Guide to conducting an Internet safety program

These resources are designed to help provide governments and non-governmental organizations with guidance on how to organize and conduct an Internet Safety Program.

The goals of conducting an Internet Safety Program are as follows:

• Raise awareness of the issues surrounding computing security and Internet safety
• Educate parents, children, and people of all ages about Internet safety concepts and safe Internet practices
• Encourage people to take action and update their computers
• Help people modify their Internet behavior and use the Internet more safely and securely

Planning guidance

A broad Internet Safety Program that incorporates a variety of events can reach people of all ages and differing levels of computing knowledge and educate them about what actions they can take to stay safe online. In the past, individual organizations reached out to various subsections of the population with their own computing security programs. Implementing a single, broad program across a region or country enables us to combine our resources and efforts through the power of partnership and provide online safety guidance to the public at large.

Audience

A successful Internet Safety Program is one that reaches a broad base of the non-business population through the coordination of numerous activities targeting specific audiences. The best place to start when planning a program is to consider the following five key audiences:

• Parents
• Teachers
• Students
• Adults over the age of 50
• Civic and social organizations that work with children and/or technology

Another audience that is not included above, because of its more specialized nature, is law enforcement. It is helpful for training law enforcement on computing security and Internet safety issues, risks, technology and behavior solutions and on resources for conducting investigations. To be effective with law enforcement, it is important to work with directly with law enforcement to create a Program specifically for them to help ensure the Program meets any unique requirements.

Program activities can target a single audience or a group of audiences. Audiences can also be further divided over the course of a long-term program, providing the ability to further specialize activities, education efforts, and messaging.

Partnership

The success of an Internet Safety Program is found in a combination of organizations working together to share information with the public. When selecting partners to co-host or participate in an activity, or even co-sponsor a program, consider each organization's core competencies, initiative and partnership history (work on cross-group initiatives, etc.), and ability to contribute financial or personnel resources to support the program. It is also important to consider the organization's work with related issues, children and/or parents, technology innovation, and educational and school programs. Partnerships can include such organizations as: government, industry, law enforcement, media, academia, and social organizations, and technology industry companies.

Content and printed materials

Content is an important element of an Internet Safety Program. By providing participants with materials that they can review when they have more time, or are together with their families, printed materials can increase the retention level for the messages the Program wants to share and broaden the reach of Program activities, contributing directly to the overall effectiveness of the Program.

Several materials in the can be leveraged to support Internet Safety Program activities, including: brochures, fact sheets, posters, public service announcements, and flyer that discuss steps people can take to protect their families, protect themselves, and protect their computers.

Arrangements

The term "arrangements" refers to the various elements that need to be considered when planning an Internet Safety Program or program activity. This includes such items as timelines, budgets and costs, locations, specialized companies providing services, transportation, and other required resources, important to the smooth implementation of the Program.

The cost of conducting an Internet Safety Program will vary with the length and breadth of the program, and the types of activities conducted. Expenses can be spread over time provided that activities are carefully planned and that funding is centrally managed by those with visibility into all planned and envisioned activities. Content and printed materials can be reused in an effort to help control costs. Engaging partners to co-sponsor and co-host activities is another way to achieve cost savings.

Once all of the Program elements have been determined, it is important to divide responsibilities among a team of people and groups and assign ownership to each for specific activities. One person in the organization should assume the role of Lead Project Manager and act as overall coordinator for the Internet Safety Program. This person would be responsible for, among other activities, leading the planning meetings and coordinating with the participating organizations to help ensure that Program elements are implemented successfully and within established timeframes.

It is often helpful to test the effectiveness of Program activities by conducting a few events in targeted, test locations-for example, a few strategic cities or towns spread across a country. This provides event planners with the ability to observe and get feedback from the target audiences, gain insight into what works what doesn't, and practice conducting an event from start to finish. It also enables program organizers to receive feedback on program content and materials and determine if the right success factors have been identified.

Measuring success

Each Internet Safety Program should have its own factors for success based on the size of the target audiences the extent to which the population has access to the Internet, and the level of awareness of computing security and Internet safety issues and safe online practices. One metric that should be tracked, for each activity and the program as a whole, is the number of people reached through both in-person events and Program communications. This will provide insight into the effectiveness of the program and program activities, and provide a baseline for future activities.

Suggested implementation schedule

Program activities are best planned as far in advance as possible to give plenty of time to plan, test and implement a comprehensive Internet Safety Program. It is suggested that six months might be a guide of the time needed to conduct a Program. Exact timing will depend on how complicated the Program and individual events may be to plan and implement.