How to get 50,000 First Time Internet Users Online in One Day

BRUSSELS, March 15, 2010 - Telecentre-Europe organized Get Online Day in 4 March 2010, a
pan-European event that was part of the eSkills Week 2010, (
eskills-week.ec.europa.eu/web/guest;jsessionid=FDB46E1DD6A82AAA87CF5FF
ABCFAE7C2) coordinated by Digital Europe (www.digitaleurope.org/) and
European SchoolNet, (
www.eun.org/web/guest;jsessionid=DE0C2AA9D4BC14F8C5CD570644DFE4AA) and
funded by the European Commission's DG Enterprise and Industry.
(ec.europa.eu/enterprise/index_en.htm) Get Online Day was supported by
national partners, (www.ebaltics.com/onlineday2010/) NGOs,
telecentres, libraries, schools, information access points and aimed to bring
people online, targeting mainly the offline Europeans, people that have never
used the internet and were consequently not aware of its benefits.

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Across the wider European region, almost 300 million people
live in digital exclusion. In today's knowledge based society, digital
technologies represent a gateway to economic and social development, and
without it their future potential is limited. At Telecentre-Europe, we
believe we can help create relevant and scalable approaches towards achieving
e-Inclusion for the ones that are left behind.

"While before I had to rely on hearing about job vacancies by
chance and from neighbors I was amazed to discover a wide range of job-search
sites in my own language. I have even signed-up for my first IT course in our
local telecentre and I hope to be able to support this great Get Online Day
event in the future. It sure opened my eyes!" said Alexandra Tudor, a 44-year
old unemployed from Romania.

On 4 March 2010 Telecentre-Europe held the first ever European
Get Online Day. What a day it turned out to be! More than 50,000 people were
reached by the campaign on the day itself, in 42 European countries, and the
online counter recorded a total number of 68,253 people (
www.ebaltics.lv/onlineday2010/counter/) during the whole of EC eSkills
Week 2010.

During the height of the campaign on 4 March, the counter on
the Telecentre-Europe site was rising at the rate of about 3,600 an hour …
that's one person every second! The most active Telecentre networks were in
Romania, Lithuania and Latvia.

In Latvia, over 10,000 people have accessed the online IT
barometer to measure their ICT skills, while in Romania over 100 eCentres,
libraries, schools and Public Information Access Points (PIAPs) have worked
together in a unique way reaching more than 20,000 people.

The campaign involved a strong participation of youngsters
(60% of total participants) and over 3000 unemployed people got online for
the first time ever. Women represented around 60% of participants, while the
group of participants aged over 40 reached 20%.

Telecentres are community venues where people can go to get
help using computers and the internet. Telecentres across Europe held events
helping people to learn about the internet, many for the first time. This
project across the whole of Europe showed the power of a joined up network!

Get Online Day was kindly supported by Microsoft Unlimited
Potential. (www.microsoft.com/unlimitedpotential/default.mspx)

Telecentre-Europe is an inclusive and vibrant network that increases the
impact and effectiveness of telecentres throughout Europe by fostering
knowledge sharing and learning amongst its members. Telecentres are publicly
accessible places where people can get help to access computers, the internet
and other digital technologies that enable them to gather information,
create, learn, and communicate with others.

www.telecentre-europe.org

Alexa JOYCE - European Schoolnet, Senior Communications & Business
Development Manager, T. +32-2-790 7554, E. alexa.joyce@eun.org

Alexa JOYCE - European Schoolnet, Senior Communications & Business Development Manager, T. +32-2-790 7554, E. alexa.joyce at eun.org