Brainstorming session @ EU Development Days: How to make digitalisation SDG-proof?
At the EU Development Days (EDD), Europe's leading forum on development organised by the European Commission, CIFAL Flanders’ session will talk about the challenges and opportunities of bridging the digital divide, in an inclusive, sustainable way.
The session will consist of 4 parts:
1. An inspirational debate about the ‘Digital Divide’ in a glocalising world.
2. The presentation of four best practices that aim to bridge the digital divide both on a local and global scale.
3. A holistic SDG assessment of those initiatives through a multi-stakeholder brainstorming session, based on CIFAL Flanders’ Action Learning Methodology.
4. Concluding lessons-learned and recommendations for digital-divide projects to combat inequalities in an inclusive way and become SDG-proof.
ICTs have become an essential means in combating inequalities and achieving sustainable development. Since ICTs are increasingly related to employment, gender, education and health, they have become inseparable from human rights.
Despite its great potential, half of the world’s population is still lacking access or capabilities to use ICTs. To address this divide, multiple initiatives have been taken worldwide, fostering an inclusive digital economy. However, to fully exploit the potential of ICTs in bringing about development, each initiative has to take into account all possible inequalites related to digital divide.
Therefore, CIFAL Flanders will provide a holistic SDG assessment of these best practices to improve their inclusiveness and sustainability of the projects, making sure no one is left behind.
Output & results
- Learn more about the digital divide in all its encompassing aspects, gathering impactful best practices.
- Open the discussion of digitalisation as a human right; Identify answers through facilitated group-problem.
- Determine which SDGs play a significant role in bridging the digital divide, carrying out a critical SDG assessment of the best practices based on the Action Methodology of CIFAL Flanders and its SDG Wheel.
- Provide hands-on recommendations to improve the sustainable impact of their digital-divide projects, understanding the need for a holistic approach towards digital projects and thereby avoiding the creation of new inequalities.