Telekom Srbija participates in Safer Internet Day Conference

International Safer Internet Day, which aims to make the Internet a safer and better place, primarily for children and young people, has been marked every February since 2004. In the organization of UNICEF Serbia, to mark this day, a Safer Internet Day conference was held, with special emphasis on safe and secure use of the Internet and digital platforms and tools. The participants included key partners from the government, the private sector, regulators and policy makers who together participate in creating a safe digital environment for children. The meeting was opened by the Minister of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications, Tatjana Matić, and the Director of UNICEF in Serbia, Dejana Kostadinova.

The topic of the first panel discussion of the conference was the safety of children, ways to ensure it and creating a system that would keep up with the growing challenges of the digital age. Telekom Srbija was represented at the conference by Mila Milenković, head of the Strategy Department within the Strategy and Digital Division.

“We view youngsters as partners and work continuously on educating parents through our site and through the development of services in which we install protection networks. We have been cooperating with young people for ten years as part of the project We Initiate the Initiators. We see young people, especially high school students who deal with informatics, as the catalysts of future modern, digital development, through the project mts app competition, or regional app challenge. Two thousand five hundred high school students have been covered by our program, over 175 applications have been developed for Android and iOS devices and what is most important, we organize special training for them every time and raise their awareness of safety in using digital content, and of course Internet surfing. We believe this to be the right path, precisely because we think strategically as they are our future most important customers, future drivers of technological development, but also future parents", said Mila Milenković

She particularly stressed that no parental control was good enough if parents lost an open and honest relationship with their children, because together they should look at what was offered on the Internet, what they should follow, and what was absolutely inadmissible. "The safety of children on the Internet is no technological challenge, but a matter of the value system and behaviour, and that is why the most important thing is actually to communicate with children." She also said that in the past five years, Telekom Srbija had provided equipment and IT devices/computers for 100 schools across Serbia. As a national operator and a majority state-owned entity, we provide support to the relevant Ministry and regulators in general, and our entire five-year action has been conducted under the auspices and support of the relevant Ministry, which helps us select 40 schools to vote for later on our Facebook page.

The development of digital technologies enables children to learn, socialize and have fun, but at the same time presents them with numerous risks. It is important that risk mitigation measures are balanced with children's rights of freedom of expression, access to information and privacy. Informing, engaging children and equipping them with skills that enable them to use the Internet safely is a critical line of defence. Being aware of the increased risks posed by the digital age for the safety of children and youth and the need to respond to them, the conference emphasized the importance of integrated creation of an adequate system in confronting digital risks.