Building a digitally ready education system with a bioethical framework - the new normal

This policy brief highlights the timely need to foster digital literacy skills in higher education institutions and provides a model of digital education structured through a bioethical framework. Our reflection is brought forth by the growing pervasiveness of technology within the societal context and the lack of adequate education to tackle present and future challenges. At the same time, we recognize that an essential element of digital education is represented by the ability to critically think about the spectrum of both current and potential harms and benefits of digital technologies. This awareness underlines the very concept of digital literacy as characterized by both practical and thought components. As such, we propose an interdisciplinary model of digital literacy education composed of a basic foundation for digital ethics represented by the set of values characterised in the Universal Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights, and two categories of digital literacy skills.