Overcoming fears of the digital world by trying things out
How can I book an appointment online with the Citizens' Service, how do I check the streetcar timetable and how does it work if I want to send my granddaughter photos from my cell phone via Whatsapp? Sandra Laue will be available to answer questions like these in the "tasting store" in future. Since November, she has been working with many partners as project coordinator to prepare the launch of a new offer from Jena Adult Education Center, and the three-person team has been complete since the beginning of May. They want to offer basic digital education for people in Jena who are afraid of contact or have not yet been able to participate in digitalization processes for other reasons.
Comprehensive advice in a living room atmosphere
Hardly anything in their premises at Engelplatz 14 is reminiscent of the former shoe store. The strikingly designed shop windows arouse curiosity, while a large counter welcomes guests inside. More furniture and technology are on the way. The team is expected to be available here every day from September to answer questions about everyday digital problems - without registration or appointments. Smartphones, tablets and PCs will be available to try out, and tea and coffee can be prepared in a kitchen. If more intensive advice is needed, the conversation can be continued in a cozy sitting area with a living room atmosphere.
"The aim is to activate existing resources, help people to help themselves and empower them digitally,"
summarizes Sandra Laue.
"And the motto is clear: digitalization can be fun and make everyday life easier."
In the future, courses and training sessions for citizens and professionals will take place in another area of the store.
Funded by the Jena Smart City project
The "tasting store" is being financed entirely by the Smart City Jena project. Since September 2020 until August 2027, this project has been working on digital solutions in numerous sub-projects, all of which are ultimately intended to improve the quality of life for people in Jena. The aim is to create the smart framework conditions that are necessary for cosmopolitan, sustainable, social and environmentally conscious urban development. After initially developing a strategy, the implementation phase has been underway since May 2023.
The "Probierladen" is located in the "Education, culture, social affairs" field of action - as the most extensive project in the "Learning spaces of the future" measure. In order to create a city-wide network of diverse offers for digital learning, those responsible at Smart City are working together with the adult education center (vhs), the Ernst Abbe Library with its two locations, the Lobeda and Winzerla district offices, the citizens' service, daycare centers and schools as well as the tourism department of the city of Jena.
Another important building block for inner-city development
"With the Jena Smart City project, we want to take people along on the digital transformation by promoting digital skills, enabling professionalization, making digitalization tangible and strengthening participation and self-determination. The trial store is another building block for inner-city development and helps to make Jena a more attractive place to live and work for our fellow citizens,"
said Benjamin Koppe, the department head responsible for digitalization.
"For us, the tasting store is an analogue anchor point for digitalization and therefore a place to meet and exchange ideas. In addition to acquiring basic digital skills, our main aim is to enable citizens to actively participate in the digital world and help shape it. With the taster store, we want to counteract the digital divide in our society and bring people together,"
adds Dorothea Prell, Smart City representative and project manager.
Adult education center expands its offer with the "tasting store"
The team at Jena Adult Education Center has already gained extensive experience in training different target groups in the use of digital devices. For many years, there have been offers for small groups where, for example, participants can bring their own devices and discuss problems. These basic digital education offers will be integrated into the "taster store" in future.
"With the Smart City initiative, many valuable projects will be implemented towards the digitalization of professional and private life,"
says vhs director Dr. Angela Anding.
"For us as a vhs, the focus from the outset was on the question of how to involve those who lack the access and knowledge, and perhaps also the motivation, to continue participating in cultural and social life. And so we see ourselves as a hinge and mediator between digitalization processes and individual needs and opportunities. Citizens who ask questions should feel comfortable and have the feeling that no question is a nuisance."
Important contribution to accessibility and participation
Friedrun Vollmer also sees the service as an important contribution to breaking down barriers:
"As the JenaKultur site manager responsible for cultural development and cultural education, I am particularly pleased that with the 'vhs-Probierladen' within the SmartCity project, we are setting out to think about digitalization from the user's perspective and provide low-threshold offers. Many things are not (or no longer) usable in our society if essential technical knowledge is lacking or is no longer taken into account in analog communication. That's why I see the tasting store as an important contribution to greater accessibility and participation by simply making access easier for everyone."
Smaller events on the way to the opening
Until the official opening, there will be smaller events in the city and in the store itself. All details can be found at www.vhs-jena.de(link is external) from June. A mobile "tasting store" is also expected to be in operation from June onwards, offering helpful and creative services relating to everyday digitalization issues at busy locations, district festivals and other events.
In the background, the future offers of the "tasting store" are currently being planned in detail. Consideration is also being given to how volunteer advisors can be involved. "We are focusing on cooperation and collaboration with existing services and providers in Jena," says coordinator Laue. Specific opening hours will be determined by the time of the opening, but these can be adapted to the behavior of guests over time if necessary.
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