The European Commission will award prizes to the winners of the eInclusion awards at the Digital Agenda Assembly being held in Brussels on 21-22 June 2012.

A part of the Digital Agenda on Enhancing digital skills proposes a series of measures to promote take-up of digital technologies by potentially disadvantaged groups, such as elderly, lower-skilled, unemployed or people with disability.

The latest Digital Agenda scoreboard shows that 25 % of the EU population still lacks IT skills and only 53 % are confident that their computer and Internet skills are sufficient if they need to change or find a new job within a year.

The eInclusion Awards were established by the European Commission in order to discover organisations and individuals across Europe who champion new technology and harness the potential of the Internet as a means of improving prospects, increasing employability and meeting today’s complex social and economic challenges.

The award ceremony is webstreamed live on Friday 22 June 2012 starting 16.15 CET.

The finalists are:

Category: 'I am part of IT' – personal stories, small organisations/ individuals

• Elton Kalica, Italy – an impressive story of personal empowerment and reskilling through ICT. A story of a young migrant who, in a new country found himself in trouble and eventually in prison. He was given a chance and through learning ICT skills has improved his capabilities, achieved a University degree, found a good job and a created a new life.
• Rosanna Nazir and Nila Sari, the Netherlands - women and youth employability and ICT as a personal empowerment tool as well as for wider social innovation and community impact. Great partnership model with some leading companies.
• Joy Matthews, 75 year old from Wales, UK, is using ICT to make real changes. It gave her voice she wouldn’t have otherwise. She empowered herself and her community. "eInclusion training has led to so many different ways I can get involved with my local community and lobby on issues I am passionate about".

Category: 'I am part of IT' – personal stories, big organisations

• Angela Gallagher, Ireland (Age Action) - "The online world is a godsend to those of us who find ourselves living alone. I hope to spread that message to as many of my peers as possible who do not have access to technology, yet who have an extraordinary knowledge of e.g. social history". Angela has written over 60 blog posts on Wordpress in the past 14 months that have been read by over 16,000 people.
• Siemon Dekelver, Belgium (WAI-Not) – a story about ability, not disability. A lesson that empowering an individual also helps the society to become more inclusive. The initiative provides mentally challenged young people with secure web-based communication tools so they can learn ICT skills, improve their quality of life and increase their levels of social interactivity.
• Marek Sikora, Czech Republic – the first visually impaired ECDL (European Computer Driving Licence) tester in the Czech Republic. Marek set up a not-for-profit organisation Eye-T.cz to make ICT skills tests accessible to visually impaired people in the Czech Republic.

Category: 'Be part of IT' – small organisations

• Knowledge Economy Project (KEP), Romania – an ICT-driven eco-system with the potential to improve the socio-economic situation of 1.8 million people in Romania. It aims to reduce the IT skills gap between urban and rural areas through eLearning programmes and training. Benefits everyone from housewives to entrepreneurs. Boosts skills and employability and transforms public services like healthcare and education to be fit for purpose.
• Storybook Dads, UK – The judges felt this was a simple yet ingenious way to use the internet to improve lives of families where a parent is in prison. Technology enables imprisoned parents to record bedtime stories for their children in order to maintain the important parent/child bond - even if the parents are away for a long period of time. The initiative has been proven to reduce reoffending.
• Inforum, Hungary – intergenerational ICT competition. Shows why kids and grandparents can win working together. Readily replicable and simply impactful.

Category: 'Be part of IT' – big organizations

• Barcelona Activa, Spain – Barcelona Activa is the local development agency for the Barcelona area and actively promotes ICT skills, training and environments for digital inclusion, employability and competitiveness.
• The Information Society Development Foundation (FRSI), Poland – local libraries as agents for digital change. For underserved communities to be able to fully participate in economic, educational, cultural and social relationships and community life.
• UK Online centres – large scale, comprehensive digital initiative which helps communities tackle social and digital exclusion. There is a network of 3,800 community based centres across the United Kingdom, all working to help more people make the most of online life.

Further Information:

• Original press release - 2012 e-Inclusion Awards Finalists Showcase
• eInclusion Awards
• Digital Agenda – Enhancing Digital Literacy, Skills and Inclusion