The Communications Commission, together with other UN member countries, is set to hold the third annual Media and Information Literacy Week in Georgia on 24-31 October. During the week, various activities and events will take plance in Tbilisi and the regions that are intended for schoolchildren, teachers, parents, students and young people interested in the startup ecosystem. The Communications Commission will bring international media literacy experts to Georgia, including the American media literacy expert and college professor Renee Hobbs, as well as Linda Liukas, who is recognised as a digital ambassador by the European Commission. They will share their international experience with the Georgian audience and conduct seminars at various events planned for the week. The Commission has also arranged for Head of Media Literacy Policy and Projects of the British Regulatory Commission (Ofcom) Fay Lant to visit Georgia during the week. Due to the importance of the Global Media and Information Literacy Week, Media Literacy Day is marked in schools across the country.

The event will open with a meeting with teachers at the Ministry of Education and Science within the framework of the project to integrate media literacy into formal education, which will include the presentation of the new media literacy textbook. The presentation will be followed by a seminar for students on practical use of the textbook. This will be a hybrid event that can be attended remotely.

After the meeting with teachers, the Global Media and Information Literacy Week will continue with the celebration of Media Literacy Day in all schools across Georgia, where teachers will discuss the subject of fake news and its harmful effects with the students. Using the educational resources provided by the Commission, a variety of cognitive activities will be conducted with the participation of students, including: preparing informational banners and videos, organising an essay contest, as well as conducting simulation games and film screenings to develop critical thinking.

On 26 October, the Georgian Innovation and Technology Agency (GITA) will host a presentation of the new “Hello Ruby” book that has been translated by ComCom and published in Georgian. The presentation for teachers will be led by the author of “Hello Ruby” Linda Lukas, who has been recognised as a digital ambassador by the European Commission. “Hello Ruby” is designed to teach primary school pupils the basics of programming and computer science. It has been translated into 25 languages, and has been included in the school curriculum in New York. During the meeting, Linda Liukas will train teachers in using the book in the educational process. Afterwards, the new books will be distributed to the participants. At the end of the week, “Hello Ruby” will be given to Georgian schools as an additional educational resource.

Linda Liukas will also hold a meeting with parents, discussing the issues of cyber security for teenagers with them. The meeting will focus on children's online safety, methods of controlling their screen time screen, mechanisms for restricting inappropriate content, effective use of the computer and the internet, as well as computer coding.

The global media literacy hackathon for young people will be organised by the ComCom Media Lab on 26-29 October. The hackathon aims to discover innovative ways to solve the challenges concerning media literacy. Participants of the hackathon will try to develop business projects and innovative product prototypes over three days, during which time they will be helped by professional mentors. At the end of the hackathon, a competent jury panel will select the winning teams and award them cash prizes of GEL 1000, 2000 and 5000. 

The following event will see leading international digital and media literacy expert, founder of the Media Education Lab and author of 12 books on media research and education, Professor Renee Hobbs, hold a meeting with Tbilisi State University students and highlight the importance of media literacy for the democratic society, global trends and challenges to the teaching of media literacy across the world. This will be a hybrid meeting, with interested individuals having the opportunity to join the online webinar. 

The Media and Information Literacy Week will conclude on 31 October with a summary conference, which will be opened by representatives of the Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia, the United Nations, the European Union and the World Bank. The topic of the first session will be international experience, trends and challenges in the field of media literacy. Guest speakers will include media literacy expert Renee Hobbs, Head of Media Literacy Policy and Projects at Ofcom Fay Lant, and Professor Gia Murghulia. ComCom member Ivane Makharadze, GPB director Tinatin Berdzenishvili and producer Irakli Kakabadze will take part in the next panel session, which will focus on media in the age of digital transformation. 

The Media Literacy Week, which aims to raise public awareness about the importance of media literacy, has been held annually following the 2021 UN resolution. The Communications Commission, as the body responsible for media literacy development in Georgia, prioritises the involvement of stakeholders in the process of raising awareness about media literacy in the country.