Veronica Stefan Email & Phone Number

Tallinn, Ee

Working for the Council of Europe's Education Department to develop a fully-fledged programme on Artificial Intelligence in Education, focusing on how AI and AI-based systems can be deployed in education for enhancing quality and inclusion, and improving education opportunities at all levels of education, and cover non-formal, formal and higher education.Including topics such as AI and access to education, AI and admission systems, AI and education provision, AI literacy, AI and learning, AI and assessment, AI and completion of studies, AI and big data, among others.

Member of the AI literacy expert group of the Council of Europe - Youth Department- Reflecting on the needs, issues and challenges faced by the youth organisations and educators to engage actively in AI literacy education- Reviewing the existing approaches and practices in AI literacy education and learn from these good practices- Proposing parameters for the AI literacy tools to be developed by the Council of Europe’s youth sector and in cooperation with the members of the working group. - Proposing and co-creating tools, resources and potential activities for AI literacy education with young people based on Human Rights Education approaches. - Reflecting on potential roles of the Council of Europe in further developing, promoting and deploying the resources on AI literacy among youth organisations, trainers, youth leaders and other stakeholders.

Contributing to research studies that aim to better understand how AI impacts the lives of young people, taking into account their current and foreseeable needs. This will build on the work on digitalisation and social inclusion and access to rights and will also examine the impact of AI on young people’s financial autonomy, the economy and future of work.The project will further explore the potential and limits of AI and the relevance of this topic in the context of Covid-19 pandemic and the increasing reliance on digital tools. It will also promote ways to positively use digital technologies for youth, to mitigate the risk of increasing the digital divide and alienation in virtual reality, as well as to encourage policies and practice enabling social inclusion through digitalisation and AI-powered tools.

Coordinator of Strategic National Agency Cooperation initiatives (SNAC)- contributing to a holistic development of digital competences and digital capacities in the youth work sector (mapping national and European frameworks, competence models, self-assessment tools, training materials; creating relevant tools to be used by youth & educational stakeholders)- increasing quality participation in Erasmus+ and European Solidarity Corps programmesThe task includes- coordination of the work done by National Agencies responsible for E+ & ESC programmes- coordination of European and national research/mapping- coordination of digital frameworks/tools development

Bucharest, Romania

Digital Citizens Romania is the first Romanian Think-Tank in the Digital sector, bringing together digital enthusiasts, public policy experts, private sector representatives and digital innovators.The Strategic Directions assumed by our platform focus on three essential pillars:I. Contributing to knowledge and understanding of the phenomenon of digitalization.II. Supporting the process of adjusting new public policies to the evolution of the digital sector, while actively contributing and generating solutions capable of leading towards an intelligent, sustainable and inclusive economy.III. Connecting national stakeholders to the European and global tech debates.

Social DOers is a Resource Center established by young professionals passionate about what they DO!As a nongovernmental, nonprofit organization–Social DOers is focused on working towards Social Justice & Social Innovation, by delivering quality and accessible services to various stakeholders, from civil society organizations to public institutions, as well as to young people and youth workers.Currently we are leading 2 processes supporting young people in NEET situations (1) the European NEET coalition - a multi-stakeholder platform & (2) the Romanian NGO Coalition for the rights of young NEETs.*NEET = Not in Employment Education or TrainingOur main Objectives are- advocating for social & economic justice (education, employment, participation)- fostering creativity & innovation- stimulating social change- promoting democratic values, human rights & active citizenship- advancing evidence-based initiatives that support the economic and social development of young people and adults- facilitating cooperation between various stakeholders on topics such as sustainable development, support of research development and social entrepreneurship

The Participation Resource Pool is part of SALTO Participation and Information and aims to be a central hub for legitimate and reliable information about Youth Participation and Media and Information Literacy.It support trainers, youth workers, youth leaders and educators to have access to the best and most up-to-date online tools to foster young people’s critical thinking and media literacy to increase quality of youth participation.SALTO PI works on behalf of the European Commission, Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sports and Culture.

Advancing knowledge on Digital Activism in Europe and Central Asia (mapping movements and stakeholders, skills, tools and practices). Includes desk research activities, development and deployment of qualitative and quantitative methods of research, stakeholders consultations and drafting a strategy that informs the future UNDP regional approach and programmes.

