Tribune News Network
Doha
Northwestern Qatar (NU-Q) Professor Eddy Borges-Rey and alumnus Malek Al Manaa have been entrusted with the leadership of an action research sub-project, which is dedicated to enhancing the digital citizenship skills and understanding of individuals in Qatar and the wider region. This initiative is part of a significant research cluster project that has been awarded a generous $4 million grant from the Qatar National Research Fund’s (QNRF) National Priorities Research Programme – Cluster (NPRP-C).
The research cluster, ‘The Future of Digital Citizenship in Qatar: A Social-Technical Framework’, aims to foster an interdisciplinary approach to studying digital citizenship in Qatar and contextualise it within the cultural context of the region through a series of six interdisciplinary sub-project projects.
As one of the sub-projects, the ‘Digital Citizenship Ambassadors’ sub-project, led by Borges-Rey and Al Manaa, will incorporate findings from the other projects in the cluster, create a baseline conceptual definition of what digital citizenship means, and analyse how it shapes online interactions with topics on health, security, literacy, rights and responsibility, etiquette, and economy. As project lead, he will then produce educational programs to be disseminated by digital citizenship ambassadors across different communities in Qatar through diverse means.
“The Digital Citizenship Ambassadors project is an exciting opportunity to empower individuals in Qatar and the wider region with essential digital skills and knowledge,” said Eddy Borges-Rey, associate professor in the Journalism and Strategic Communication Program at Northwestern Qatar. “Through our research, we aim to better understand and shape online interactions in various domains, ultimately fostering a more responsible, inclusive, and connected digital society. With the generous support of the Qatar National Research Fund, we are poised to create educational programs that will equip individuals from diverse communities to become effective advocates of digital citizenship.”
