In Italy, Huawei and the not-for-profit organisation Parole O-Stili launched the SmartBus project, which provides free training sessions for secondary school students between 10 and 14, raising their awareness of internet safety and the opportunities and risks of using digital tools. The SmartBus will stop in 15 cities across five regions to reach more than 4,500 students.
As an interactive mobile classroom, it features digital equipment and knowledgeable instructors that create an engaging learning environment. A unique app has been developed for the project by Parole O_Stili, which helps to simulate potentially risky situations, such as requests to share data and photos.
The SmartBus will be stopping in each of the cities for three days. While children will be the priority, all citizens are welcome to attend the afternoon sessions to improve their cybersecurity knowledge, data protection and digital tools. So far, the SmartBus initiative has visited eight countries since its launch in Europe in 2019.