The cooperation between New Future Lab and the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations (BZK) in the development of learning solution DigiHandig was always pleasant. Nicolette Faneyte of BZK: "We worked with short lines and were able to look at each other honestly and critically. It felt like a joint journey, in which we innovated, learned and developed together." Together we developed a learning solution that makes learning digital skills more accessible and fun, both for helpers and digistarters. Meanwhile, thousands of people practice their digital skills through DigiHandig every month. They learn independently at home, at their own pace, or during DigiHandig group classes organized by libraries, community centers and other digi heroes.

In recent years, we have been pushing and putting digital skills on the map. For this team, we are entering the next phase. From digital inclusion to digital citizenship and digital accessibility. Where we focus on citizen awareness of new technological developments and AI. That citizens are included in the opportunities and risks of digitization. Not just the vulnerable but all citizens.

Collaboration during the pandemic
"During the corona pandemic, we got to know each other digitally. Only after the pandemic were we able to meet physically, but that didn't stop us from developing a valuable tool together. We built a learning solution that is also used by banks and Internet providers," says Nicolette

"We still see many opportunities to expand the solution further. Think, for example, of cooperation with organizations such as the NS, for participation purposes such as elections, for which we have already developed a nice module. We also see opportunities to help people make important choices, such as comparing health insurance, filing tax returns or applying for benefits. These are opportunities we still want to exploit to make people even more skilled."

Success stories‍

Nicolette: "It was a great gift to work with Kristel and her team. We achieved great successes such as:

- Launching the DigiHandig app on Digital Inclusion Day (November 30, 2022) with a 100% score on all WCAG accessibility requirements.

- Focusing on the "help-the-helper principle" to make it easier for informal and formal helpers to guide digistarters with, among other things, the launch of the group teaching materials, the DigiHandig bingos and the helper portal.

- Broadening deployment with the launch of the English translation, pronunciation function and soon translations to Spanish and Papiamentú, among others.

The enthusiasm and commitment of this young and inspiring team made it all possible."

Trust and cooperation
Nicolette looks back on the strength of the cooperation: "What made our cooperation strong was the trust we had in each other. We always thought in terms of opportunities and worked from a common motivation to innovate and contribute to society where people are actually helped.

We kept it low key and always found new ways to make things understandable and playful. Honesty, openness and the space to be critical were essential to our growth."

"For me personally, working with young entrepreneurs was a refreshing experience; it gave a new perspective on entrepreneurship and the flexibility to turn policy into action. It gave us the space to make smart choices and stay responsive to the needs of the people we want to help," concluded Nicolette Faneyte of Ministry of Interior and Kingdom Relations.

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