Announce: DiDIY Project Final Conference

Digital Makers – Making a Difference?

(versione italiana qui (sito LIUC) e anche qui (PDF))

On 22 June 2017 in Milano, Italy, the Digital Do It Yourself (DiDIY) H2020 European research project will hold its Final Conference: we invite all interested people to attend the event. To read the detailed program, please click here. Should you have any problem with the registration form, please let us know!

Update 2017/06/29: the slides and all other materials shared at the conference are here.

The phenomenon

The widespread availability of accessible and affordable digital tools, such as 3D printers and Arduino electronic boards, has triggered a new interest in the social value of the individual and collective Do It Yourself, a phenomenon that we call “Digital Do It Yourself” (DiDIY).

By developing the DiDIY mindset, people build their capacity to create and collaborate. As more people engage in DiDIY activities, the distinction between the producers of technological systems and their users becomes blurred. DiDIY may then support active digital citizenship.

As enthusiasts gather in makerspaces, Fab Labs, festivals, and online, DiDIY is creating new social opportunities, but also new threats. In areas from healthcare to the job market, from education to the circular economy, we see substantial transformations, and new scenarios have emerged in areas such as intellectual property, consumers’ rights, and crime.

Decision makers within both public and private organisations would benefit from a better understanding of this fast evolving phenomenon, to increase participation and enable personal, social, and economic development of communities.

The project

Over the last two years the DiDIY research project, financed by the European Commission within the Horizon 2020 programme, has been working on this complex phenomenon. Seven research institutions from Italy, Greece, U.K. and Netherlands have been working together to:

  • build insights into the evolution of DiDIY in work, education, creative society, and other areas;
  • develop guidelines to empower effective policies on DiDIY.

The event

The research consortium will present and discuss the main results of its activity in the Project Final Conference. Creative practitioners and decision makers are invited to attend the event: it will be a great opportunity to discuss the role and the impact of DiDIY on programs for developing digital competences, digital agendas, and best practices in education, industry, and public administration.

The event will be held on 22 June 2017 in Milano, Italy, hosted by Regione Lombardia at Palazzo Pirelli (Via F. Filzi 22). The preliminary, non definitive agenda is as follows:

Workshops descriptions

DiDIY and learning: Building a more creative society: Digital DIY, creativity and learning

In this workshop we will creatively discuss the potential of digital DIY to transform creativity in education, learning and everyday life.
Participants will build their ideas with simple craft materials in focused discussions (round-tables) on topics such as ‘DiDIY and new pedagogical approaches’, ‘Learning outside the classroom’, and  ‘Cultural and gender issues in digital DIY access and education’, to exchange aspirations, examples of best-practices, and future directions.

Makers at Work: Digital DIY mindset, open business models and collaborative workers

In this interactive workshop we will explore - with the help of participants - how the Digital DIY phenomenon is applied in business models of different kinds and what are the enablers and the constraints influencing the effect that DiDIY is having on work practices. We will discuss business models that combine the DiDIY mindset with an economically viable combination of knowledge sharing, revenue model, mode of production and governance model. Participants will work in small groups to study cases of their preference along these lines and the conclusions will be shared with the whole group.

Collaboration and patronages

The Final Conference of the DiDIY Project will take place under the patronage of:

Regione Lombardia

In partnership with / In collaborazione con

Regione Lombardia

Under the patronage of / Con il Patrocinio di

Rappresentanza Regionale della Commissione Europea a Milano

Under the patronage of / Con il Patrocinio di

Comune di Milano
Confindustria Lombardia

Under the patronage of / Con il Patrocinio di

Confindustria Lombardia
Under the patronage of / Con il Patrocinio di
AUSED - Associazione Utilizzatori Sistemi E tecnologie Dell'informazione

Milan Skyline image credits: by Nicolago (Own work) CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

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