Council of Europe Forum for the Future of

Council of Europe Forum for the Future of Democracy Madrid, Spain Municipal Congress Centre 15 -17 October 2008 “e-democracy” European Union policy on e-inclusion Miguel González-Sancho EUROPEAN COMMISSION Directorate General Information Society and Media Unit H 3 – ICT for Inclusion • • • 1

Presentation overview • Digital divides remain and evolve; e. Inclusion matters • Ageing trends; ICT and ageing • Disability and ICT • (EU) policy intervention on e-Inclusion; ongoing action • e-Inclusion challenges ahead • • • 2

Digital divides remain and evolve Source: i 2010 annual information society report 2008 (using Eurostat data) • • • 3

E-Inclusion matters Digital inclusion for Human Capital Social Capital and boosting ICT services Digital inclusion boosting efficiencies in public services Digital inclusion Employability Cohesion Growth Sustainability Drivers • Technology, new services and possibilities • User rights, legislation • Ageing • Public budget pressures; competitiveness € 12 B ~ € 39 B (productivity increase, better jobs) € 5 B ~ € 10 B (ICT industry and new markets) € 19 B ~ € 37 B (e. Government services) • • • 4

Ageing trends 30 -40% of people are left behind The share of elderly in the EU population will double by 2050…… 35 -85 B€ economic opportunity • • • 5

ICT and ageing • Apart form socioeconomic divergences, age plays a very significant role • For people with tertiary education: ~60% of the 50 -59 age band have broadband access, compared to 20% of age 80+ (Data source: SWA 2 surveys) • • • 6

Disability and ICT • Impairment has a significant effect, after controlling for age (Data source: SWA 2 surveys) • • • 7

Source: ‘Measuring e-Accessibility in Europe’ (November 2007) Disability and ICT (2) • • • 8

EU priorities on e-Inclusion Axis 1 - Enabling conditions • • • Broadband: European support to regions e-Accessibility: regulation, standards, CIP, research, stakeholder co-operation Competences: essential, main responsibility in MS Axis 2 - Accelerating participation • • • Public services: inclusive e-Government, e-participation Ageing, health: AP on ageing well in the information society, AAL research programme, e-Health activity Marginalised youth, migrants: emerging topics on the agenda Axis 3 - Integrating actions • • • Mainstreaming and co-ordination: review i 2010, social policy Understanding and comparing: “Riga dashboard”, studies Awareness: e-Inclusion: be part of it! campaign Supporting instruments • • • Policy: Communications, Declarations, events, co-ordination groups, benchmarking, studies… Funding: structural funds (regional, social), research (EU Framework Programme, Ambient Assisted Living), deployment and direct support (Competitiveness and Innovation Programme, safer internet, e-learning, e-content) Law: telecoms, equality, standards, public procurement…. . • • • 9

Many ongoing actions on e-inclusion, at all levels European e-Inclusion AWARDS 2008 E-Inclusion ministerial conference, Vienna, 30. 11 -2. 12. 2008 • • • 10

e-inclusion challenges • e-inclusion mainstreaming + user proximity • • Co-ordination between key actors • • Inter/national vs. local action Public service vs. market prospects; sharing costs; PPP Risks of market fragmentation from uncoordinated public intervention Measure and demonstrate impact from e-inclusion, also economic • • • Across policies: (e)education, (e)gov, social services… ‘Holistic’ inclusion initiatives; target groups: cotextualise, personalise Key role of intermediaries, telecentres, local authorities At aggregated level; for individual projects Contribution to specific challenges: ageing/ dependency, immigration/ integration, skilled workforce/ competitiveness, e-citizens/ public service reform… ICT developments are reshaping society; e-inclusion strategies must evolve • • • Social computing (web 2. 0): from access to info/ services to networking/ shared resources & efforts Implications for (e)inclusion strategies: service design, e-literacy, accessibility… (In)dependency patterns change; new challenges for: privacy and security, ethics…. • • • 11

§ More information at http: //ec. europa. eu/information_society/einclusion/ • www. epractice. eu • http: //ec. europa. eu/information_society/events/einclusion/2008/index_en. htm • § Thank you for being part of it! • • • 12