Surfing freely, receiving help with online procedures or getting digital training – it’s all possible in Brussels! And that’s true regardless of your age or situation! This is the message that the Brussels Region wants to get across with a widespread a large poster campaign to increase the visibility of Digital Public Spaces. However these places, still largely unknown to the public, are equipped with computer equipment and often offer targeted support.
From today, the Brussels Region is distributing four posters illustrating the daily life of those forgotten by digital technology. We discover characters with varied profiles, but they are all sidelined by a society that has thought up this "all-digital" shift without taking into consideration the needs of its population.
For example, we meet Salima, a young woman in the midst of moving to a new house, lost in the online administrative maze that this stage of her life entails. And Manu, who dreads using his banking app... In the Brussels Region, it is estimated that 475,000 people have poor digital skills and 170,000 have none.
For them, the Region has developed a Digital Appropriation Plan. Because, beyond the fact that digital technology opens up real prospects for autonomy and integration, both in daily and professional life, the Region wants to encourage the people of Brussels to get help to prevent inequalities from growing.
And the Digital Public Spaces are one of the tools! These places with computer equipment available to the public welcome anyone who needs them: to access a computer and an Internet connection, obtain support with their procedures or receive digital training. There are about fifty Digital Public Spaces in the Brussels Region, 18 of which have the Brussels Region label.
After its presentation a few weeks ago of a 2021-2024 Digital Appropriation Plan to combat the digital divide, the Region is now showing that it is taking action. "This communication campaign is the first achievement of the Digital Appropriation Plan. And it is an important step. Because raising awareness among the general public of the possibilities of digital technology is the basis for continuing and accelerating the transformation of the Brussels Region into a SmartCity," explains Bernard Clerfayt, Brussels Minister for the Digital Transition.
The campaign will be displayed on the STIB network from today and will start on the streets from 27 April to 10 May.
For more information on digital appropriation, visit
our website and
digitalhelp.brussels
