Digital skills volunteering with Microsoft
On the occasion of International Volunteer Day, celebrated today, 5 December, Fondazione Mondo Digitale and Microsoft Italia present a new initiative dedicated to digital skills volunteering: Smart & Safe, classroom training sessions conducted directly by Microsoft professionals on cybersecurity and responsible artificial intelligence.
Every year, Microsoft gives its employees up to three paid days for volunteering activities: a concrete commitment that this year has resulted in an extraordinary mobilisation. In fact, 140 volunteers have already applied to visit Italian schools to share practical skills gained in the field, supporting teachers and students on a path of digital growth.
The initiative is part of the Ital.IA Lab for School programme, a joint educational proposal by Fondazione Mondo Digitale and Microsoft to support schools in the transition towards the conscious, inclusive and safe use of artificial intelligence.
Volunteers become teachers for a day
The Smart & Safe sessions last 90 minutes and feature a workshop-based, situational approach. Microsoft volunteers, who face real challenges related to security and AI every day, bring to the classroom:
- concrete examples of cyber risks and best practices for protecting data and digital identity
- a clear and accessible overview of how artificial intelligence is changing the digital world and what skills are needed to use it safely and responsibly.
Schools can participate by choosing between online activities or hosting the volunteer in person in the auditorium.
TO PARTICIPATE WITH YOUR CLASSES,
FILL OUT THE ONLINE FORM
‘Digital skills volunteering is an extraordinary lever for social innovation: it allows professionals to put their human capital to work to strengthen communities and accelerate digital transformation processes,’ explains Director General Mirta Michilli. ‘With Smart & Safe, together with Microsoft, we are bringing this vision directly into schools, creating a virtuous circle in which advanced skills, social responsibility and the future of young people come together. This is the deeper meaning of corporate volunteering: generating shared value while growing as individuals and as organisations.’
