Rome: Digital Capital – the value of training in the most vulnerable areas
Last Tuesday, 30 June, the Doposcuola Popolare di Quarticciolo hosted the final training session as part of the Roma Capitale Digitale project, supported by the Fund for the Digital Republic and organised by Fondazione Mondo Digitale ETS, in collaboration with the Department for Schools, Training and Employment, COL Togliatti and the Polo Civico Quarticciolo.
The session focused on tools that have now become essential for accessing digital public services – such as the CIe, SPID and the IO app – alongside the main online procedures useful in everyday life. It provided a practical opportunity to guide citizens in the informed use of digital technology, strengthening their autonomy, confidence and ability to navigate public administration platforms and services [see the news item Digital Skills in Quarticciolo].
Those present arrived at the meeting with a range of needs, from the need to activate their digital identity via the CIe to using it to access online services. During the practical sessions, the digital facilitator Giorgia Macrino guided participants in addressing their specific needs, offering direct and personalised support in using the tools covered.
One of the most significant aspects to emerge from the day concerned participation, with around 60 per cent of those present coming from other neighbourhoods in the city. This figure illustrates how initiatives capable of addressing concrete needs can overcome geographical boundaries, stereotypes and mistrust, fostering new forms of participation and inclusion.
The feedback gathered at the end of the session confirmed the value of the programme. 75% of participants said they felt more confident in using the digital tools covered, whilst 100% considered the course extremely useful for their daily lives and stated they intended to use the tools and procedures presented over the next three months.
The meeting was also attended by Councillor Claudia Pratelli, confirming the Rome City Council’s focus on the issue of digital accessibility, particularly in areas where opportunities are more likely to be hard to come by.
Concluding the training project in Quarticciolo was not a random choice, but a concrete sign of Fondazione Mondo Digitale’s commitment to continuing to support, alongside the public administration and local social organisations, the areas most in need of opportunities for inclusion and digital citizenship.
The area
Quarticciolo is an urban area within Rome’s 5th Municipal District (Municipio Roma V). It forms part of urban zone 7B Alessandrina, within the Q. XXIII Alessandrino district. It is situated at the junction of Viale Palmiro Togliatti (formerly Via Lucera) and Via Prenestina. The former separates it, to the west, from the Centocelle area, whilst the latter, to the north, separates it from the Tor Sapienza area. The name Quarticciolo derives from a popular corruption of the term ‘quarto’. The neighbourhood is situated exactly four miles from Porta Maggiore along Via Prenestina.
