The British-Irish Council (BIC) held its 31st Summit meeting today hosted by the Government of the Isle of Man. The heads of delegation were welcomed to the Island on behalf of the Government of the Isle of Man by the Chief Minister, Howard Quayle MHK. In addition to welcoming first time attendees to the Council, the Chief Minister paid tribute to Carwyn Jones AM, who today attended his eighteenth and final British-Irish Council Summit as First Minister of Wales. A full list of Ministerial participants is attached in the communiqué.

Ministers with particular responsibility for digital inclusion met in advance of the Summit meeting to consider a paper prepared by the Council’s Digital Inclusion work sector. Ministers noted that, while recent evidence has shown that more people are getting online than ever before, there remained key barriers which prevent people from taking their first step online, including issues of accessibility, digital skills, and motivation. To address these, Ministers discussed future challenges and identified priority issues for the British-Irish Council Digital Inclusion work sector including digital rights, digital skills & literacy and partnership working between the BIC Administrations. A new forward work programme was agreed for the work sector to reflect the priorities discussed during this meeting.

The full communiqué can be viewed here.