Liikanen simplifies the needs of the information age
European Commissioner for Information society and enterprise, Erkki Liikanen, summed up some of what he feels are the key elements of Europe's drive towards an information society when addressing the London school of economics on 26 February. He felt that a liberalisation of the telecommunications market was essential, but needed to be coupled with a proactive research policy. 'The more competition, the wider the take up, the better for the end user,' he said. Ensuring that the information society reduces social exclusion is another key element, which must be addressed by governments. 'The more people on the Net, the faster we'll enjoy the Internet's benefits, both within the EU and globally. Universal access is therefore both a reasonable and a necessary goal,' said Mr Liikanen. Using the Internet to improve public services is an opportunity that must not be missed. 'It could allow to boost responsiveness, quality of service, efficiency and competitiveness in all public sectors,' according to Mr Liikanen. But there needs to be analysis of regulation of the Internet, which requires collaboration at all level, from international to local and from industry to users. Finally, Mr Liikanen emphasised that Europe's potential in the creation and adaptation to an information society must be realised, as it has all of the necessary tools. But one of the key points is that the take up must be universal among public services, citizens and businesses.