Last Thursday, June 27, colleagues Merlijne and Alexander attended the Round Table Discussion on Digital Inclusion! The meeting was organized at the initiative of Barbara Kathmann, chair of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Digital Affairs. Together with partners who work every day to create a digital society in which everyone can continue to participate, the meeting focused on the state of affairs and the future of digital inclusion in the Netherlands from various perspectives.

The evening was divided into three blocks, with a different representation in each block.

Block 1: Citizen perspective
With contributions from: User Central/ICTU and the National Ombudsman.

Block 2: Accessibility
With contributions from: Rotterdam Library, Tea Time Pilot, Elke(in), HDZ and Oogvereniging Nederland.

Block 3: Economic inequality
With contributions from: Alliance Digital Samenleven, Cybersoek Amsterdam and Amsterdam UMC.

Merlijne spoke on behalf of Helpdesk Digitale Zorg in block 2: Accessibility. She focused in particular on three important areas:

User-friendly applications: Healthcare applications should be easy and intuitive. Continued attention and improvement of these applications should ensure that they remain accessible to all users, regardless of their technical skills or limitations.

Accessibility as a fundamental right: Accessibility is a fundamental right and a condition for inclusion. Everyone, regardless of limitations or skills, should be able to fully participate in the digital society.

Collaboration for inclusion: Only through joint efforts can the barriers to digital inclusion be effectively removed and a more inclusive digital world be created.

On behalf of the House of Representatives, Judith Tielen (VVD), Jesse Six Dijkstra (New Social Contract), Elke Slagt (GroenLinks-PvdA), Jan Valize (PVV), Pepijn Van Houwelingen (Forum for Democracy) and of course Barbara Kathmann were present. Merlijne had a clear appeal to the MPs: “help us to help everyone!”. The MPs have indicated that they will use the valuable input from the various parties to develop policy. In the meantime, we continue to work every day at Helpdesk Digital Care for a digital society in which everyone can participate!