. In his view, the solution lies with the social players. They are directly on the ground. They are the ones who receive requests from people who don’t have a computer or email, who can’t get by. So either the social professionals consider that it’s not their job, or, on the strength of the bond of trust they have with their clients, they decide to give them a helping hand and then direct them to professional digital mediation structures such as the Espaces Publics Numériques. The 123 Digit platform was set up by WeTechCare Belgium to equip and support these frontline players.
Emmaus galaxy
In France, Emmaüs Connect launched the social startup WeTechCare in 2016, with the mission of bringing a learning platform – Les Bons Clics – online, with the aim of reaching one million people by 2020. The FRB’s plans for a spin-off involve setting up a mirror Belgian association in 2019: WeTechCare Belgique, which has adapted Les Bons Clics to the Belgian context at the initiative of the Foundation. 123 Digit’s ambition is identical: “to support social players in helping their members of the public who are having difficulty with digital technology, so that they can become autonomous when they go online”.
On the board of WeTechCare Belgium
The young association is founded by active members of WeTechCare France and the Google Boys: Jean Deydier, founder of the Emmaüs Connect association and WeTechCare France, is responsible for the day-to-day management of WTC Belgium. Other directors include Christian Magon de la Villehuchet, vice-chairman of WTC France and head of the Havas group in Belgium. Alexandre Aymé, co-founder of digital strategy consultancy Adveris, is a director of WeTechCare France, while Franck Pierre Alfero, chairman of WeTechCare Belgium, is a Customer Value Advisor at Google France. The Treasurer of WTC Belgium is none other than Christophe Querton, a former Google employee who is now Chairman of the 4Wings family foundation and, incidentally, co-founder and director of Accelery, another Brussels-based digital strategy consultancy.
Donations, European projects and public/private partnerships
The Belgian association and its 123digit platform are funded on a number of levels. Firstly, donations, thanks to the support of the FRB, the ING Fund for a Digital Society (€5,500, renewable for two years) and the 4Wings Foundation (contribution to the association’s budget over a 3-year period). Then there are the European projects, with Interreg funding in the pipeline for the training of 1,000 digital carers. (€1 million over two years for the entire project and its partners). Finally, there are private partnerships, the first two partners being Febelfin and Itsme, who have financed the development of training modules for their services. For Quentin Martens, the door is open to other partners: “There is still great potential for developing the I23 Digit platform. WeTechCare is listening to other players, whether they be mutual insurance companies, public authorities or other private players, to finance modules based on their own services”. As, at national level, the e-box…
Thinking outside the box
The reality is there. At the end of December 2020, the Special Consultative Commission on Consumer Affairs made a brief assessment of the extent and consequences of the digitisation of the economy. Digital inequality,” explains its authors, “can lead to social and economic exclusion for people who have difficulty using or who do not have access to these technologies. “In the gas, electricity and electronic communications sectors, bills and consumption notifications are increasingly obtained via electronic customer areas such as MyLampiris and MyProximus. Reimbursement of medical expenses is following the same trend (e.g. MySimbio, MyDKV). Bpost is also using electronic tools to track postal items. As for administrative services, the strategy for modernising them also involves digital technology (e.g. the eHeath healthcare platform, online tax returns (MyMinFin), applications for grants, school enrolments, applications for housing assistance, applications for bonuses, etc.). Job vacancies are increasingly being advertised digitally. Jobseekers who are not in a position to exploit ICTs because they do not have access to the equipment or training to use them are out of the game in advance”.
Popular education must play its part
But it would be a mistake for voluntary organisations to allow themselves to be reduced, via cleverly distilled calls for projects, to simply helping people to equip themselves with and use digital equipment. It is crucial, in terms of the target audiences for voluntary action, to provide the keys, to open the bonnet, to shed light on what is at stake. The proprietary tools and platforms to which we entrust more and more behavioural data represent a loss of autonomy for individuals and life in society. The opacity of the way recommendation algorithms work (for purchases, cultural consumption, leisure activities) and the looping systems that drain the information to which each person is supposed to adhere, call into question the democratic functioning of our society. This is where popular education must play its part.
