16-17 June 2013

Dublin Castle (view map)

Meeting of Chairpersons of Communications, Education and Transport Committees of EU Member States and the European Parliament

Topic: Connecting Europe’s Communities and Citizens in a Digital Age

European parliamentarians discuss equipping Europe's citizens for the digital age

Members of the parliaments of EU Member States and of the European Parliament today engaged in a wide-ranging debate on how to better equip Europe’s citizens in a digital age. Delegates considered how best to address the imbalance between Europe's youth unemployment rate and the fact that over two million ICT vacancies remain unfilled EU-wide.

The Oireachtas Joint Committees on Transport and Communications and on Education and Social Protection co-hosted the meeting of Chairpersons of Communications, Education and Transport Committees of EU Member States and the European Parliament.

The conference took place under the theme Connecting Europe’s Communities and Citizens in a Digital Age and was addressed by Minister for Education and Skills, Ruairi Quinn TD, Minister for Communications, Pat Rabbitte TD and Lord David Puttnam, Ireland’s Digital Champion.

Vice –Chair of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Transport and Communications, John O’Mahony TD says: “ The Digital Agenda for Europe, launched in 2010, aims to reboot Europe's economy and help Europe's citizens and businesses get the most out of digital technologies. Minister for Communications Pat Rabbitte TD explained that it was a timely meeting, given that over 600 delegates will be welcomed to Dublin later in the week for a major conference on the digital agenda. Lord David Puttnam, Ireland’s Digital Champion emphasised the need to accelerate progress in education systems, particularly in preparing today's students for the flexibility to deal with the many and mostly unknown challenges of the next fifty years. We also heard Robert Madelin, Director General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology, point to the European Commission's multi-pronged approach to advancing digital technology EU-wide, based on the pillars of legislation, bandwidth and innovation. A session of the conference also focussed on intelligent transport systems, in which the safety, security and environmental advantages from rolling out digital devices such as speed limiters was emphasised.”

Chair of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Education and Social Protection Joanna Tuffy TD, who chaired the first session, says: “Technology has had a profound effect on the lives of citizens and the meeting explored just some of the areas which have been impacted. European Commission Director General for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth, Jan Truszczyński told the conference that about two million ICT vacancies remain unfilled Europe-wide, while the EU's youth unemployment rate is 23.5 percent. He spoke on the Commission's plan for a framework for common action to correct this imbalance. We also heard Minister for Education and Skills, Ruairi Quinn,TD, warn of the dangers of educationalists being 'seduced by technology' rather than trying to understand the role of digital tools in complementing good teaching practice.”

View and download photos from conference. View videos of Lord Puttnam and Deputies O'Mahony and Tuffy below: