New media pioneer Shahidul Alam

UNESCO has defined digital literacy as “the ability to understand and use information in multiple formats from a wide range of sources when it is presented via computers”. With the emergence of social networking, digital literacy has become a major factor in enabling people to raise their voices, communicate, collaborate and pursue wide-scale social and political reforms.

People begin to think digitally when material things are not the only measurable items, Shahidul Alam says. As a promoter of new media, he helped introduce email to Bangladesh in 1994 and set up the first web portal in the country. Alam is also a founding member and advisor in the LEARN Foundation, which is dedicated to information and communication technology (ICT) training in rural regions.Watch the video interview and find out more:

Now it’s your turn. Do you know how digitally literate you really are? The Digital Literacy Survey is a useful and fun self-assessment tool to find out just how computer-savvy you are. It was designed by the European Computer Driving Licence (ECDL) Foundation. You can measure your own perceived levels of digital literacy against your actual abilities based on common ICT tasks. It’s available in almost 20 different languages, including Cambodian, Chinese, Thai and Vietnamese.

by Juan Ju and Thorsten Karg

Danh-Quy Nguyen at DW GMF

You graduated from DW’s International Media Studies program last year. Now, you’ve been invited back as a guest and expert for a panel-discussion at the DW Global Media Forum. How does that make you feel?

Firstly, I feel great and honored to be invited by my teachers and colleagues. I think it’s an experience that not everyone can have. So I feel very happy. Secondly, I’m also very happy to see my old friends and many colleagues from Deutsche Welle.

What do you miss most about Germany?
What I miss most from Germany is lots of trees, lots of green and the Rhine River.

Can you apply the knowledge that you learned at DW to your work in Vietnam?
Of course! I learned a lot at DW and I use it in my work every day. The most important thing I learned from the DW Master’s program is how to communicate with people from different countries and different cultures. This is very important for my daily job. As Managing Editor, I have to communicate with different editors and people from the fashion industry all around the world.

New Professions for New Media was the topic of the panel that you participated in at this year’s DW Global Media Forum. What do social media mean for your magazine?
In my magazine, we use social media more as a marketing tool than something that produces serious content. We use Facebook, for example, just to stay in touch with our users and fans, not as a channel to send out serious messages. At EllE magazine, the best goes into the print edition and not online.

Is it true that Facebook was unofficially blocked in Vietnam until early this year? So do you have any problems at work?
No, it’s not true. I think Facebook is blocked in Vietnam for some hours before some events, but not more than a day. So I don’t have any difficulties.

Interview by Juan Ju