Problem addressed
Across Europe, the digital divide remains one of the most pressing social challenges of our time. In 2025, only 60% of EU citizens aged 16–74 had at least basic digital skills, with stark disparities linked to education level — ranging from 82% among those with high formal education to just 38% among those with low or no formal education. In Portugal, basic digital skills remain unevenly distributed across society, and according to the 2023 International Computer and Information Literacy Study, 37% of Portuguese eighth-graders have a low level of digital skills.
But the problem goes deeper than access or basic literacy. Young people are heavy consumers of technology yet rarely learn to use it as a tool for creation, problem-solving, or civic participation. Formal education, constrained by curriculum rigidity and resource gaps, often fails to bridge this gap — particularly for young people from less privileged backgrounds.
CDI Portugal was founded precisely to address this reality: to transform communities and redefine life trajectories for people from socioeconomically disadvantaged contexts, using technology and its full potential. The municipality of Maia — a mid-sized urban area in northern Portugal — identified the same challenge locally: a disconnect between the digital future young people are entering and the creative, critical and collaborative skills they need to navigate it with confidence and agency.
The CICF was created to address this gap, promoting technology as an essential tool for inclusion, innovation and social transformation — not as a luxury for the few, but as a right and a resource for all young people, regardless of their background.
Innovative solution
The CICF in Maia joins an existing national ecosystem. CDI Portugal's Digital Citizenship Centre in Valongo, for instance, is already in its 8th edition (2024/25), having been inaugurated in 2018, demonstrating that this model can achieve long-term continuity and institutionalisation. The CICF represents an evolution of this approach — more structured, thematically richer and co-branded — that can serve as the new benchmark for future centres.
The CICF's innovation lies not in any single technology or tool, but in a comprehensive model that reimagines how, where and for whom learning happens.
A "choose your own journey" learning architecture. Rather than following a fixed curriculum, participants choose from seven thematic universes — Code, Bot, Play, Make, Green, Voice and Link — covering areas from AI and robotics to media literacy, digital fabrication and community engagement. Within each universe, projects vary in duration and depth, from shorter tasters to three-month commitments, allowing each young person to set their own pace. This learner-driven model stands in sharp contrast to the rigid, standardised format of traditional education.
Learning by doing — and by failing. The CICF actively fosters critical thinking, experimentation and teamwork in an environment where curiosity and discovery are valued. The pedagogy is built on a cycle of experimenting, failing, reflecting and trying again — normalising failure as a driver of growth rather than a source of shame. This approach, rooted in CDI Portugal's internationally recognised methodology, builds not only technical skills but also resilience, creativity and collaboration.
The Digger journey and Digital Passport. Each participant becomes a "Digger" — someone who digs deep, discovers, builds and transforms with technology. Everything they learn is recorded in their Digital Passport, tracking the projects completed, the skills developed, and the impact created. This portable record gives young people ownership of their learning journey and makes their growth visible and legible beyond the classroom.
Real projects with real community impact. The CICF goes beyond simulation exercises. Projects like 3D for a Cause see young people design and print 3D objects for local social institutions; City Data has participants collect and analyse real urban data to inform decisions about their municipality; and the Repair Café brings the community together to fix electronic devices, combining digital skills with sustainability and circular economy values.
A whole ecosystem approach. The CICF invites participants to learn in practice, use technology meaningfully, develop critical and creative thinking, and collaborate with leading companies and specialists. Teachers receive dedicated training through the CAE (Centre for School Support), and community mentors — professionals who volunteer their expertise — provide role models and bridges to the world of work. Programmes are also available for young people who are NEET (not in education, employment or training), ensuring the most vulnerable are not left behind.
Municipal integration and scalability. Integrated in CDI Portugal's national network of Digital Citizenship Centers, the CICF bets on a smart and human cities model, where technology is placed at the service of the community. The co-promotion model — pairing local government with a civil society organization — offers a blueprint that other municipalities can replicate, making the CICF not just a local solution but a potential national and European reference.
