EU digital media policies and education: The challenge of a digital agenda for Europe

Costa, Cristina; Murphy, Mark

Abstract

Media and communication practices are of core importance to the intent of a European knowledge society that thrives to be competitive and aims to be inclusive. Media and communication policies at the European level date back from the 1970s with the introduction of legislations for radio and television broadcast between member states. Since then and on par with the latest technological innovations, the EU has made an effort to keep up with the latest internet developments, especially those regarding the emergence of the web and associated digital practices with the goal of establishing a digital Europe.
Under the i2010 strategic framework, the European Commission proposed 3 priorities to fulfil this goal. They consisted in the creation of a Single European Information Space; the promotion of innovation and investment in research of information and communication technologies (ICT); and the achievement of an inclusive European information and media society. These 3 directives laid the foundation of the Digital Agenda for Europe launched in 2010, which has the key purpose of bridging the digital divide by equipping European citizens with digital literacies and skills suitable to compete in the digital single market and participate in digital services, such as e-health, e-business and e-learning.
In this chapter we will analyse the latest EU digital media and communication policies at the supranational level and explore their impact at the level of member states. Specifically we will examine the education/communication policy interface in relation to formal digital education initiatives in member states such as Ireland, UK and Portugal. Particular attention will be paid to the kinds of challenges faced by European countries that aim to reinvent themselves as Digital Economies while simultaneously attempting to maintain sovereignty over their own national educational agendas.

• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Book Title: Education and Public Policy in the European Union: Crossing boundaries
• ISBN: 9783030042295
• Keywords: EU, policy, digital
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/852182
• Publisher URL: https://www.palgrave.com/gb/book/9783030042295