Digital inclusion remains one of the biggest challenges of the digital transformation. The increasing digitalisation of essential services, the labour market and social and democratic participation. It is those parts of society which already face exclusion or are otherwise disadvantaged who risk being further disconnected and left behind the most.

There is a lot of attention on this year’s European elections, and on the EU’s regulatory power continuing to make great strides in the digital sector with the AI Act, the Digital Services Act, and the Digital Market Act. However, digital inclusion measures are ultimately implemented on the local and regional level, and in many parts of Europe local elections are taking place simultaneously with the European elections.

For these reasons, Mediawijs, the Flemish Knowledge Centre on Digital and Media literacy at IMEC vzw, and ALL DIGITAL, the pan-European network of digital education stakeholders, are organising a conference highlighting local and regional approaches to digital inclusion, featuring perspectives from academic research and good practices from around Europe.

Agenda

• 9h00: Welcome and registration
• 9h30: plenary opening by
  • ALL DIGITAL (Speaker TBC)
  • Mediawijs (Speaker TBC)
  • Tanya Hristova, President SEDEC Commission, Committee of Regions (TBC)
  • Microsoft (Speaker TBC)
• 10h00: Presentation by the universities VUB and UGent

“Localising digital inclusion policy: A comparative analysis of local policy responses to digital exclusion in Belgium, France, and Norway”

• Speakers: Sarah Anrijs (UGent) and Paola Verhaert (VUB)

• 10h45: How does Mediawijs support local governments on digital inclusion in Flanders?
  • Speaker: Alenka Le Compte, Mediawijs
• 11h00: Coffee break
• 11h30: Panel discussion with good practices from Belgium and Europe
  • Flanders
    • Speaker: Josie Vranken, City of Ghent
  • Brussels/Wallonia
    • Speaker TBC
  • Europe:
    • Speaker: ALL DIGITAL Member (Speaker TBC)
  • Emilia Romagna Region, Italy
    • Speaker: Stefano Kluzer
• 12h15: Discussion in smaller groups on the local and regional approaches to Digital inclusion
• 13h00: Networking Lunch