Supporting the 2nd European seminar on youth and AI "How can youth take part", building on the results of the first pan-European event - in December 2019.Including- research and mapping of AI governance, international processes and youth participation opportunities (across all main international organisations CoE, EU, OECD, UN bodies)- developing the concept and methodology of the seminar (identifying topics, speakers, opportunities; digital tools and platforms); facilitating online sessions.- coordinating the drafting of the first declaration on Youth Participation and AI governance, as well as the action plan related to the topic. Elements that will further inform the work of the Council of Europe Youth Department.

Contributing to the first set of European resources exploring the intersection of digitalisation, social inclusion and young people.Among the results:- The first European study on the topic- European analysis on "Youth inclusion, digital solutions and the global pandemic"- European Youth Event webinar, May 2020- Knowledge Book- An Insights report

Gathering information and drafting the conclusions of the first pan-European dialogue on Artificial Intelligence and its impact on young people. Feeding into the Council of Europe's 2030 youth agenda and the overall AI priority.The seminar brought together young entrepreneurs, digital experts, legal experts, human rights activists, public institution representatives and youth workers.https://www.coe.int/en/web/youth/artificial-intelligence

Berlin, Germany

Trainer for the Global Youth IGF Summit 2019, a process part of the 14th Global Internet Governance Forum (under the UN auspices), organised in Berlin - Germany.As part of the trainers' team, I worked at designing and implementing a new model of participation in IG processes, by involving over 100 young participants from more than 40 different countries (from all continents) in:1. Creating a collaborative community, through learning and sharing (online through a series of facilitated webinars).2. Offering the space and resources for co-designing the final Youth Messages (face to face facilitation in Berlin).3. Engaging young people throughout the IGF Berlin (face to face mentoring and online support).https://yigf.gi.de/fileadmin/GI/Hauptseite/Aktuelles/Projekte/YIGF/YIGF_Publikation_Website.pdf

As a member of the Media Literacy Task Force, within the iLegend Framework - a joint programme between the North South Centre of the Council of Europe (CoE) and the European Commission (EC) - I provided expertise on digital citizenship, digital policies and multi-stakeholder communities.In order to address the new challenges of the Digital Society, together with other 5 members of the Task Force, I worked to enhance the efforts of CoE & EC in Media Literacy and build tools for:- Advocacy processes- Revision of Global Education Guidelines- Raising awareness on current challenges (disinformation, fake news etc.) and supporting Media Literacy and Digital Citizenship Education, with a particular focus during the Global Education Week (2018)- Capacity building for various stakeholders: educators, youth multipliers, Civil Society Organizations etc.More about the initiative: https://www.coe.int/en/web/north-south-centre/-/media-literacy-new-investments-in-global-education-and-resilient-generations

As a Jury member for the 2018 and 2019 editions, I had the opportunity to asses the innovative ideas participating in the EU Datathon - EU-wide open data competition.The competitions, organised since 2017 aim to create new value for citizens through innovation, and promoting the use of open data produced by the EU institutions and available on the EU Open Data Portal, the single point of access of open data in the EU institutions, agencies and bodies.Datathons gather teams of young people from all over Europe to stimulate innovation and transform the interaction between citizens and the EU administration. The reuse of data promoted by the EU Datathons is fundamental for new digital products in the information era. As a result, new applications are developed to improve existing services or create completely unprecedented ones. The competitions also demonstrate that potential reusers do need such initiatives for visibility to potential business partners.

As Chair of the Working Group “Information Society" (volunteer position), within the national consultative platform for the Romanian EU Council Presidency – RO2019, I was responsible for - coordinating and moderating the debates between various stakeholders in the digital sector- drafting the initial priorities for the digital portfolio of the Presidencyhttps://www.mae.ro/node/44806

At the invitation of the organisers, I had the opportunity to moderate the following DevTalks stages- 2019 Digital Transformation- 2018 Emerging Tech

Bachelor'S Degree, Psychology

Bachelor'S Degree, Foreign Languages

Activities and Societies: AEGEE, European Students' Forum

High School Diploma, Humanities, English Bilingual