Putting digital technology at the service of emancipation
Périne Brotcorne, researcher at CIRTES, assistant at FOPES and co-editor of the 2020 digital inclusion barometer: “Many continuing education associations are working on access to equipment and on the technical and cognitive mastery of digital tools, but this is not enough. In a way, in a context of increasing digitalisation, this means working on a form of controlled integration, on laborious participation in the digital society. What we need to do here is foster a critical vision of uses and work towards full social appropriation of digital technologies. We need to go beyond the stage of adoption and learning, and succeed in putting digital technology at the service of the autonomy and emancipation of individuals and communities. The aim of lifelong learning must be to derive social benefits from the use of digital technologies”. Social and cultural players must take hold of technology as a political object and question it in this sense. They must reject the label of digital helpers. Their mission is to put digital cultural mediation into action, while at the same time demanding that human contact points be maintained as interactive guarantors of access to essential rights for all populations.
Jean-Luc Manise
© Catherine BERNIER, SPW – Article created during the World café workshop on digital inclusion on 26/04/2019
Published in https://gsara.tv/fracturenumerique/inclusion-numerique/
PMTIC & EPN
Historically, digital inclusion policies originated in Wallonia in the early 2000s with the launch of the ICT Mobilisation Plan by the then Minister for Employment and Training. That same year, the same Marie Arena financed the publication by Philippe Allard and Pierre Lelong of the book “Les espaces publics numériques, moteur d’un internet participatif”. The first initiative was aimed at improving the digital skills of jobseekers. The second aims to facilitate “the setting up of not-for-profit spaces open to the public with a project for individual and/or group support to promote access, initiation and appropriation of the Internet, multimedia and office automation. The “genesis” of the first scheme will be entrusted to the Laboratoire de soutien aux Synergies Education Technologie at the University of Liège, which will be responsible for the programme, methodology and content development. Its funding will be structural, set by decree, a new version of which is expected next year. The EPN system will be supported on an ad hoc basis through calls for tender and equipment grants, one of the largest of which is the €15,000 envelope allocated at the end of last year to each of the 166 approved structures. It will be run by the Technofutur TIC digital skills centre under an annual agreement worth €150,000. As a sign of the times, the said Centre is now taking over the running of the network of PMTIC operators, in coordination with the Laboratoire de soutien aux Synergies Education Technologie at the University of Liège, which continues to be the driving force behind the scheme.
2,400 beneficiaries and 97,000 hours of training
The PMTIC is a training scheme. Each recognised operator (in 2019, 54 approved operators, including 17 EPNs, trained 2,400 beneficiaries, corresponding to 97,000 hours of training) is responsible for providing training to jobseekers at a cost of €7.50 per hour per trainee, within an overall framework of 48 hours divided into 4 training units: first contacts with the digital world; email and social networks; browsing and searching for information; office automation. The initiative will mainly be of interest to the voluntary sector, in particular what are now known as CISPs (Centres d’Insertion Socio-Professionnelle), which already offer training to jobseekers. The large number of people they initially attracted became increasingly rare over the years. At the same time, administrative and certification requirements will increase, and the funding of the scheme will be repeatedly questioned by politicians. All this will weaken the network and reduce the number of operators. In 2018, the support grant to LabSET for supervising the network came to an end. Thanks to the willingness of the Liège lab, the scheme continued to operate on its own funds in slow mode. Today, a 2-year agreement links LabSET to the Technofutur ICT Skills Centre, one for educational coordination, the other for facilitation, technical training and communication, while a new decree is in the pipeline for an expanded, modernised and refinanced version of PMTIC. Clearly, the issues of skills acquisition, digital mediation and digital inclusion are becoming increasingly important and sensitive.
Digital mediation: 500 Walloon players
It was against this backdrop that, in mid-April 2019, Pierre Lelong and Eric Blanchart, respectively Project Manager and Project Manager for the Wallonia EPN Resource Centre, co-signed the Memorandum entitled “Pour une politique de la médiation numérique en Wallonie – Insérer les citoyens dans une société inclusive et innovante”. This document places great emphasis on decompartmentalisation. The authors estimate that there are 500 players directly or indirectly involved in digital mediation. The spectrum is wide: from public reading to cultural centres and museums, not forgetting CPAS and PCS, community technology centres, front-line associations working with vulnerable groups, continuing education associations, third places, CoderDojos and, of course, EPNs and PMTIC operators. They advocate the emergence of a regional ecosystem thanks to a cross-disciplinary, unifying project: “Stakeholders, players in the field, decision-makers and final beneficiaries have everything to gain from a coordinated, broad, visible and coherent system of all the initiatives working around digital mediation. The authors call for the establishment of a structured network of third places offering a coordinated range of digital services to the public.
