Interesting perspectives on multilingual digital support and communication practices
During the discussion, it became clear that the field of digital support in Finland is diverse and has a lot to offer to all people in need of digital support. The speakers provided many examples of how digital support has been provided and how they have encountered problems related to digital support in their work.
The discussion focused on inequality that has increased due to shifting to digitalisation. Inequality has highlighted the different opportunities for people to participate in society and the issues that hinder access to digital support and digital information, such as linguistic, cultural, and cognitive accessibility.
The lack of cultural and linguistic accessibility in accessing services can act as a threshold for people who need/are looking for digital support. The importance of multilingual digital support and accessible communication must be emphasised, for example, by increasing the use of plain Finnish. Also, we cannot operate only in an online environment when not everyone has internet connections or the necessary technology or equipment. Therefore, we need to consider communication in other ways other than just websites and social media.
The development of the digital support field also includes communication and cooperation between different organisations and different authorities. The one-stop-shop principle, for example, at International House, was mentioned as a good practice that has increased the accessibility of digital support and trust in digital support providers. It is important to remember that digitalisation means much more than just digital support. It also includes the ability to connect with other people and take care of everyday life.
In the organisational field, we have noticed that the need for digital support arises in connection with other activities. In other words, the organisers of clubs or hobbies, for example, do “hidden digital support” as additional work. Cooperation between different actors is important for organisations to guide their clients to the right services. Also, outreach work plays an important role for individuals to receive more information and support about the services they need.
The DigiUp project's role in the digital support field
The panel discussion sparked a lot of reflection. In the DigiUp project, we aim to develop cooperation between different actors and digital support provided and developed by organisations. The role of multicultural organisations in developing the field is significant, and we support them in their transition to digitalisation in many ways.
- We map the current situation of digital support provided by multicultural organisations as well as their digital skills and areas of development in their organisational work.
- We provide digital support for multicultural organisations based on their needs. We also develop our digital support and training based on the mapping.
Contact us if you have any questions related to digital support and digitalisation. Contact Yuri Kitaba if you are a multicultural organisation’s employee, board member, or volunteer who need digital support in organisational work. You can find more information on the digital support from this page.
We held the panel discussion in Finnish, and the speakers tried to use plain Finnish. You can view the panel with subtitles in Finnish and English.