e-Inclusion Policy

The Lisbon Council in 2000 agreed to make a decisive impact on the eradication of poverty and social exclusion by 2010. Through the Open Method of Coordination Member States are encouraged to set out concrete steps in their National Action Plans against poverty and social exclusion and to improve access to the new ICTs and opportunities new technologies can provide. The Riga Ministerial Declaration on e-Inclusion of June 2006 demonstrated the commitment of EU Member States. It has identified six themes which the European Commission uses to foster e-Inclusion. Overall objectives of the thematic areas include:

e-Accessibility - make ICT accessible to all, meeting a wide spectrum of people's needs, in particular any special needs.
Ageing - empower older people to fully participate in the economy and society, continue independent lifestyles and enhance their quality of life.
e-Competences - equip citizens with the knowledge, skills and lifelong learning approach needed to increase social inclusion, employability and enrich their lives.
Socio-Cultural e-Inclusion - enable minorities, migrants and marginalised young people to fully integrate into communities and participate in society by using ICT.
Geographical e-Inclusion - increase the social and economic well being of people in rural, remote and economically disadvantaged areas with the help of ICT.
and Inclusive eGovernment - deliver better, more diverse public services for all using ICT while encouraging increased public participation in democracy.

Policy implementation can usually be achieved in several ways: simple market mechanisms, standards/guidelines or regulation/legislation. However, some of these tools are better suited for inclusion issues. The fragmentation of national efforts would be particularly detrimental to EU citizens and industry and must therefore be carefully avoided.