welcomes you at ENABLING DIGITAL ACCESS FOR ALL

Transcription

1 welcomes you at ENABLING DIGITAL ACCESS FOR ALL Gdańsk, Poland October 2011

2 ENABLING DIGITAL ACCESS FOR ALL The European Economic and Social Committee The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) is a consultative body set up by the Rome Treaties in 1957 and represents the various economic and social components of organised civil society at European level. It is made up of 344 members, split into three groups: the «Employers» group, the «Employees» group and the «Various Interests» group. The EESC has six specialist sections whose work is to draw up Committee opinions, advising the three major Euruopean institutions the Council of the European Union, the European Commission and the European Parliament. The TEN Section is responsible for drawing up Committee opinions in the fields of transport, energy, the information society, infrastructure and services of general interest. Between October 2010 and April 2013, the section s president is Mr Stéphane Buffetaut (Group I, «Employers», France). The Committee opinions play an essential role in policy- and decision-making at European Union level: they reflect a considerable level of expertise and the bringing together of the divergent interests of the organised civil society. The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) is committed to promoting an all-inclusive and equitable information society. We have advocated this in several of our opinions, notably in the recent ones on the Digital Agenda for Europe and on Enhancing digital literacy, e-skills and e-inclusion, specifically concluding that: No citizen should suffer e-exclusion, in accordance to the Riga Declaration 1 ; Being e-included means being online, knowing how to use the equipment, feeling at home with technology and mastering the information needed for critically assessing available content; Promoting e-inclusion requires a global approach, in order to address three critical issues at the international level: equal access for everybody to the minimum required infrastructure; appropriate knowledge and skills, notably for those who need it most, such as elderly, disabled or less affluent people; and strong protection of basic fundamental rights like privacy, personal security and dignity, free expression and circulation of ideas, fight of cybercrime and increased security. 2 1 EU Ministerial Declaration on ICT for an inclusive society, Riga, Latvia, 11 June 2006, point 4. 3

3 The Click IT! Forum is organised by the Transport, Energy, Infrastructure and Information Society (TEN) Section supported by the Communication Group of the EESC, in parallel to the Innovation for Digital Inclusion conference which is held under the auspices of the Polish Presidency. In the Click IT! stands we welcome exhibitors who are demonstrating tools and approaches that could be replicated at a wider European level to help reduce the digital gap in Europe. Click IT! is complementing this major conference with a place where practical means are interactively discussed and displayed to stimulate and facilitate access to the internet and its services by those having geographical, physical, financial, training, social or cultural difficulties to be connected. You are welcome to Click IT! N 1 Driving Digital Literacy in Europe ECDL Foundation Empowering the large numbers of people that lack the digital skills needed to be included in the digital world is both a social as well as an economic imperative for Europe. This stand by ECDL Foundation features an interactive online self-assessment tool that enables participants to test their levels of digital literacy. People s perceived levels of digital literacy can be matched against their actual abilities based on common ICT tasks. This interactive, multilingual tool is accessible in approx. 20 different languages. The stand also includes numerous examples of best practice in e-inclusion programmes from around Europe. Carol-Ann Kogelman Anna-Maria DARMANIN, Vice-President of the EESC in charge of Communication Stéphane BUFFETAUT, TEN Section President Contact Person(s) Fiona Fanning

4 N 2 Langas į Ateitį Association Langas į Ateitį N 3 Hands-On Web-Accessibility European Disability Forum (EDF) with Technosite (Grupo Fundosa) Langas į ateitį is presenting the ESF project Online services for a Lithuanain e-citizen. The goal of the project is to provide digital literacy knowledge and e-services usage trainings to at least adult citizens of Lithuania. The project is focusing on 3 target groups: unemployed, inhabitants of rural areas and disabled persons. It is expected that gained knowledge will encourage the competitiveness of the course participants in the labour market, improve their possibilities to get information needed for their work, encourage them to use public and private e-services and also provide wider possibilities for their education. Today over participants have already accomplished project courses. Rita Šukytė rita.sukyte@langasiateiti.lt The EDF-Technosite stand is offering a practical understanding of: what is websites accessibility; how the lack of accessibility to the web impacts on the life of persons with disabilities; and of the basic rules on how to improve web-accessibility. Anyone who wants to know more about web-accessibility for persons with disabilities is welcomed to join our interactive experience of testing the accessibility of websites, using computers, smart phones or tablets. A Technosite accessibility expert explains the technical barriers, while an EDF communication officer will introduce the basics of web communication for all, based on the EDF experience. Contact Person(s) Karolina Jasvinaitė karolina.jasvinaite@langasiateiti.lt Ewa PAWLOWSKA, EDF Internal Communication Officer Ramon LÓPEZ COROMINAS, Technosite Accessibility Expert +32(0) ewa.pawlowska@edf-feph.org +34(0) rcorominas@technosite.es Contact Person(s) Nadège RICHE, EDF Policy Officer +32(0) nadege.riche@edf-feph.org

