Turning the smartphone into a powerful tool for integration

Many newcomers struggle to find information to help navigate their first months and years in Canada. Refugee 613’s Digital Messaging for Settlement and Integration (DMSI) project has explored the benefits of addressing this challenge by offering newcomers free, easy and fast access to settlement information in their own language and customized to their needs, via off-the-shelf apps on their smartphones.
This webinar will talk about the learning from the latest DMSI pilot, the Afghan Digital Service, which uses a private, moderated group on Telegram to provide key settlement information to almost 800 Afghan newcomers. The presenters will share how the service works, its strengths and challenges and how service providers can benefit from it.