On April 2, the DUKO Youth Center of the “Dilijan Youth Cooperation Center” NGO hosted more than 35 young people and civil society representatives for a workshop organized by the Freedom of Information Center in Armenia (FOICA) on the effective use of online tools for digital governance, freedom of information, and civic participation.
The initiative aimed to strengthen participants’ capacities in the use of digital participation tools, access to public information, and online civic engagement, while also raising awareness of personal data protection and security issues and encouraging the use of these tools.
Welcoming the initiative, Artur Ghazaryan, President of the partner organization “Dilijan Youth Cooperation Center” NGO, emphasized that in the context of rapidly developing digital technologies, online platforms have become important tools for the active and informed participation of young people in public processes, while the skills needed to use them safely and effectively have become a necessity.
During the workshop, participants were introduced to the fundamental principles of freedom of information and its practical application. The discussion focused on the opportunities provided by digital platforms operating in Armenia, including e-request.am, hartak.am, and e-draft.am, and how these tools can be used to communicate with public authorities and participate in decision-making processes.
Although some participants already had experience in drafting and submitting applications and information requests, for many of them these online platforms were unfamiliar tools. The workshop provided an opportunity not only to become familiar with their structure and logic, but also to jointly discuss the questions that arise in the course of using them, both technical and content-related.
In the practical part of the workshop, participants tested the process of drafting information requests. During group work, they analyzed a sample request, identified its strengths and weaknesses, and proposed changes that could help obtain information more quickly and effectively.
A separate part of the workshop was devoted to personal data protection. FOICA expert Gevorg Hayrapetyan presented the key principles of the field, after which participants discussed specific situations showing where and how personal data can become vulnerable. The discussions also included everyday examples related to providing data on official platforms, video recording in educational settings, sharing content on social media, and the risks of online fraud.
“The workshop was very interesting. For me, the e-request platform was especially new, because before this I had no idea that such a tool even existed. I think all of these platforms will be very helpful for me, especially when conducting research, because it is often difficult to find information on state websites,” said workshop participant Anet Babayan.
Participants of the workshop also received practical guidebooks developed by FOICA, which present in a simple and accessible way the opportunities offered by digital platforms and the basic principles for their safe use.
As part of the project, a similar workshop had also been organized in March in the Sevan community. Both the young people from Sevan and those from Dilijan completed knowledge assessment questionnaires before and after the meetings, and the summary of the results shows a significant increase in knowledge and skills related to the topics discussed.
At the same time, participants also assessed their own progress: all participants noted that they had improved their knowledge and skills during the training, while around 60% described that improvement as significant.
The event was organized as part of the “Digital Democracy in Action” project, implemented by the Freedom of Information Center in Armenia in partnership with the Internet Society NGO, with financial support from GIZ Armenia under the “Digital Democracy for All” initiative.