5 N 4&5 Digitally bridging the generations INSAFE (European Schoolnet) & COFACE N 6 Dreaming / Renewing Health HIM SA / Pflegewerk Various Brussels-based projects are presented at this stand: Insafe present interactive resources introducing aspects of safe and responsible use of modern media in the lives of children, parents and teachers. These three groups are thus encouraged to work together in order to prepare themselves for all opportunities and potential risks that come their way. Two national COFACE members (Gezinsbond, Belgium and UNAF) present their good practices aiming at positive parenting around ICT issues, while a COFACE training session on tips and tricks for parents and children relating to ICT is also shown at the stand. COFACE represents national family organisations, many of which are involved in e-inclusion and safer internet related activities with parents and their children through training sessions, brochures, dedicated websites etc. The two projects presented at this stand are managed by HIM SA (Belgium), while the Berlin-based Managed Care organisation Pflegewerk participates in both of them: DREAMING is targeted towards elderly people wanting to remain autonomous and is a typical AAL (Ambient Assisted Living) project, where people are monitored to ensure their safety and are provided with videoconferencing for social inclusion. RENEWING HEALTH is the largest Randomised Control Trial currently underway in Europe to assess the impact of Personal Health Systems and related application in the management of chronic conditions. Marco d Angelantonio / Andrea Croci Annick Van de Velde Martin Schmalzried annick.vdevelde@eun.org mschmalzried@coface-eu.org

6 N 7 Technology for Social Change Fundacja TechSoup / TechSoup Europe, with support from Microsoft N 8 Digital Outreach Trainers Peer Mentors for Digital Inclusion Making IT Personal Joining the DOTs TechSoup programs provide essential technical resources to the civil society making it a digitally-driven, powerful society. Activities include: Techsoup Global Network: This is a network of organizations connected through a common online platform enabling a socially responsible supply chain for technology products and support; Donation Program: Building NGOs capacity through technology product donations, support, content, webinars and interactive forums, provided by partner organisations in over 35 countries (in Poland via technologie.org.pl); Community-driven innovation: building sustainable communities through technology-based innovative solutions for solution impact; NetSquared Local: monthly off-line events for anyone interested in technology and social impact; Capacity-Building Programs for Civil Society: Since 2010, TechSoup Global and GuideStar International (a UK-registered charity) are providing technology, information, and resources to the global civil society. The stand presents the Making IT Personal Joining the DOTs project. Three volunteer Digital Outreach Trainers describe and discuss their individual experiences, also demonstrating their mentoring skills by showing visitors how a range of hardware and software might be useful for their individual needs. A project manager will provide an overview of the project, while a laptop and projector will be used to show the project s website, including videos, learning materials and forums. A variety of leaflets and resources in hard copy will also be available to distribute to visitors. Nick Jeans Nick.Jeans@sero.co.uk Patrycja Urbańska (Fundacja TECHSOUP) purbanska@techsoupglobal.org; Olga Kozłowska (Microsoft) purbanska@techsoupglobal.org Contact Person(s) 10 Barbara Dyluś (Microsoft) (Microsoft) ;

7 N 9 Get Online Week Telecentre-Europe N 10 edialogos & Dimosthenis citizen service e-trikala SA Get Online Week is a Europe wide campaign led by Telecentre-Europe to promote eskills, social inclusion and competitiveness of the European economy through ICT. Get Online Week aims to get offliners, or new computer users, online and sees a culmination of Telecentre-Europe s efforts with a variety of events taking place within 28 contributing countries across the wider Europe. During the week, those who are at the biggest risk of being socially and economically marginalised, such as mums returning to work, the unemployed and the disabled can develop essential skills needed to further careers and bolster Europe s economy. The projects are: e-dialogos, an innovative website for open discussion that allows residents and others who live and work in the Municipality of Trikala to be directly involved in the planning and implementation of policies and programs for their city. Dimosthenis is an integrated, inter-agency, complaint citizen service system, which assists citizens in reporting functional problems, inquiries or appeals that they encounter on a daily basis. Through a specific IT procedure, the complaints reach the relevant Municipal services in order to be executed. Ian Clifford ian.clifford@telecentre-europe.org Mr Odisseas Raptis / Ms Kalli Liatou

8 14 The Click IT! Forum is taking place on 5-7 October 2011, in the foyer of the 1 st floor at the Polish Baltic Philharmonic in Gdansk on the Ołowianka Island, by the Motława River. For further information please contact ten@eesc.europa.eu.

9 Responsible for editing Visits and Publications Unit Tel. +32 (0) Fax +32 (0) Rue Belliard / Belliardstraat Bruxelles / Brussel BELGIQUE / BELGIË EESC EN European Union, 2011 Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged. In 2009, the EESC was awarded the prestigious Ecodynamic Enterprise label by the Brussels Institute for Management of the Environment (IBGE), obtaining 3 stars, the highest level possible. This label rewards organisations for good environmental performance.