The European Commission is inviting all interested persons to join in the online engagement platform of the Digital Agenda for Europe (DAE) to discuss in the online groups, contribute to the Digital Agenda Assembly, and help to shape the mid-term review of the DAE.

The Online Engagement Platform of the DAE is an online space for discussion and peer-to-peer collaboration to prepare the Digital Agenda Assembly 2012 (DAA12 - to be held on 21-22 June in Brussels) as well as the review of the DAE, planned for adoption in October 2012. Such a space was the most requested feature in the feedback received following the Digital Agenda Assembly 2011.  

The Platform features 10 discussion groups on key DAE topics, most of which correspond to workshops that will be held at DAA12 (groups 1 to 8) plus 2 other ones (groups 9 and 'other issues'). Each discussion is animated by a moderator and has a dedicated (hash)tag.

Participants can join the group(s) they you are interested in and react to the questions from the moderator or raise other issues themselves. In addition, they can post contributions in other online forums, using the relevant tag so the contributions can be aggregated in the 'tagosphere' section of each discussion group in the DAE online engagement platform.

There are at least four reasons for interested people to contribute: 

1. Make your input visible: the results of the online debate will be regularly reported, on this platform and otherwise by the European Commission. The moderators will identify the most valuable contributions indicating who made them unless the person does not want to.
2. Contribute to DAA12: the main results of the online debate will be presented and discussed at DAA12. Not everyone interested will be able to attend physically DAA12 in June, also because the places are limited, but everyone has the possibility to participate in DAA12 through their online contributions. As for those attending DAA12, they are strongly encouraged to also contribute online to ensure a fruitful meeting in June.
3. Attend DAA12: persons providing contributions with the most added value will be invited to attend the DAA12 in Brussels, if they wish so and were not already invited by the European Commission. Each moderator will have up to five DAA12 places to grant by 30 May 2012.
4. Contribute to the DAE review: the main results from these online discussions on key DAE topics will also feed the review of the DAE, which the European Commission is currently preparing and plans to adopt in October 2012, also drawing on the feedback received at the DAA12 in June. Therefore, European officials responsible for the DAE will participate in this platform and interact with the participants.

Background information 

This platform is a temporary online space that complements the DAE's official website. It contains much information on the DAE (managed by the Directorate-General for Information Society and Media of the European Commission) as well as other European Commission efforts to promote and implement the DAE. 

Further information:  

• Original news article - Europe's Information Society Thematic Portal
• DAE online engagement platform - European Commission
• Related ePractice publication - EU: A Digital Agenda for Europe - Commission Communication