Study on e-Inclusion initiatives from private and non- profit European entities

[ec] The purpose of the study has been two-fold:

* To identify and analyse good e-Inclusion practices driven by no-profit and private organisations;
* To derive recommendations for those involved in promoting e-Inclusion, including the European Commission and other authorities.

The study has used a combination of tools to perform the following tasks:

* Identification and selection of existing innovative e-Inclusion initiatives promoted by NGOs and/or private companies, mainly carried out through desk web research and a review of secondary sources available on the topic;
* Case study analysis of success factors, barriers and impact of the initiatives, carried out through telephone interviews and face-to-face meetings with practitioners across Europe;
* Design of recommendations on how to better align initiatives with policies at various level (including EU), which required analysis of gathered evidence and practitioners' feedback collected through a consultation platform.

One key study finding is that NGOs and private companies play a key role in promoting e-Inclusion, both in terms of number of initiatives and achievements, especially from local initiatives that tend to better understand community needs and dynamics. Replicability of local initiatives at the national/regional level often maintains their originality while multiplying their impact.

The study recommends a combination of actions from stakeholders, e.g. authorities at various levels including the EC, NGOs and private companies. In this context, initiatives from civil society often struggle to find adequate public support because of the novel and cross-cutting nature of e-Inclusion actions tends not to match traditional silos of public authorities.

Study on e-Inclusion initiatives from private and non- profit European entities - final report