The British-Irish Council established under the 1998 Multi-Party Agreement held its twenty-third Summit meeting today, hosted by the Isle of Man Government’s Chief Minister Hon Allan Bell, in the Villa Marina, Douglas.

The meeting was attended by Leaders and Ministers from the eight BIC Member Administrations: the UK and Irish Governments; the devolved administrations of the Scottish and Welsh Governments and Northern Ireland Executive; the Governments of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man.

The Council discussed the current economic situation in Member Administrations and the benefits and increasing importance of digital participation in everyday life.  The Council reviewed audio visual material produced by the work sector as a collaborative effort to highlight these benefits, which can be viewed on the Animation and Collage links.

Ireland’s Digital Champion, Lord David Puttnam welcomed the promotion videos and the Council’s engagement with the digital inclusion agenda.  He said  “Digital inclusion is crucial to our society – as shown in these important BIC videos. I commend everyone involved in this urgent agenda.”

Reflecting the theme, the Council used i-pads to replace paper copies of documents making it the first ever BIC  e-summit;’  The Council agreed the importance of ensuring everyone in their jurisdictions has the opportunity to share in the benefits of digital technology and of its potential contribution towards wider government policies.

The Council also received an update of the work ongoing in all twelve BIC work sectors.

Read the full Summit Communiqué