Digital relay agent
EPNs have their place: in September last year, proposals for “an action plan for digital mediation for all Walloons” were submitted by the SPW Economy, Employment and Research and the Digital Agency, in collaboration with all the players involved in inclusion. The proposed actions include strengthening the system and introducing a common minimum skills base for vulnerable groups. Eric Blanchart: “Whether they go to Saint-Nicolas, Comines-Warneton or Virton, to a library, as part of a Social Cohesion Plan (PCS) or to a local EPN, citizens will thus be guaranteed to find the same content linked to the basic digital skills described in the European DigComp reference framework”. The authors of the action plan base the restructuring and strengthening of the system on a multi-level model. The structures closest to the citizens, communes and CPAS, would be invited to appoint a “digital relay agent” as the first point of contact for those who have lost touch with the digital world. It would then be up to them to link up with a local EPN, the number of which is set to increase via a new call for proposals.
Structural funding for Walloon EPNs
Existing EPNs would be allocated an annual structural subsidy, including a co-financing obligation for the promoter (typically 50%). Indicative amount of this subsidy? 25,000 euros. Alongside this (re)funding, there remains the thorny question of the job and status of the multimedia animator. Eric Blanchart: “The path we had mapped out to raise the awareness of the Conseil Régional de la Formation and other training bodies has failed. The political will wasn’t strong enough, we didn’t have enough influence to be able to see it through, even if we did manage, with Forem, to produce a reference framework on the job of multimedia animator. But now there’s the European Start Digital project, supported in Wallonia by Forem, SPW, AdN, the CISP interfederation, Ifapme and interMire, the association providing support and assistance to the eleven Regional Employment Missions, one of whose missions is to develop and train digital mediators and facilitators and to recognise a range of skills. The issue has therefore been relaunched: it could lead to recognition and enhancement of the profession, if not of facilitator then at least of digital mediator, in which EPN facilitators could find themselves”.
Brussels Digital Accessibility Players' Collective
In Brussels, the emergence and networking of digital inclusion players, first and foremost the EPNs, is the result of players in the field and, more specifically, in 2008, the desire of 4 associations to make the work of the EPNs more visible: l’Atelier du Web, Fobagra, FIJ & Banlieues. The Collectif des Acteurs Bruxellois de l’Accessibilité Numérique / Digitale Inclusie Brusselse Actoren Collectief will become a not-for-profit organisation in the summer of 2019. Caban’s aim? “To promote the inclusion of all citizens in a fair, equitable and sustainable digital society. To achieve this, the association’s mission is to bring together the associations and other bodies fighting against the digital divide in Brussels. At the centre of this effort are the EPNs, of which there are currently some 20 approved structures”.
Proposals for structural support for Brussels EPNs
In its 2021-2024 digital appropriation plan, the Brussels Region places these structures at the forefront. The aim is both to provide high-quality support for the EPNs in Brussels and to standardise the services they offer. Above all, their resources need to be strengthened. With this in mind, the digital inclusion coordination committee led by the CIRB, which is responsible for developing and implementing the digital appropriation plan in Brussels, has sent Clerfayt proposals for the structural funding of the EPNs, based on a human and financial inventory drawn up by CABAN. In the meantime, these structures, which are largely run by multimedia facilitators whose jobs are often insecure, have benefited for the past ten years from a closed budget of €100,000 used by the CIRB to ‘rematerialise’, year in, year out, 4 EPNs a year. With the health crisis and the rise of digital technology (and therefore digital inequalities), the region has freed up additional resources. Last year, an exceptional budget of €480,000 was voted as part of the special measures for digital inclusion. The breakdown was as follows: €30,000 in exceptional support for approved EPNs (10 EPNs received €3,000), €50,000 was allocated for CABAN’s missions and €400,000 was entrusted to the King Baudouin Foundation for the “Digital Brussels” call for projects.
