Tuesday, June 17, 2008, Hotel Golf Jupiter 2, 11:00 - 12:30

Chair:
Paul Timmers, Head of Unit ICT for eInclusion
European Commission, Directorate-General Information Society and Media

Panelists:   to be confirmed
Anne Klemetti, Senior Program Manager
Devices R&D Accessibility, Nokia, Finland
Patrizia Fariselli, Professor
Faculty of Political Sciences, Catholic University Milan, Italy
Dan Pescod, International and European Campaigns Manager
Royal National Institute of the Blind - RNIB, United Kingdom

Active Participants:
Robert Cugelj, Director General
Institute for Rehabilitation, Slovenia

Panel outline

This panel will address the following: inclusion in the information society or e-Inclusion focuses on people that are at risk of exclusion, due to factors such as their age, their geographic location (e.g. living in a remote rural area, or in a disadvantaged urban area), disabilities, poverty, low level of education, cultural differences (migrants) etc. e-Inclusion aims at both realising accessible and usable ICT for all (in particular for those that have difficulty using ICT), and at improving economic and social participation with the help of ICT. This panel will address how the objectives of e-Inclusion can lead to business opportunities and what e-Inclusion changes in the way business is being done.

Panelists will address questions such as:

• How does online public service delivery change when it becomes inclusive for all?
• What does e-Inclusion bring for innovation in technology or business models?
• What is the role of user involvement and new approaches to inclusion such as social networking?
• What is the business proposition in addressing global digital divides?

The panel includes representatives from ICT industry, public authorities, academia, and users.