L4D Learning for Democracy

Raymond Morel just now

The MIREIA (Measuring the Impact of
eInclusion actors in the European Union)
project was presented on 28-29 May 2013
at the SPARK2013 conference - 4th Global
Forum on Telecentres which took place in
Granada, Spain. MIREIA aims to better
understand the role of eInclusion
intermediary actors and to create adequate
instruments to show how they contribute to
the achievement of European eInclusion
policy goals.
The conference served also as a meeting of
the Global Telecentre Network, which has an
estimated total of 500,000 telecentres,
serving approximately 1 billon users
worldwide.
The Spark13 Conference - 4th Global Forum
on Telecentres was hosted in Europe for the
first time and focused on three key themes:
People, Innovation and Sustainability.
On the first parallel session, focused on
Youth, Skills and Employment, JRC-IPTS
presented the research on ICT for
employability and Inclusion, and participated
in the panel discussion on the main
challenges and opportunities to overcome
rising youth unemployment and on the role
of eInclusion intermediaries. In the parallel
session “The Importance of Measuring
Impact and Mapping Activities,” JRC-IPTS
presented the preliminary findings of the
Mapping of eInclusion Intermediaries in the
EU27 conducted as part of the MIREIA project
in collaboration with Telecentre Europe,
together with other two studies that showed
the diversity and main characteristics of
eInclusion actors as well as the interest and
need of different stakeholders on mapping
and developing impact assessment
methodologies.
Among the key messages of the preliminary
results, the first exercise of this kind so far, it
can be highlighted that, based on the
estimation of the sector extrapolated from
the survey’s respondents, one organisation
active on eInclusion exists per each 2,000 EU
citizens. These organisations are providing a
rich set of ICT-enabled services and other
services focusing on addressing important
socio-economic challenges, such as
unemployment, to prevent poverty and
social exclusion (it is estimated that about 1
out of 4 EU citizens is currently in a condition
of being at risk). The eInclusion sector
becomes thus an important player in
contributing and addressing key Europe2020
challenges. However, the fragmented and
weak structure of the eInclusion sector, in
both financial and human capacity, makes
emerge the need for policy support that
could enhance its lack of capacities and the
importance of developing sustainable
business models and methodologies to
promote evidence based results of eInclusion
interventions, which are exactly the
objectives MIREIA is addressing.
In this regard, preliminary findings in various
‘pilots’ from the ‘testing’ of the MIREIA Impact
Assessment Framework also show that the
experimental approach used for
‘counterfactual impact evaluation’
demonstrate the positive contribution of
eInclusion actions for the increase of
employability and to fight unemployment,
as well as to promote social innovation in
areas at risk of social and digital exclusion.
This is the case of initiatives supported by the
Guadalinfo Network in the Andalusia region
in Spain.
The Workshop gathered around 40 experts
representing about 20 different countries,
mainly from EU, but also Croatia, Brazil,
Switzerland and the USA. In the workshop,
the MIREIA Impact Assessment Framework
was discussed and validated. The MIREIA
Impact Assessment Framework developed
by JRC-IPTS and tested in collaboration with
Tech4i2 in four ‘pilots’ in Italy, Ireland, Poland
and Spain was then presented and discussed.

Preliminary results, lessons learned and
challenges were debated and a specific
session was devoted to exploring the way
forward. It also looked into how the MIREIA
Impact Assessment Framework could be
applied to measure ICT-based Social
Innovation.
Among the main conclusions of the
workshop, the conceptual and
methodological approach was validated.
Also, the flexibility of some of the presented
as part of the framework was praised. There
were constructive suggestions and practical
recommendations for improvement,
especially in light of the shift toward Social
Innovation that JRC-IPTS is engaging with
and in support of the implementation of the
Social Investment Package (SIP).
Representatives of various organisations
expressed interest in collaboration. They
intend to use the MIREIA Impact Assessment
Framework and of disseminating it in order
to possibly scale it up at the European level.
Civic Agenda, an organisation which is
conducting relevant research on the role of
libraries and ICT in Europe, also showed
interest in collaborating with JRC-IPTS by
complementing their impact assessment of
the Global Library Development programme,
sponsored by the Gates Foundation in
Europe.

MIREIA’s objectives and preliminary results
were presented at the Digital Champions’
meeting, which took place in Dublin on 18
June in the framework of the Digital Agenda
Assembly, to which Vice President and
Commissioner Neelie Kroes, responsible for
the Digital Agenda for Europe, also
participated.

For more information on MIREIA please go
to the project website.
Contacts: Gianluca Misuraca, Cristina
Torrecillas, Clara Centeno

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