Institutional portal - Municipality of Milan

In April and May, free lessons for citizens dedicated to the conscious and responsible use of new technologies - Photo gallery

Milan, May 31 2023 – The first two editions of the "Digital education courses" activated free of charge by the Municipality thanks to the collaboration with Fastweb as part of the "Digital disseminators" project, born within the "Milan Employment Pact", have concluded.

The results of the first phase of the initiative and its next steps were presented this morning at STEP Futurability district, the technological and informational space within the Fastweb headquarters in Piazza Adriano Olivetti, with a speech by the councilor for Economic Development and Community Policies work Alessia Cappello and in the presence of Layla Pavone, director of the Board for technological innovation and digital transformation of the Municipality of Milan, Elena Marchetto, head of Local governments relations at Fastweb, digital disseminators and some citizens who have participated in the lessons.

In this experimental phase of the project there are two classes, mainly composed of over 60s and citizens of foreign origin, who attended 12 lessons, delivered in the months of April and May thanks to the contribution and commitment of 14 Fastweb employees in the role of trainers and trainers.

During the courses, the basics of information technology useful for daily life were covered: surfing the internet safely starting from a conscious and safe use of the internet, leading to the creation and use of SPIDs, the recognition of e-mail messages fraudulent messages and spam (unwanted messages, often of a commercial nature), up to paying bills securely with your mobile phone.

The first two editions of the course were held in the classrooms of the Center for Work and Training in Via Fleming: to these will be added other locations where, in addition to the basic courses, starting next autumn, intermediate level and specific courses on cybersecurity.

All information will be available on the website or by calling the number (02) 884 41458. 

"Milan, the city of training – said the councilor for Economic Development and Labor Policies Alessia Cappello – is one of the four pillars on which the Labor Pact is based, signed a year ago with trade unions and category representatives and which sees a valuable collaboration between public and private entities. Just like in the case of Fastweb, which has dedicated hours of work to the digital literacy of many citizens, in an era in which many services, including municipal ones, are online is necessary in a city that wants to be inclusive and close to citizens. Our goal is to bring the next classes also to unconventional but accessible and reachable places in neighborhoods such as the covered municipal markets". 

The "Digital disseminators" project, aimed at all Milanese people who want to overcome their difficulties in using the internet and electronic devices (PCs, tablets and mobile phones), is among the initiatives launched by Palazzo Marino to combat the digital divide, together with institutional and private partners and in parallel with the development of municipal services accessible online. This is also why the courses focused first and foremost on the conscious and safe use of the internet, email and SPID.

"Our great challenge and responsibility – explains Layla Pavone – is to accelerate the opportunities offered by digital without leaving anyone behind. Talking about the sustainability of technological innovation, as we will do in the next Milan Digital week, involves putting all citizens in a position to access the services that are migrating from physical branches to platforms, it means providing everyone, regardless of their age or level of education, with the tools to deal with the growing impact that technology is having on our lives. The digital divide that excludes those who are not able to use new technologies is a new fragility, which we are called to combat by encouraging everyone's participation and making people responsible, also with respect to the risks to which they are exposed on the internet. Public-private collaboration is fundamental in this task."

"The spread of digital skills represents one of the pillars of our business. Every day we strive to ensure that more and more citizens can acquire the digital knowledge necessary to make the most of all the possibilities offered by new technologies – declares Elena Marchetto, head of Local governments relations of Fastweb -. The great participation in our courses held with the precious collaboration of the Municipality of Milan indicates not only that there is still a lot to do in the field of digital literacy but also that there is a strong desire to acquire new knowledge from part of the citizens because the awareness that the future passes and will pass increasingly through digital is growing more and more".

The numbers on the digitalisation of the services of the Municipality of Milan are constantly growing. The citizens registered in the Citizen's File are now over one million one hundred thousand, while 570.000 use the Citizen's File app from their smartphone. Every month, 20.000 new users register who, identifying themselves through SPID or CIE, view their data, check tax and document deadlines, make payments, register for nursery schools, and request car parking passes.