Tutoring Program on Digital Care
This program consists of a series of seven diverse courses aimed at strengthening digital care capacities among civil society organizations.
What is a tutoring program?
It is a series of courses on digital care that can be taken synchronously or asynchronously by civil society organizations to strengthen their capacities and enrich their ongoing discussions about the use of technology in their work and the development of sustainable technology practices.
It is designed to allow each person to follow their own learning pace, with remote support and follow-up from specialized facilitators who respond to questions and needs as participants work through seven thematic areas: artificial intelligence, digital security basics, secure communication, social media, data management and secure storage, collective care guidelines and practices for networked work, and digital violence.
Why this tutoring program?
In a context where digital surveillance, data extractivism and digital threats increasingly become part of the everyday work of civil society organizations, we want to approach digital care practices as a political and collective necessity, one that helps us care for our work, ourselves, and the people we work with.
We recognize that digital care practices not only encompass a set of items to address, but that working from this perspective requires time and commitment from all of us who choose to embark on this path. This is why we approach digital care as an ongoing and shared process in which each collective can take ownership of the tools, knowledge, and criteria needed to make decisions according to its own context and needs. With this in mind, we propose this tutoring program as a starting point.
Through this tutoring program, we aim to strengthen collective capacities to make informed decisions around our use of digital technologies. Each thematic pathway addresses concrete needs we have identified through our work alongside organizations in the Global Majority: how to manage data securely, what it means to choose ethical infrastructures, and how to respond collectively to digital violence, among others.
Who is it aimed at?
This tutoring program is designed for civil society organizations, collectives, networks, and social movements that face digital vulnerabilities and want to strengthen their digital care practices. Participants have to be active grantees of IDRC and/or part of its networks. No prior knowledge is required, only a commitment to collective work, and a willingness to reflect on how we use technologies.
Note: this form has to be completed individually by each person that wants to register for the training. Even if several people from the same organization or collective register, follow-up communication will be conducted separately with each registered participant.
1. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: Power, Data, and Decission Making
Through these contents, you will learn about artificial intelligence (AI) from a critical and practical perspective. You will explore different types of AI, including generative and predictive systems, and understand how these technologies are being used in different contexts. You will examine the opportunities and challenges of AI tools, considering their implications for organizations, privacy, and digital care. You will also learn how to protect personal and sensitive information when using AI systems, and how to develop responsible approaches for integrating AI into organizational practices.
Start date: February 1st 2027
Estimated weekly time commitment for this track: 4 hours per week.
You will learn to:
- Identify different types of artificial intelligence, including generative and predictive AI, and understand their main uses
- Explore the range of AI tools available and assess their potential benefits, limitations, and risks according to organizational needs.
- Understand key privacy and security considerations when using AI tools, including the protection of personal and sensitive information
- Apply basic practices for protecting, anonymizing, and managing information in AI-supported environments
- Develop critical criteria for responsible AI adoption within organizations
- Understand the key elements involved in creating an organizational AI use policy or agreement
2. BASIC DIGITAL SECURITY: Passwords, Antivirus, and Malware
Through these contents, you will learn about digital security practices to protect your devices, accounts, and personal information. You will explore why strong passwords, multi-factor authentication, and secure digital habits are essential for reducing risks in online environments. You will also learn how malware and social engineering tactics work, how to recognize signs of compromised accounts or devices, and how to use basic tools to improve your digital protection. All these practices will be oriented towards understanding digital security as an ongoing practice of care, recognizing that protecting yourself also helps protect the people and communities connected to your digital networks.
Start date: February 22nd 2027
Estimated weekly time commitment for this track: 4 hours per week.
You will learn to:
Be aware of the importance on managing strong, unique passwords using a password manager instead of memory.
Set up and use multi-factor authentication (2-FA) on their key accounts.
Identify common types of malware and the social engineering tactics that deliver them.
Recognize the warning signs of a compromised device or account.
Install, configure, and interpret results from open source antivirus/anti-malware tools. Digital care and digital protection are ongoing practices (not a one-time fix); and securing yourself protects the people around your networks like contacts, teams, family and organizations.
