Annual reports Annual Report 2017 | Page 11

11 The work of our members is increasingly being acknowledged by policy makers. The DIGITAAL. TALENT@GENT programme, implemented by our member Digipolis, won the European Digital Skills Award in the category “Digital Skills for All” and has thus been recognised as a good example of how local authorities can support their citizens to be full members of a digital economy and society. Giving more visibility to this programme will h opefully encourage other local authorities across Europe to adopt similar measures. Our Policy Officer has been invited to the organising committee of the flagship conference of the Bulgarian Presidency in the field of education and digital skills - Educate to Create: from digital consumers to digital creators, which will take place in April 2018 in Sofia. Such events usually contribute to shaping the political agenda and steering public debate, and we have worked to make sure that access to digital skills for all is in focus. We are looking forward to reaping more concrete results from our policy advocacy efforts in 2018 and we will closely follow the roll-out of the European Digital Education Action Plan, the continuation of the Digital Skills and Jobs Coalition and the new programmes in the field of education and digital innovation. We will work to make sure that the issue of basic digital literacy for all is not forgotten, because it is THE prerequisite for a successful implementation of the Digital Single Market Strategy.