e-inclusion: a mainly industrial machine
(B2) The European Commission wants to make the fight against the digital divide a priority, the so-callede-inclusion. On June 14, it launched an action plan “Ageing well in the information society” which aims to overcome the technical and regulatory obstacles to the development of this market.
The Commission's reasoning is primarily economic. This plan was also launched by the Information Society DG and not the Employment DG, which was previously a driving force on the subject of e-inclusion. According to the Commission, the elderly "are significant consumers, whose overall wealth exceeds 3 billion euros".
The Commission predicts that in seven years, a billion euros could be jointly invested by the European Union, the Member States, and the private sector in research and innovation to "age well".
"The action plan and the research program will improve the quality of life of the elderly, achieve significant savings in health care and social services and create a solid industrial base for technologies of the information associated with aging in Europe. Europe itself could also become a leading market for information technologies for quality aging; as aging is a global phenomenon, a strong industry in Europe would find opportunities all over the world." says the Commission
For those who are tempted, a consultation of interested parties takes place until August 15 in order to prepare the future of e-inclusion. In order to prepare the future communication which should be released by the end of 2007.
(NGV)