e-Inclusion strategies and their indicators in five EU countries
Conclusions for planning an implementation of e-Inclusion policies
The following lessons can be learnt from the overview of this wide body of policies, programmes and measures.
• In countries where there are no e-Inclusion strategies, or where these strategies exist only on paper, the relevant policies tend to be fragmented among various policy areas devoted to Labour, Social Affaires, Education or Information Society. As it is the case in other policy fields, the single biggest success factor of e-Inclusion policies is the co-ordination of various sectors and levels of the Government. A strategy paper detailed by target groups, expressing the strong and sustatined commitment of the Government can initiate the co-ordination of various stakeholders within the Government with each other and with the civil and the private sector. However, further continuous communication and co-operation among these stakeholders is necessary.
• e-Inclusion policies are directly or indirectly regulating or influencing certain markets of goods and services. Examples of these markets: special hardware, software, media, website development services, training courses, social care services etc. If market forces are not sufficient to bring these goods and services to the members of the target groups, the overarching aim of e-Inclusion policies should be to correct the respective market failures through subsidies or institution development, and to build up an autonomously functioning market. On the other hand, in case of goods or services where these markets are already functioning, and the respective goods and services are able to reach the target group members, e-Inclusion policies should restrict themselves to regulating issues of conformity and quality, and awareness raising.
• e-Inclusion policies must be delivered in a segmented and targeted way. This means that the strategies and programming documents must be formulated in fine detail regarding the sub-groups of beneficiaries. In spite of the obvious overlaps, measures on behalf of ethnic minorities must be clearly distinguishable from measures on behalf of the poor or the elderly. Differences regarding the final beneficiaries must appear in terms of project design and delivery organisation. If e-Inclusion policies are not clearly segmented, there is a serious risk of the strongest interest groups hijacking the bulk of subsidies.
• Awareness raising regarding the importance of ICTs is extremely important. Substantial resources must be devoted to disseminating knowledge about these solutions and facilitating acceptance among Government agencies, political parties, companies and the wider public
• Monitoring and evaluation of e-Inclusion policies should be made on an annual basis and should be based on available indicators of which the values should be renewed each year. The results of these monitoring exercises should be widely communicated to the stakeholders and to the general public.
The full study: ict-for-all-d-2-5-strategies-and-indicators