30 projects
The 30 winning projects (24 French-speaking and 6 Dutch-speaking) were selected by a panel of independent experts. They are currently being rolled out. The target audiences of the selected projects correspond logically to those addressed by the EPNs: young people, job seekers, people with disabilities, sick children taking distance learning courses, senior citizens, occupants of social housing, women from immigrant backgrounds. Some projects organise mobile social teams, others seek out people in difficulty to offer them support in the Espaces Publics Numériques (EPNs), and still others create ‘buddies’ and peer helpers… The Etterbeek EPN uses these resources to provide support for teenagers (schooling, job hunting, administration). The Saint-Gilles EPN offers a mobile EPN formula, while the Evere Cultural Centre and the Jette CPAS call on a public computer specialist to visit the homes of people with digital difficulties. Awareness-raising workshops have been set up by the Foyer des jeunes des Marolles for young people and mothers. In the same district, Habitat et Rénovation Ixelles is offering a local EPN to provide “tailored” support to residents of social housing in the Marolles district. The ASBL OIRD offers training to children and families living on the margins of society in the Canal area of Molenbeek. The Centre Féminin d’Education Permanente de Saint-Josse-Ten-Noode offers migrant women tailor-made training courses. At Entraide Bruxelles in Laeken, newcomers (with little or no knowledge of French) learn how to consult online service sites. In Etterbeek, a project aims to make touch-screen terminals available to the homeless to enable them to access help and information websites more easily.
800,000 for digital inclusion in Brussels
In February this year, the 2021-2024 appropriation plan was approved. It provides for an annual budget of €900,000, of which €100,000 is allocated to Easy Brussels for administrative simplification and €800,000 to the CIRB for the remainder of the operationalisation of the plan, which is steered by the digital inclusion unit through a working group bringing together, around the Centre d’Informatique pour la Région Bruxelloise, public players (Bruxelles Formation, Actiris, perspective. brussels, Women in Tech, Bruxelles Social, the SPFB), local players (CABAN, Passwerk, WeTechCare) and private players (BNP Paribas Fortis).
Tania Maamary, digital inclusion coordinator at CIRB: “From this budget, we are going to allocate €200,000 this year to (re)materialise the approved EPNs”. That’s around €10,000 per structure.
A special place for the King Baudouin Foundation
It has to be said that the KBF occupies a special place and plays a special role on the map of digital inclusion in Belgium. The fight against poverty is part of its 2020-2024 business plan. In its roadmap, it includes the digital aspect of precariousness, which reinforces the isolation and fragility of people who are already on the margins of society. Its objective? To promote digital inclusion by stepping up support for the acquisition of basic digital skills for the most vulnerable sections of the population”. To underpin its strategy, the FRB has funded dedicated research on the subject and published the first digital inclusion barometer in August 2020. Today, any document or proposal relating to digital appropriation and inclusion policies in Belgium must refer to it. It will also be sponsoring the launch of the social start-up WeTechCare Belgium, a subsidiary identical in spirit and mission to its French “parent company”, WeTechCare.
A benchmark barometer
Quentin Mertens, senior FRB project coordinator: “Digital technology is not neutral in that it increasingly conditions access to essential services such as health, housing and administration. Two years ago, we zoomed in on existing figures, mainly from Statbel, to quantify the phenomenon. But there was no dedicated research on the subject. With the 2020 Digital Inclusion Barometer, that has now been done. This in-depth research work confirms the scale of a problem that, in our view, remains underestimated. To say that 40% of the Belgian population is in a situation of digital vulnerability is to say that the day-to-day lives of these people are likely to be impacted, or even degraded, because of a lack of access to digital technology (8%) or a very low level of skills in this area (32%). “Four out of ten Belgians are at risk of digital exclusion and, unsurprisingly, digital inequalities reinforce social inequalities. For the head of the FRB, EPNs are good, but not enough. In 2019, the EPNs in Wallonia reached 60,000 people. Impressive”, explains Quentin Mertens, “but not enough in view of the one million people in Wallonia who are experiencing digital difficulties. In his view, the solution lies with the social players. They are directly on the ground. They are the ones who receive requests from people who don’t have a computer or email, who can’t get by. So either the social professionals consider that it’s not their job, or, on the strength of the bond of trust they have with their clients, they decide to give them a helping hand and then direct them to professional digital mediation structures such as the Espaces Publics Numériques. The 123 Digit platform was set up by WeTechCare Belgium to equip and support these frontline players.
Emmaus galaxy
In France, Emmaüs Connect launched the social startup WeTechCare in 2016, with the mission of bringing a learning platform – Les Bons Clics – online, with the aim of reaching one million people by 2020. The FRB’s plans for a spin-off involve setting up a mirror Belgian association in 2019: WeTechCare Belgique, which has adapted Les Bons Clics to the Belgian context at the initiative of the Foundation. 123 Digit’s ambition is identical: “to support social players in helping their members of the public who are having difficulty with digital technology, so that they can become autonomous when they go online”.
