8 stories telling about how and how much we are changing and explaining the possibilities with digital technology. This is the concept of "Storie di Risorgimento Digitale", the docuseries airing on RaiPlay from 7 December.
It is a journey taken over eight episodes, each lasting 25 minutes, to discover women and men who have relied on the Internet to work, study, rethink their free time, their lives and the lives of others.
These exemplary stories represent the fragile and connected times. Here, for example, digital and inclusive education is described through the experience of the Castel Volturno school, where during the health crisis teachers not only made lessons available remotely but also focused on video games and virtual reality to get students more involved.
The episode dedicated to PC4U — the non-profit platform that puts students who need a PC to do their lessons in touch with individuals or companies who can donate them — is also about distance learning.
Digital technology can create new opportunities to enhance artistic and cultural heritage, as in the cases of the Digital Team of the Uffizi Gallery, which has shared a series of successful live broadcasts and online cultural events on social media, and Boosta, the musician from Subsonica who has created a collection of digital works of art.
The Internet can also be a powerful factor for inclusion, as recounted by Licia Ferz, a 91-year-old grandmother who, after experiencing depression brought on by her husband's death, "saved herself" with the help of her grandson thanks to Instagram and social media, where she took part in various projects.
As working remotely has become the norm for more and more people, the NIBOL app provides a list of cosy and practical places where you can book a workstation.
Two episodes tell the stories of successful entrepreneurial cases characterised by remarkable creativity applied to new, unexpected needs. This is how, using 3D printers, Christian Fracassi turned diving masks into respirators, helping to save the lives of COVID patients around the world. It is also how Daje Shop was born, the start-up created by three young former university students to support small local shops through a neighbourhood e-commerce service offered on a digital platform.
The docuseries Storie di Risorgimento Digitale is the result of the collaboration between RAI and Operazione Risorgimento Digitale, the large-scale inclusion project on digital skills which TIM launched in Italy two years ago, now supported by over 40 world-class partners from the public, private and non-profit sectors.
During the first 20 months of operation, the project totalled 70,000 participants in live digital skills training initiatives and 100,000 people assisted and guided in the use of digital technologies, including through charity initiatives.
In total, more than 1 million people were introduced to digital culture.
The first phase, which started at the end of 2019 with a physical tour that was supposed to go to every Italian province, was interrupted by the pandemic and then rescheduled digitally.
Currently, Operazione Risorgimento Digitale offers events and training courses, such as online courses for citizens, e-learning initiatives for local civil servants and school teachers, weekly webinars in cooperation with consumer associations and workshops for professionals and SMEs.