{"id":27680,"date":"2025-11-21T11:47:58","date_gmt":"2025-11-21T10:47:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/all-digital.org\/?p=27680"},"modified":"2025-12-11T14:41:54","modified_gmt":"2025-12-11T13:41:54","slug":"making-eu-funding-work-digital-inclusion-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/all-digital.org\/making-eu-funding-work-digital-inclusion-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Event recap: Making EU funding work for digital inclusion 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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On <\/span>20 November 2025<\/b>, more than <\/span>50 digital inclusion experts, policymakers, and community leaders<\/b> gathered at the <\/span>Government of Catalonia Representation to the EU<\/b> for All Digital\u2019s policy debate – Making EU funding work for digital inclusion<\/strong>.<\/i><\/i><\/span><\/p>

Together, we explored what digital inclusion could and should look like by 2045<\/b><\/span>, and what Europe needs to put in place today to make that future possible. Central to the debate was a shared message: the next generation of EU funding must truly support the organisations working every day to close the digital gap and ultimately the 44% of Europeans who still lack basic digital skills.<\/b><\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Setting the scene: A reflection on the future of digital inclusion<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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The debate opened with a reflection moderated by David Mekkaoui<\/b><\/span>, CEO of All Digital, featuring:<\/p>

  • Andreea Dima<\/b><\/span>, Director, MAKS \u2014 highlighting frontline experiences in citizen digital upskilling.<\/li>
  • Elisa Gambardella<\/b><\/span>, Education & Lifelong Learning Coordinator, SOLIDAR \u2014 emphasising a just transition and inclusive digital futures.<\/li>
  • Alba Soler Turull<\/b><\/span>, Senior Innovation Project Manager, i2CAT \u2014 bringing the perspective of regional innovation and Catalonia\u2019s experience.<\/li><\/ul>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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    Policy outlook: How can EU funding evolve?<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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    A second panel moderated by Brikena Xhomaqi<\/b><\/span>, Director of the Lifelong Learning Platform, focused on the future of EU policy and funding. Speakers included:<\/p>

    • Georgi Dimitrov<\/b><\/span>, Head of Unit Digital Education, DG EAC \u2014 outlining opportunities and challenges in shaping EU digital learning policy.<\/li>
    • Leo Kilroy<\/b><\/span>, Education and Skills Attach\u00e9, Ireland\u2019s Permanent Representation to the EU \u2014 connecting national priorities with EU level funding.<\/li>
    • Jan B\u00fcscher<\/b><\/span>, Co Director General, La Mednum \u2014 sharing recent national mobilisation in France for renewed investment in digital inclusion, co signed by All Digital.<\/li><\/ul>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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      Key insights from speakers and participants\n<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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      During\u00a0the debate, several important reflections\u00a0emerged\u00a0from speakers and participants:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

      • Digital skills,\u00a0equitable\u00a0access, and age-specific needs<\/span><\/b>\u00a0remain\u00a0core EU priorities.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>
      • AI literacy is becoming as foundational as basic digital skills<\/span><\/b>, and access to AI compute will be central to future digitalisation.<\/span><\/li>
      • Provision of digital skills with socio-emotional competences<\/span><\/b> is essential for digital citizenship and active participation\u00a0to the society
        <\/span><\/li>
      • Small frontline organisations need tailored, multiannual support<\/span><\/b>, and civil society must be at the table when funding is designed.<\/span><\/li>
      • Digital competence centres need investment<\/span><\/b> to answer the overwhelming demand coming from citizens to acquire digital skills.<\/span><\/li>
      • Funding access\u00a0remains\u00a0should be simplified<\/span><\/b>\u00a0\u2014 implementation capacity, administrative burdens, and fragmentation across programmes are limiting impact.<\/span><\/li>
      • Digital inclusion is not yet a strategic\u00a0objective\u00a0across the MFF<\/span><\/b>, but the European Social Fund has untapped potential \u2014 especially if access and data\u00a0collection\u00a0are\u00a0improved.<\/span><\/li>
      • Better\u00a0coordination across EU funding programmes<\/span><\/b>\u00a0is essential.<\/span><\/li>
      • Regions should be equally empowered for digitalisation\u00a0<\/span><\/b>\u2014\u00a0Europe risks evolving at\u00a0two different speeds, with some regions and groups falling further behind.<\/span><\/li>
      • Public-private partnerships and local-national collaboration<\/span><\/b>\u00a0can make funding more effective and closer to the communities that need it most.<\/span><\/li><\/ul>


        Across Europe, one message stands out: the EU\u2019s next long-term budget is a key opportunity to make this happen.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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        The path to 2045: Designing with people, not just for them\n<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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        Across Europe, one message stands out: <\/span>to close the digital gap, we must rethink our tools, invest in people, and design solutions with, not only for the communities we serve.<\/b><\/b><\/p>

        The EU\u2019s next long term budget represents a crucial opportunity to embed this vision into policy and investment. We all share a responsibility to shape this future.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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        Join the next steps<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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        Thank you to everyone who contributed time, ideas, and expertise.<\/p>

        We look forward to continuing the conversation and working together for a digitally inclusive Europe. Join our upcoming events:<\/p>

        • All Digital Weeks:<\/b> 9\u201325 March 2026<\/span><\/li>
        • All Digital Summit, Belgrade:<\/b> 22\u201323 September 2026<\/span><\/li><\/ul>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

          PHOTOS On 20 November 2025, more than 50 digital inclusion experts, policymakers, and community leaders gathered at the Government of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":27690,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"publish_to_discourse":"","publish_post_category":"","wpdc_auto_publish_overridden":"","wpdc_topic_tags":"","wpdc_pin_topic":"","wpdc_pin_until":"","discourse_post_id":"","discourse_permalink":"","wpdc_publishing_response":"","wpdc_publishing_error":"","_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27680","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/all-digital.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27680","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/all-digital.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/all-digital.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/all-digital.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/46"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/all-digital.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27680"}],"version-history":[{"count":26,"href":"https:\/\/all-digital.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27680\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27799,"href":"https:\/\/all-digital.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27680\/revisions\/27799"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/all-digital.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27690"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/all-digital.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/all-digital.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/all-digital.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}