Europe needs a vision
Europe needs a cohesive approach to focus and prioritise ongoing and future initiatives intended improve its world position in information and communication technologies, according to a report commissioned by the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs, and presented to the Lisbon summit. The report, entitled 'the competitiveness of Europe's ICT markets' and complied by consultants Booz Allen and Hamilton, goes on to suggest what this 'guiding vision' should be 'to become the world leader in mobile e-commerce (m-commerce), building from existing strengths in mobile communications.' The conclusions were supported in discussions at a ministerial conference on knowledge and innovation for the competitiveness of Europe, organised under the Portuguese Presidency. The conference said that: 'the EU must make full use of the potential of its strengths in order to reach the strategic goal of making the EU the world's most dynamic and competitive area, based on innovation and knowledge, able to boost economic growth levels with more and better jobs and greater social cohesion'. To deliver on this vision, the authors of the report suggest European leaders need to take the following steps as a matter of urgency: - rapid completion of full liberalisation of telecoms markets; - transparent, global oriented e-commerce regulations, covering issues specific to m-commerce; - skilled ICT labour force and ICT literacy; - fully harmonised markets; - full elimination of legal barriers to entrepreneurship; - to close the R&D gap with the US. The report was commissioned to assess how Europe's competitiveness in ICT has progressed since an original study conducted in 1996 and 1997, also by Booz Allen and Hamilton. The results were not promising. Despite rapid growth in the ICT industry, Europe is still falling behind the US in world market share. The report's authors blame a set of structural, market and regulatory restrictions to development, Specifically they highlight differences in tax and commercial laws, a poor entrepreneurial environment, and high Internet costs. The ministerial conference, which took place in Noordwijk, the Netherlands, on 9 and 10 March, expressed concern about the increasing productivity and income gap between the EU and US, agreeing that concrete actions are needed at both national and Community level. Participants welcomed the European Commission's entrepreneurial policy, in particular the multiannual programme for enterprise and entrepreneurship for 2001-2005, which they said will make an important contribution to the creation of a more favourable business environment in Europe. Other measures to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship were proposed to Member States. They included implementing the risk capital action plan by 2003, adopting policies to improve access to venture capital and business counselling, international business and knowledge networks, as well as reviewing bankruptcy laws. The conference recommended Member States and the European Parliament rapidly adopt the directives and recommendations already proposed by the European Commission, so the legal framework is in place by the end of 2000. Member States should also fully liberalise broadband access, unbundling the local loop and ensure open access to cable. The Commission meanwhile, should work with industry in promoting trans-European broadband communication links and services, and report by 1 January 2001 on the development and implementation of data encryption for security in transactions using mobile telephony. The importance of investing in human capital was also underlined, and it was recommended that all schools be equipped with Internet facilities and provided with ICT training, with the long term goal of improving the match between education and labour market demand. Lifelong learning should also be promoted, and obstacles for labour mobility should be removed. The links between the public research infrastructure and the business community should be strengthened said the conference, in order to improve the efficiency of research and development. Network building and innovative clustering would allow greater cooperation between knowledge users and providers, they said. Analysis was also needed of Europe's research capabilities, improving the efficacy of research facilities, and of the obstacles to transnational research. The Internal Market is of central importance for the efficient functioning of markets, said participants. They asked the Commission and Member States to map out a coordinated policy by 2001 for reducing burdens and simplifying the regulatory burden, and asked the Commission to come forward with proposals for a Community patent. The telecommunications, energy and air transport markets should be fully liberalised in the near future, they said, to enable lower costs for small firms and improve their market access. Benchmarking exercises between Member States, and also with competitors outside the EU was recommended as a method of learning from best practices. If adopted, these measures should improve the competitiveness of Europe's ICT markets, which governments, economists and industrialists are recognising is increasingly necessary for Europe to take advantage of the new economy. As the Booz Allen and Hamilton report says: 'The competitiveness of Europe's ICT industries and markets will determine the future competitiveness of Europe. 'The experience of mobile telephony shows that European ICT can achieve positions of world leadership. The challenge now is to create such positions in the new economy of the 21st century.'
Countries
Netherlands