The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and the European Commission are organising a Regional Forum for Europe on ‘Accessible Europe: ICT 4 All’. Hosted by the Maltese Parliamentary Secretariat for Persons with Disability and Active Aging, the Forum will take place in St Julian’s, Malta, on 4–6 December 2019.
The Forum falls within the framework of the Regional Initiative for Europe on ‘Accessibility, affordability and skills development for all to ensure digital inclusion and sustainable development’. The framework aims to bridge the digital divide and enable all members of society to access and use ICTs, whatever their needs.
The Forum will focus on promoting the co-operation of stakeholders and exchanging resources and solutions to further develop accessibility in countries and institutions across Europe. The event will include keynote speakers, panel discussions and networking and collaboration opportunities.
After the success of the 2018 competition, the organisers have also launched the 2019 Regional Competition for Europe: Innovative Digital Solutions for an Accessible Europe. This is an opportunity for private, public, non-profit and academic innovators to put forth their concepts for digital applications for use by people with a range of disabilities. For further information about the competition, visit the Accessible Europe website.
On the website, you can also:
- register for the Accessible Europe Forum;
- contribute current and future activities relating to ICT Accessibility (deadline 15 November 2019). Information will be displayed on the Accessible Europe website, which will act as an information dissemination platform;
- submit entries to the ‘Regional Competition for Europe: Innovative Digital Solutions for an Accessible Europe’ (deadline 30 September 2019). There are also opportunities to sponsor the competition;
- apply to be part of the Evaluation Committee for the Regional Competition for Europe (deadline 5 September 2019).