Key results and benefits
Reach: 1,500+ student and teacher participations across all 7 school clusters in Maia; 515+ hours and 45+ activities delivered in Year 1, across 7 thematic universes (Code, Bot, Play, Make, Green, Voice, Link).
Digital competences (DigComp 3.0): Measurable gains in Problem Identification & Solving, Communication & Collaboration, and Safety, Wellbeing & Responsible Use among participating youth (ages 12–18).
Teacher capacity: Educators trained in emerging, learner-centred methodologies (Paulo Freire approach; pedagogical autonomy).
Youth-led innovation: Tech solutions built by student teams addressing real community problems.
Ecosystem: Active public–private model (Maia Municipality + CDI Portugal, NORTE 2030) with industry partners (Synopsys, Lenovo, Google, Kyndryl, Stempura, Tecmaia, FabLabs Portugal); a documented, replicable lab model.
Benefits
Youth: Stronger digital literacy and critical thinking that narrow the digital divide and open STEM and employability pathways; greater agency, belonging, and digital wellbeing.
Teachers & schools: Access to innovative, hands-on methodologies and continuous professional development, free of formal-curriculum bureaucracy.
Community & municipality: Improved social inclusion and cohesion; reinforced local talent and Maia's position as an innovation territory.
Ecosystem & EU level: A scalable, transferable social-innovation model with multi-stakeholder governance (local authority + NGO + industry), aligned with national digital strategy and EU inclusion goals.
Guiding principle: Technology as the means, people as the end — opportunity for all, placing equity at the centre.
Potential for mainstreaming
The CICF model is built from the ground up for replication. Several structural features make it particularly well-suited for scaling across municipalities, regions and countries.
A proven, transferable co-promotion model. The CICF was designed as a partnership between a local authority (Municipality of Maia) and a civil society organisation (CDI Portugal), co-funded through a regional structural fund (Norte 2030). This tripartite architecture — public institution + NGO + EU funding — is a familiar and accessible template for municipalities across Portugal and Europe. It does not require the creation of new institutions; it leverages existing governance and funding mechanisms.
Built on an internationally tested methodology. CDI Portugal's projects are grounded in the internationally recognised methodology of Paulo Freire — observe the world, analyse what is wrong, propose a solution, develop it, and measure results — with technology always as a tool and never as a final goal. CDI is part of the global Recode network, which has recently celebrated 23 years of operation, and has trained more than 1.3 million people over 15 years, with presence in 13 countries. The CICF is therefore not a standalone experiment — it is a local instance of a globally validated framework.
A network already in motion in Portugal. The CICF in Maia joins an existing national ecosystem. CDI Portugal's Digital Citizenship Centre in Valongo, for instance, is already in its 8th edition (2024/25), having been inaugurated in 2018, demonstrating that this model can achieve long-term continuity and institutionalisation. The CICF represents an evolution of this approach — more structured, thematically richer and co-branded — that can serve as the new benchmark for future centres.
A modular, context-adaptable programme. The seven Universes (Code, Bot, Play, Make, Green, Voice, Link) are not rigid. Each can be activated or prioritised according to the local context, available partnerships and community needs. A rural municipality might lead with Green and Make; an urban centre with Code and Voice. This modularity makes the CICF model adaptable without losing its pedagogical coherence.
The Digital Passport as a scalable recognition tool. The Digital Passport — which tracks each young person's projects, skills and impact — offers a portable, transferable record of non-formal learning that could be integrated into regional or national frameworks for skills recognition. As European countries move towards broader recognition of competences acquired outside formal education, the CICF's credentialing logic is ahead of the curve.
Influencing public policy. CDI Portugal explicitly seeks to create benchmark projects that will become a source of inspiration for new public policies. The CICF's first-year results — over 1,500 participations, 515+ hours of activities, engagement across all seven school clusters in the municipality — already provide the evidence base needed to advocate for replication at regional and national level, and to inform EU-level policy on digital education and social innovation.
An invitation to other territories. The CICF is more than a building in Maia. It is a documented, evaluated and replicable model for how any municipality can make social innovation with technology a genuine public service — accessible to all young people, connected to real community challenges, and built to last.
