European IT report shows widening of EU-USA information technology gap
A report from the European information technology observatory (EITO) indicates that the gap between the USA and Europe in the effective use of the Internet and other information technologies has widened, and may continue to do so. The EITO report analyses data from 1992 to 1998. The EITO, a European initiative, provides a yearly overview of Europe's information and communication technology market. It is supported by the Commission's Enterprise and Information Society DG, as well as the OECD's Directorate for Science, Technology and Industry and other European organisations. Its most recent analysis shows that over a seven year period between 1992 and 1998, US IT investment as a percentage of GDP (gross domestic product) grew from a 50 per cent lead on Europe to almost two times the EU expenditure. Since US per capita GDP is higher than that of Europe, and growing more rapidly, the figures show the rate of increase as well as the current gap in spending. The report also shows that US spending on investment per capita was twice that of Europe every year except 1992, when it fell to only 50 per cent more. The US cumulative level of investment per person from 1992 to 1998 ran at 2.15 times that of Europe. This meant that by 1998, the USA had over 50 PCs (personal computers) for every 100 people, while the EU had an average of 20. In December 1999, the European Commission launched its eEurope initiative to bring the benefits of the information society to all Europeans. Results from the 2001 European Innovation Scoreboard show that some EU countries are now leading the field in Internet use compared to the USA and Japan, with Holland, Sweden and Denmark now global leaders in the number of households connected to the Internet. In June 2000, European Heads of State and Government agreed on the Commission's eEurope Action Plan to be launched in 2002. The plan sets out a roadmap to achieve three main objectives: a cheaper, faster, secure Internet; investing in people and skills and stimulating the use of the Internet.