Faraway, so close: why the digital industry needs scholars and the other way around

The body of knowledge about children’s engagement with digitaltechnologies has steadily grown in the last decade. Such rich evidence has begun to be used to inform policy-makers, (local) governments, parents, educators, awareness-raisers and even children themselves. However, other relevant stakeholders such as the industry seem to be taking less advantage of this rich knowledge base. Without industry collaboration, the work of media scholars presents a missed opportunity to ensure that children are better protected and empowered and that their rights are taken into consideration in the development of new digital products and services. Merely informing the industry is, however, not enough. Scholars must ensure that their knowledge translates into practical guidelines and concrete solutions to guarantee children`s better and safer digital experiences. This can only be achieved by keeping on building new knowledge, but also by exploring new avenues for cooperation and co-creation of child-centred solutions with partners such as the industry, but also with children themselves. Last, it remains to be seen whether the benefits outweigh the challenges and the costs involved in collaboration.

Jaar van publicatie:2016

BOF-keylabel:ja

IOF-keylabel:ja

BOF-publication weight:1

CSS-citation score:1

Authors from:Higher Education