Gago says Europe still needs more
Europe needs more than just the Fifth Framework Programme if it is to make the necessary progress to realise the Information and knowledge society, said Portuguese minister for science José Mariano Gago in an informal statement in Lisbon on Monday 10 April. Speaking at the opening session of the enlarged ministerial conference 'eEurope: a web of knowledge', Mr Gago emphasised the need to give the European Union a special impulse in research and development (R&D). 'The reinforcement of the R&D investments is already ensured by the contribution of the Fifth Framework Programme of the European Union and by the public and private efforts. But the experience of the last decade has shown us that it is not enough. Nowadays, neither the basic research nor the applied research is sufficient in Europe. We must attract new resources.' Not only finding new resources, but concentrating on where they need to be applied is another priority. Pointing out that the means of research have moved on, Mr Gago claimed that a radical reassessment is necessary of how far society has already moved towards the information society. 'Today, the reality is that our national statistic systems and the European ones are outdated and can't give credible and internationally comparable answers to the main questions for the development of societies in network, based on information and knowledge. States, parliaments, companies and Commission are working on the wrong bases. The tangible goals that Mr Gago set out in his speech included creating a real European information highway network, ensuring a minimum level of Internet penetration within all European countries of 50% within four years, to move towards a decision about whether to digitalise all public contents and the diversification of available IT skills. These will be key elements of the Action Plan which the European Council will be asked to approve in June.