Brussels, 05/12/2007 (Agence Europe) - ONCE, the Spanish organisation for the blind, has welcomed the “e-inclusion” initiative of the European Commission, the objective of which is to create an information society which is open to everyone. Taking the floor as part of an exhibition held in Lisbon by the Portuguese presidency on new technological accessories to assist people living with a disability, ONCE stressed how important it is for the Commission to encourage all initiatives promoting the social integration of these people. The equipment being demonstrated shows the extent to which new technologies can be used by people living with a disability to make enormous improvements to their lives. These people feel more integrated and can actually benefit from various cultural and leisure activities to which they had no previous access, as a result of their disability. In the same way, this equipment affords them access to jobs which would otherwise have been inaccessible, by arranging to work from home or by making modifications to employment conditions in offices, the Spanish organisation stresses, pointing out that 50 million people, or some 10% of the population of Europe, are living with a disability. The “e-inclusion” initiative encourages access to new technologies for the least-favoured people and those with a disability, and invites the member states to make the most of the new technologies in order to stimulate the economy and breathe new life into social inclusion. (I.L.)