The Users as Experts project will develop innovative solutions that enable VET providers to convert personal experiences of disability into recognised areas of expertise. This idea, which we refer to as ‘user expertise’, promotes increased inclusion of persons with disabilities in society. User expertise will also improve outcomes in disability-relevant policy areas – in particular, with regard to the field of web accessibility.To ensure that the digital transformation of society includes everyone, the EU has introduced new requirements for digital accessibility in the public sector. These requirements affect hundreds of thousands of websites and mobile applications, many of which need to be updated to ensure compliance. As such, demand for web accessibility expertise is likely to balloon far beyond the current supply. More web accessibility experts, who understand the requirements and can identify compliance gaps, are needed. We propose to address this need by engaging those who are most likely to have experienced web inaccessibility: persons with disabilities. This has the added benefit of providing occupational opportunities to a target group that is excluded from the labour market across Europe.The project will result in four interrelated Intellectual Outputs:•A repository of best practices for making use of personal experiences of disability and inaccessibility (IO1)•A methodological toolkit for the conversion of personal experiences into recognised areas of expertise (IO2)•A typology of web accessibility competences for persons with disabilities (IO3)•A model curriculum for a course on web accessibility for persons with disabilities (IO4)These outputs will be developed according to an iterative co-creation methodology. The project partners will contribute to all activities and learn from each other in the process, and each activity will build on the results of previous activities. In addition, key target audiences – persons with disabilities, VET providers and public sector bodies – will participate in workshops, surveys and interviews in order to ensure that the materials developed meet actually existing needs and desires. All outputs will be made available as open source materials to VET providers, disabled persons’ organisations (DPOs) and public sector bodies across Europe.The project partners are Funka Nu AB (SE) Synthesis (CY), DIAS GmbH (DE) and Föreningen Furuboda (SE).Funka is a market-leading web accessibility consultancy. Aside from serving as project coordinator, Funka will lead the development of the best practice repository (IO1) and contribute expertise throughout. Synthesis is an accredited VET provider and social entrepreneurship hub. They will lead the development of the methodological toolkit for user expertise (IO2). DIAS provides a range of services in the fields of inclusion and professional rehabilitation, including on behalf of the German government. They will lead the development of the web accessibility competence typology (IO3). Furuboda is an accredited VET provider running a “folk high school” at two campuses in southern Sweden. Furuboda caters specifically to persons with disabilities. In this project, Furuboda will lead the development of the model curriculum (IO4).In the longer term, this project will promote the user expertise model in general and web accessibility in particular, while simultaneously contributing to increased social inclusion for persons with disabilities.

Main purpose of the project „From Education to Inclusion“ (EDI) is to improve accessibility in environment, information and communication for blind and partially sighted people in order to enable their participation in all areas of life. In collaboration with the project partners, Teiresias Centre of MU (the Czech Republic) and Funka (Sweden), we will create, test and evaluate training modules on accessibility for people with visual impairment. Within the project we will at one hand improve competences of employees of local authorities who have direct impact on the level of accessibility for blind and partially sighted and on the other hand competences of leaders with visual impairment i.e. active advocates of rights within their community. All training modules, used methodology and good practice from involved partners will be summarized in the project intellectual outputs: 1) the toolkit for trainers, 2) the toolkit for employees of local authorities and 3) the toolkit for blind and partially sighted leaders. From a long-term perspective we are expecting a positive change in all areas of accessibility for people with visual impairment and most of all improvement of their social inclusion.

DigitalHealthEurope will provide comprehensive, centralised support to the digital transformation of health and care (DTHC) priorities of the Digital Single Market. The partners bring a broad range of collective knowledge and expertise, originating from the longstanding leadership and engagement in the whole spectrum of activities, from interoperability and standards to health service innovation and from the technical to the policy level. The project will support large-scale deployment of digital solutions for person-centred integrated care by identifying, analysing, and facilitating the replication of highly impactful best practices, utilising the consortium’s exceptional expertise on knowledge management and impact assessment (EIP on AHA repository of innovative practices, MAFEIP), twinning schemes, and mobilisation of stakeholders. A marketplace will enable organisations to find suitable partnerships. At least 46 twinnings ranging from adaptation of impactful best practices to full adoption will be carried out. A funding advice service and capacity building framework will be provided to further stimulate deployment and scale up. Building on the unique composition of the consortium, the project will establish and manage 3 collaboration platforms to align all efforts of ongoing and future initiatives supporting the 3 DTHC priorities. The partners will utilise their vast network of more than 1,100 members representing national, regional, and EU-wide stakeholders. The collaborative work will lead to common strategic agendas and commitments for action that will boost innovation and progress in the respective topics. A Board of Associated Experts with proven high-level competence on all key fields will support the delivery of an actionable strategic vision and recommendations for EU policy beyond 2020.

Citizens' digital health literacy is an essential element for successful eHealth deployment. However, citizens often do not have the necessary skills to find, understand and appraise online health information and apply their knowledge to make health decisions. Digitally health literate citizens are empowered to play a more active role in their health self-management, resulting in improved prevention, adherence to a healthier lifestyle and better health outcomes. IC-Health will provide support for the improvement of digital health literacy in Europe. In particular, the project will design 35 open access online courses (MOOCs), in seven different national languages, for different population cohorts including children, adolescents, pregnant and lactating women, elderly and people affected or susceptible to be affected by type 1 and type 2 diabetes. The identified population cohorts, along with health professionals, academics and other practitioners, will be organised in Communities of Practice and involved directly in the co-creation of the MOOCs content and structure. Once the courses are be designed, they will be tested by the members of the CoPs and by other users. MOOCs use and impact will be monitored and assessed in order to ensure their uptake and sustainability beyond the duration of the project.

WeGovNow will tap into emerging technologies for effectively supporting coproduction by civic society stakeholders and collective proposition development, whereby citizens are partners as opposed to customers in the delivery of public services. By integrating a set of innovative technologies within a unified citizen engagement platform, the project will overcome the current limitations of existing digital tools for citizen reporting, e-participation, and communication between the citizen and the government. In doing so, WeGovNow will enable a new type of interactivity, enhancing and expanding the viability of and capacity for citizen coproduction in the public sector, not only in a traditional citizen-to-government dynamic, but also in an arrangement where the government informs, assists, and enables private actions, or where citizens assist one another, with IT replacing the dependency on administrations as a vehicle for collective action. Building on previous research and technology development, an ambitious programme of service process innovation and technology innovation will be pursued by a multi-disciplinary project consortium. Outcomes will be validated in three European cities. WeGovNow will offer solutions that are truly inclusive by addressing risks of digital exclusion from the offset and throughout the project’s life cycle. Legal, ethical and other framework conditions for implementing the WeGovNow approach and digital tools in day-to-day settings will be systematically explored and considered, with a view to optimising the democratic legitimacy of the WeGovNow approach and the exploitability of tangible project outputs. An evidence base on impacts will be generated through a dedicated evaluation programme, thereby adopting multi stakeholder perspectives. This will enable the development of evidence-based guidance on the further mainstreaming of WeGovNow solutions and provide directions for further research.