Category: digital literacy

The Switchboard Confluence event in June 2025 brought together technology innovators and refugee resettlement professionals to reimagine newcomer support through emerging technologies. Participants shared practical tools, techniques, and examples of how ethical and affordable technologies can address current resettlement challenges, with an emphasis on reaching and serving clients who are not located in proximity to services and resources.

At the March 2025 Metropolis Conference I participated with Peel Newcomer Strategy Group (PNSG) on a panel presentation. If you weren't in the room, you may think you missed it. But, thankfully recently ran a similar panel and the 2024 P2P conference, virtually, so there is a recording. I didn't participate then, but I also have a recording of a very similar presentation I did on the topic of digital inclusion/equity and digital transformation in the sector.

You've seen Dr. Ibukun Abejirinde's work on compassionate virtual care on this site in the past. Her work on how digital transformation can advance health care access and health equity for marginalized groups is essentially connected to our work in settlement. I wanted to share some of that work in more detail.

Are you asking your clients about their digital access, literacy, and comfort as part of your intake or assessment processes? You should be. Here are some questions you can and should add to your intake and assessment flow to help you understand your clients and make better technology decisions.

Last year I wrote a post You don't need to be an early AI adopter, but pay attention where I shared some reports and links, mainly focused on ethical and responsible use of AI. I wrote "Ignoring whether or not you care about being a frontrunner in AI adoption, I think a key point is that you don’t need to be. But you need to be paying attention. And maybe seeking out some early adopters to learn from and even partner with." It's still true.

This webinar, hosted by Peel Newcomer Strategy Group with support of Digital Transformation committee of the Executive Council of Peel-Halton Settlement Partnerships, is designed to share knowledge and discuss the potential impact of Artificial Intelligence. This is the first session in a 4-part webinar series exploring the transformative potential of AI in newcomer-serving sector, with a special focus on how AI can enhance our services and operations.

Organized by ARAISA and the Société Nationale de l’Acadie (SNA) these May 2024 Cybersecurity and Data Protection webinars aim to raise awareness of privacy and data security principles, focusing on safeguarding client information and complying with provincial privacy laws. Both webinars are useful for all. Part 2 covers specific Atlantic region legal frameworks.

This May 2024 Canada Excellence Research Chair (CERC) in Migration and Integration conference brought together an interdisciplinary and inter-sectoral group of researchers and leaders from Canadian and international civil society, business and government to reflect on the implications of the rapid development of advanced digital technologies (ADTs) for migrant integration in Canada and around the world.

This P2P 2023 conference workshop presented preliminary findings of a multi-year evaluation of Together Project’s Welcome Group Program to understand the role technology plays in refugee settlement and integration, by comparing the experiences of Welcome Group matches that interact primarily virtually with those that interact both in-person and remotely. The Welcome Group Program matches volunteers with refugee newcomer households to provide social support over a period of six months.