Dr Jun Zhao attends OECD Digital Wellbeing for Children Workshop

We are pleased to share that Dr Jun Zhao was invited to attend the OECD Digital Wellbeing for Children Workshop in Paris in early November.

The workshop was attended by OECD delegates, representatives of key OECD working groups related to well-being measurement, and leading experts on children’s well-being, digital play, along with industrial representatives.

The working group discussion focused on the regular measures of children’s wellbeing and the dimensions of: Competency, activities, relationships, resources and mental state. The key question the working group addressed was “are there other aspects specific to child-wellbeing in digital environments that should be included?”

The workshop provided a critical review of several leading reports related to the development of children’s digital well-being, including LEGO’s RITEC framework, OECD’s Going Digital framework, and OECD’s child well-being framework, amongst a few others.

Our research contributes to the dialogue about the importance of considering agency in the measurement of children’s digital well-being, and we provide a formal written inputs to this discussion. In addition, there were other critical academic presentations, including that from Fiona Scott, Mimi Ito, Sara Grimes, and Sonia Livingstone. A strong theme from the workshop was that child agency should be included as a cross cutting theme throughout the domains of competency, activities, relationships, resources and mental state. It was significant enough to have clear recognition but rightfully should not be added as a sixth pillar.

The workshop reflects a critical step from a risk-focused policy conversation to a well-being focused one, resonating the strong needs for alternative, ethical AI systems that foster children’s development, curiosity, and opportunities.