E-Government and Social Inclusion: Barriers, Opportunities and Future Direction
March 11, 2008, Brussels, Belgium

E-inclusion has attracted wide attention from governments and intermediate civil society organizations in recent years. Improving access to and use of the internet has grown into an important objective for social and educational policy, given the prospects unlocked by the internet for communication, learning and democracy.

Governments have realized that advocating the use of modern forms of communication also implies their dissemination within and application to government services. However, the use of e-government services depends on various factors such as the ease of use, proficiency, accessibility and civic engagement. There are several disadvantaged groups that are less likely to use these services, including the elderly, disabled persons, migrants and low socio-economic status groups (LSGs). The pace at which different countries deploy e-Government services, including measures taken to include LSGs, varies considerably.

The main objective of the ELOST project is to increase e-Government readiness by and civic engagement among low socio-economic status groups (LSGs) through appropriate policy measures (including future R&D). The aim of this workshop is two-fold: 1) to present the findings of the ELOST project and its policy recommendations for improving e-Government use among LSGs, and 2) to exchange knowledge about and experiences with e-Government and tools that reduce the digital divide. Moreover, the workshop aims to initiate a comprehensive debate on policies for increasing e-participation among LSGs and the future direction for inclusive and improved e-Government for all in form of a panel discussion. Please see the agenda for details.

Agenda

09:00 - 09:30	Registration
Session I: E-Inclusion Policies and E-Government Programmes Chair: Niv Ahituv, ICTAF, Tel Aviv University
09:30 - 09:40	Welcome Marina Manzoni, European Commission
09:40 - 09:50	Introductory Remarks Tal Soffer, ICTAF, Tel Aviv University
09:50 - 10:10	E-Government for an Inclusive Society: How Different Citizen Groups use e-Government Services in Europe Jeremy Millard, Danish Technological Institute
10:10 - 10:30	ICT as a Social Inclusion Tool in Portugal Antonio Mendes dos Santos, Advisor to the Executive Board UMIC - The Knowledge Society Agency, Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education, Lisbon
10:30 - 10:50	The eHungary Project - Fighting the Digital Divide Marianna Posfai, Project Leader, Ministry of Economics and Transport, ICT PSP National Contact, Budapest
10:50 - 11:10	Discussion
11:10 - 11:30	Coffee Break
Session II: Patterns of Use of the Internet and E-Government Among Different Groups Chair: Liana Giorgi, ICCR, Vienna
11:30 - 12:00	Internet and e-Government Usage Among Low Socio-Economic Status Groups: The Role of Socio-Economic Background Factors Niki Rodousakis, ICCR, Vienna and Lina van Aerschot, University of Tampere
12:00 - 12:20	E-Government for All? An Overview of Recent Research and Theory on Digital Exclusion in Europe Neil Selwyn, Senior Lecturer, London Knowledge Lab, University London, London
12:20 - 12:40	Local Issues Discussion Forums in Comparative Perspecitve: Whose Voices are Heard? Simon Smith, Centre for Digital Citizenship, Institute of Communication Studies, University of Leeds
12:40 - 13:00	Discussion
13:00 - 14:00	Lunch Break
Session III: New Solutions and Future Directions for Inclusive e-Government Chair: Tal Soffer, ICTAF, Tel Aviv University
14:00 - 14:25	Policy Recommendations for Improving e-Government Use Among Low Socio-Economic Status Groups Yoel Raban, Niv Ahituv, ICTAF, Tel Aviv
14:25 - 16:15	Panel Discussion: ELOST Policy Solutions – e-Government for All Moderator: Marina Manzoni Panelists: Niv Ahituv, Jeremy Millard, Antonio Mendes dos Santos
16:15 - 16:30	Coffee Break
Session IV: Policies to Improve E-Government and Social Inclusion Chair: Hans-Luidger Dienel, TUB, Berlin
16:30 - 16:45	International Expert Exchange on e-Government and e-Inclusion Nico de Abreu, TUB, Berlin
16:45 - 17:10	Future Outlook on Inclusive e-Government and the Impact of Emerging Technologies: Findings from the ELOST Foresight Study Aharon Hauptman, ICTAF, Tel-Aviv University
17:10 - 17:30	The SWEB-Project: Strenghtening Eaccessibility Across Europe Via Cross-Border Mobile Services Silke Cuno, Fraunhofer FOKUS, Berlin
17:30 - 17:45	Discussion
17:45 - 18:00	Concluding Remarks

Venue

European Commission
Avenue de Beaulieu 33
BU 33, Floor 0, Room 54
1160 Brussels
Google Maps

 

Copyright © 1995-2008 ICCR. Terms of Use.	Last modified: 2008-03-03