On the board of WeTechCare Belgium
The young association is founded by active members of WeTechCare France and the Google Boys: Jean Deydier, founder of the Emmaüs Connect association and WeTechCare France, is responsible for the day-to-day management of WTC Belgium. Other directors include Christian Magon de la Villehuchet, vice-chairman of WTC France and head of the Havas group in Belgium. Alexandre Aymé, co-founder of digital strategy consultancy Adveris, is a director of WeTechCare France, while Franck Pierre Alfero, chairman of WeTechCare Belgium, is a Customer Value Advisor at Google France. The Treasurer of WTC Belgium is none other than Christophe Querton, a former Google employee who is now Chairman of the 4Wings family foundation and, incidentally, co-founder and director of Accelery, another Brussels-based digital strategy consultancy.
Donations, European projects and public/private partnerships
The Belgian association and its 123digit platform are funded on a number of levels. Firstly, donations, thanks to the support of the FRB, the ING Fund for a Digital Society (€5,500, renewable for two years) and the 4Wings Foundation (contribution to the association’s budget over a 3-year period). Then there are the European projects, with Interreg funding in the pipeline for the training of 1,000 digital carers. (€1 million over two years for the entire project and its partners). Finally, there are private partnerships, the first two partners being Febelfin and Itsme, who have financed the development of training modules for their services. For Quentin Martens, the door is open to other partners: “There is still great potential for developing the I23 Digit platform. WeTechCare is listening to other players, whether they be mutual insurance companies, public authorities or other private players, to finance modules based on their own services”. As, at national level, the e-box…
Thinking outside the box
The reality is there. At the end of December 2020, the Special Consultative Commission on Consumer Affairs made a brief assessment of the extent and consequences of the digitisation of the economy. Digital inequality,” explains its authors, “can lead to social and economic exclusion for people who have difficulty using or who do not have access to these technologies. “In the gas, electricity and electronic communications sectors, bills and consumption notifications are increasingly obtained via electronic customer areas such as MyLampiris and MyProximus. Reimbursement of medical expenses is following the same trend (e.g. MySimbio, MyDKV). Bpost is also using electronic tools to track postal items. As for administrative services, the strategy for modernising them also involves digital technology (e.g. the eHeath healthcare platform, online tax returns (MyMinFin), applications for grants, school enrolments, applications for housing assistance, applications for bonuses, etc.). Job vacancies are increasingly being advertised digitally. Jobseekers who are not in a position to exploit ICTs because they do not have access to the equipment or training to use them are out of the game in advance”.
Popular education must play its part
But it would be a mistake for voluntary organisations to allow themselves to be reduced, via cleverly distilled calls for projects, to simply helping people to equip themselves with and use digital equipment. It is crucial, in terms of the target audiences for voluntary action, to provide the keys, to open the bonnet, to shed light on what is at stake. The proprietary tools and platforms to which we entrust more and more behavioural data represent a loss of autonomy for individuals and life in society. The opacity of the way recommendation algorithms work (for purchases, cultural consumption, leisure activities) and the looping systems that drain the information to which each person is supposed to adhere, call into question the democratic functioning of our society. This is where popular education must play its part.
Putting digital technology at the service of emancipation
Périne Brotcorne, researcher at CIRTES, assistant at FOPES and co-editor of the 2020 digital inclusion barometer: “Many continuing education associations are working on access to equipment and on the technical and cognitive mastery of digital tools, but this is not enough. In a way, in a context of increasing digitalisation, this means working on a form of controlled integration, on laborious participation in the digital society. What we need to do here is foster a critical vision of uses and work towards full social appropriation of digital technologies. We need to go beyond the stage of adoption and learning, and succeed in putting digital technology at the service of the autonomy and emancipation of individuals and communities. The aim of lifelong learning must be to derive social benefits from the use of digital technologies”. Social and cultural players must take hold of technology as a political object and question it in this sense. They must reject the label of digital helpers. Their mission is to put digital cultural mediation into action, while at the same time demanding that human contact points be maintained as interactive guarantors of access to essential rights for all populations.