3. SECURE COMMUNICATIONS: Emails, Messaging, and Online Privacy
Through this content, you will learn about secure communications from a practical perspective. You will explore different types of information: public, internal, and sensitive, and how to assess the protection each one requires. You will examine the security and privacy features of common communication tools, including instant messaging, and learn how to choose channels according to the sensitivity of the information and the intended audience. You will also learn practical measures to improve the security of your communications and devices, supporting safer collaboration with colleagues, communities, and partners.
Start date: March 29th 2027
Estimated weekly time commitment for this track: 4 hours per week.
You will learn to:
- Identify different types of information and assess the level of protection they require.
- Select communication channels according to the sensitivity of the information and the intended audience.
- Understand the basic security and privacy features of common communication tools
- Apply practical measures to improve the security of their communications and devices.
- Reflect on communication practices that support safer collaboration with colleagues, communities, and partners.
4. SOCIAL MEDIA: Privacy, Security and Strategies
Through these contents, you will learn about social media from a critical practical perspective. You will explore how platforms collect, use, and distribute personal information, and how privacy, visibility, and platform design influence online interactions. You will configure the basic privacy and security settings of commonly used platforms, strengthen your accounts through secure authentication and recovery methods, and identify strategies to reduce unnecessary exposure while staying active online.
Start date: April 19th 2027
Estimated weekly time commitment for this track: 4 hours per week.
You will learn to:
- Understand how social media platforms collect, use, and distribute personal information.
- Recognize how privacy, visibility, and platform design influence online interactions.
- Configure basic privacy and security settings on commonly used social media platforms.
- Strengthen account protection through secure authentication and recovery methods.
- Identify practical strategies to reduce unnecessary exposure while maintaining an active online presence.
5. DATA MANAGEMENT AND SECURE STORAGE
Through these sessions you will learn to recognize that the way we manage, store, and protect the data we collect and use in our work is as important as the final reports and presentations we produce. You will learn to recognize when data is sensitive and when it is public, identify the different types of storage available, and understand the process of creating backups.
Start date: May 10th 2027
Estimated weekly time commitment for this track: 4 hours per week.
You will learn to:
- Identify what is sensitive, personal, and public information (and how to distinguish between them)
- Identify types of storage: cloud, local, and hybrid
- What are FAIR and CARE Principles? How do they help create more collaborative projects?
- How to create backups that protect us
- To create Plans for data loss or when a platform shuts down
- Choose the right copyright and sharing license for your outputs
6. GUIDELINES AND PRACTICES FOR COLLECTIVE CARE IN NETWORKED WORK
Through these sessions you will strengthen your capacity to establish collaborative practices that support safer information management, communication, and coordination in distributed and remote work environments, exploring practical workflows for onboarding, offboarding, and access management, as well as open-source and community-driven tools that strengthen collective digital care within teams and networks.
Start date: May 31st 2027
Estimated weekly time commitment for this track: 4 hours per week.
You will learn to:
- Identify common challenges for managing information and communication in collaborative work.
- Recognize the importance of shared practices for onboarding, offboarding, and access management.
- Explore open-source and community-driven alternatives to commonly used collaboration platforms.
- Test selected collaborative tools and reflect on their potential use in their own contexts.
- Develop practical recommendations to strengthen collective digital care within teams and networks.
7. DIGITAL VIOLENCES: Identification and recovery
Through these contents, you will learn to recognize the widespread and differentiated impacts of digital violence on individuals, groups, and communities; identify at least three forms of digital violence and strategies for prevention and defense, understanding that these are collective and not only individual; and recognize the importance of documentation and incident reporting, both for individual response and for building evidence of patterns.
Start date: June 21st 2027
Estimated weekly time commitment for this track: 4 hours per week.
You will learn to:
- Recognize how digital violence is not new, it reproduces existing structural, gendered, and social violence.
- Recognize the widespread and differentiated impacts of digital violence on individuals, groups, and communities.
- Understand that prevention and defense are collective, not individual, protecting yourself also protects your networks and communities.
- Understand the importance of documentation and incident reporting, and know where and how to report both for individual response and for building evidence of patterns.