Information & Communication Technology
	The Creative ICT element of Artskills promotes inclusion into the Information Society by developing and extending new, creative approaches to learning. Responding to regional and national strategies promoting a knowledge driven economy and the ‘economy of ideas’, Artskills develops flexible and transferable skills, including creative ICT, digital communication & design, still image & video. Artskills enhances the target group’s ability for progression to ICT vocational training and particularly Creative Technology training, employment and voluntary work. The existing quality provision in this area is very hard to access for the target group. Artskills works with partners currently providing this vocational training to negotiate into vocational training and career paths in the ICT sector. Artskills contributes to bridging the ‘digital divide’. UK Government’s Social Exclusion Unit – Policy Action Team.		"The term Information Society describes a society in which the production and flow of information is increased because of the widespread use of electronic communication tools ... the (EU) Commission, the (UK) central government and the MEA (Merseyside Economic Assessment) have all identified ICT related industries as a growth sector (8–10% per year) ... new ICT enterprises will need a skilled and available workforce and technology-competent suppliers. Knowledge and use of ICTs is low amongst socially excluded people and in organisations who deliver services to them. Any strategy must address this and should include developing basic/core IT skills ... people need more than access to ICTs, they will also need skills which are relevant to production, distribution, consumption and use of information." G. Haywood, USa Ltd 1998			"We must make sure not only that people and communities are given support in adapting to the information society but that the way these technologies are applied is adapted to the needs of ordinary people. Groups facing a high risk of exclusion must be incorporated into the information society ... their particular needs should be analysed and better understood ... the participation of target groups in the design, development and implementation is critical. Unemployed people usually do not have access to ICTs ... the result is that a group of people who are not only excluded from the work environment but are also socially excluded, as they do not have access to, or an understanding of ICT based innovations ... We must identify ways to avoid the creation of new groups of excluded people. ICTs can open doors to groups who find current modes of learning hard to access ... Close attention to the policies of equality of access to education and training is needed to avoid a new division of ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’ on the Information Highway." High Level Group of Experts on Social and Societal Aspects of the Information Society, European Commission, Working Document, 1995