Jean-Luc Manise
© Catherine BERNIER, SPW – Article created during the World café workshop on digital inclusion on 26/04/2019
Published in https://gsara.tv/fracturenumerique/inclusion-numerique/
Source of this article
https://gsara.tv/fracturenumerique/inclusion-numerique/
Data sheet information
Date Field
04.03.2024
File entered by a member or friend of the network (single choice)
CESEP
Licence CC BY-SA 4.0
The world of free software for cultural and educational agents.
Article provided by
- CESEP
Summary
Welcome to the world of free software and its benefits for culture and education professionals. The use of open source software offers many opportunities to improve efficiency, collaboration and sustainability in the field of cultural management and social education. In this article, we’ll explore some of the key benefits and provide real-world examples of open source software that can be useful for these professionals.
Text
Some examples of useful free software among the many that exist:
Potential challenges and solutions:
While the benefits of open source software are numerous, it is essential to recognize and address some potential challenges.
Training and Adoption:
Technical support:
Integration with proprietary software:
By moving into the future, by adopting open source software, cultural managers and social educators can not only improve the efficiency of their operations, but also contribute to a culture of collaboration and sharing. As the open source community continues to grow, new innovative solutions will emerge, offering even more opportunities to positively transform these industries. In conclusion, the move to open source software represents a lasting investment in efficiency, customization and collaboration for those seeking to expand the impact of their cultural and educational efforts.
In conclusion, using open source software offers many benefits to cultural managers and social educators, ranging from reduced costs to better collaboration and customization. The examples mentioned above are only a small part of the many options available, and exploring these solutions can greatly contribute to the effectiveness and sustainability of projects in these cases.
Tags: culture, education, free software
Benefits of open source software for cultural managers and social educators:
- Low cost and access to quality tools: Open source software is often free, allowing cultural and educational organizations to reduce their costs. This frees up financial resources that can be reinvested in larger projects. In addition, many open source software products are of high quality and benefit from an active community of developers.
- Customization and Adaptability: Open source software offers great flexibility, allowing cultural managers and social educators to customize the tools to their specific needs. This ensures that the software meets the unique requirements of each organization.
- Increased collaboration: Open source software encourages collaboration between professionals by enabling shared access to tools and resources. Platforms like GitHub facilitate developer collaboration, promoting the exchange of ideas and solutions.
- Transparency and Trust: The transparent nature of open source development builds user trust. Cultural managers and social educators can review the source code to ensure the safety and ethical compliance of the software they use.
Some examples of useful free software among the many that exist:
- Project Management: Redmine – a flexible project management tool that helps track tasks, manage resources and track progress.
- Content management: WordPress – a powerful content management system (CMS) for creating and managing websites. It offers a wide variety of themes and plugins.
- Graphic editing: GIMP – a powerful and free image editor, perfect for photo editing and graphic design.
- Communication and collaboration: Mattermost – a self-hosted instant messaging platform that ensures secure communications.
Potential challenges and solutions:
While the benefits of open source software are numerous, it is essential to recognize and address some potential challenges.
Training and Adoption:
- Challenge: Some professionals may be reluctant to adopt new software, especially if they are unfamiliar with open source technology.
- Solution: Provide in-depth training on using open source software and demonstrate its practical benefits concretely.
Technical support:
- Challenge: Availability of technical support can be a concern, especially for smaller organizations without a dedicated IT team.
- Solution: Encourage online communities and forums where users can ask questions and share experiences. In addition, some companies offer paid support for specific open source software.
Integration with proprietary software:
- Challenge: Some work environments use proprietary software that may not be compatible with open source solutions.
- Solution: Choose open source software that offers APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) to facilitate integration with other proprietary tools.
By moving into the future, by adopting open source software, cultural managers and social educators can not only improve the efficiency of their operations, but also contribute to a culture of collaboration and sharing. As the open source community continues to grow, new innovative solutions will emerge, offering even more opportunities to positively transform these industries. In conclusion, the move to open source software represents a lasting investment in efficiency, customization and collaboration for those seeking to expand the impact of their cultural and educational efforts.
In conclusion, using open source software offers many benefits to cultural managers and social educators, ranging from reduced costs to better collaboration and customization. The examples mentioned above are only a small part of the many options available, and exploring these solutions can greatly contribute to the effectiveness and sustainability of projects in these cases.
Tags: culture, education, free software
Data sheet information
Date Field
26.01.2024
File entered by a member or friend of the network (single choice)
Assodev - Marsnet