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DIGITAL ENTERPRISE THROUGH EMPATHY (DIGETEM)

2022-3-PT02-KA153-YOU-0000927642022Mobility of youth workersfinalized
Countries: PT|CY|RO|LT|GE|MD|AM|UA · Grant: €44,195
Digital skills and competencesInclusion of marginalised young peoplePreventing racism and discrimination

Objectives

Our project focused on digital enterprise and how it could be accomplished through empathy and humanitarian means. This project was an attempt to accomplish the following objectives: • Evaluated the ways by which we understood and empathized with others. • Examined how empathy was directly linked to confidence and self-understanding. • Encouraged people to base their evaluation of others on empathetic understanding. • Stimulated interest in Digital Enterprise (DE), empathy, and social inclusion. • Developed innovative ideas for the digital enterprise. • Developed digital skills to maximize our marketing potential. • Determined the extent to which empathy played a role in the consumer experience. Around ten years ago, digital transformation and the Human-Centered Workplace began to interact. They gradually became entangled in a symbiotic embrace, and the world of work was never the same. Due to Covid-19, the digital workspace rose to prominence, and as time passed, an increasing number of skills were required. Such abilities necessitated a great deal of effort, determination, and ongoing education. Regrettably, Covid 19, along with the strengthening of the digital workspace, hurt everyone's mental health. IPC measures such as isolation and lockdown impacted people directly through distress and anxiety, but also indirectly through debt, unemployment, and impoverishment. Additionally, young adults faced university closures and income loss, and were more likely than other adults to report substance use (25% vs. 13%) and suicidal thoughts (26% vs. 11%) (Cox et al. 2021) As a result, increased unemployment and income insecurity became a reality, and individuals had to learn to cope not only through advanced digital skills but also through empathy and humanities in general. The Covid 19 pandemic accelerated the adoption of the digital workspace, with the last two years marked by zoom calls, remote work, long-distance learning, and live streaming. Simultaneously, evidence indicated that most employers preferred part-time remote work and part-time in the office. Thus, the hybrid workspace was here to stay. Digital capabilities were no longer optional; they were necessary. Advanced digital skills became increasingly necessary for a rising number of jobs, yet only 36% of the workforce possessed them. Considering all the above, we addressed the following core needs: • There was a need to increase digital skills and enterprise. • Young adults had to learn to empathize with others, starting by being empathetic to themselves. As a result of those two needs, we concluded that there was a need for advancing digital skills and enterprise through empathy and humanitarian approaches. These needs turned out to be the primary objectives of our current endeavor. These two concepts could be married by considering how digital means were faceless, without emotional involvement. For example, people behaved differently when they responded to an email but not when they talked to another person in real life. They often hid their faces through zoom meetings rather than allowing people to see their expressions. The workforce working with digital skills was often emotionless, not considering its consumers’ demands and needs. Our priority was to develop digital skills, not in a bland, emotionless way, but through empathy and social inclusion. Thus, we tried to show that one of the most important aspects of the digital enterprise was empathy to co-workers and consumers. That was accomplished by having participants examine the present market's needs and then developing an innovative business plan related to the digital enterprise that they believed would meet those needs. We demonstrated ways participants could assess consumer demands and evaluate their onboarding experience. Through these activities, workshops, and seminars, participants learned that without empathy, advancement was impossible, and digital transformation was difficult to achieve. To summarize, “Digital Empathy (DIGEM)” was an initiative that focused on digital enterprise, empathy, innovation, and social inclusion.

Project partners (8)