Danish Presidency to focus on security in eEurope
The Danish Presidency will focus its work in the context of eEurope on improving security and building trust, said Sidse Aegidius, a Head of Division at the Danish Ministry of science, technology and innovation at the Commission event 'SMEs Go Digital' in Brussels on 16 May. The eEurope 2005 action plan is still under discussion by the Commission, but Enterprise and Information Society Commissioner Erkki Liikanen has already announced that the new action plan will differ significantly from its predecessor, the eEurope 2002 action plan. The new action plan will have fewer, but more focused priorities, Mr Liikanen announced early in May. Reacting to Commission claims of a more selective action plan, Ms Aegidius said: 'I hope the action plan will keep promises, as it is very promising.' What action the Danish Presidency takes depends on the content of the action plan, said Ms Aegidius, but the Presidency's priorities in this area are already ascertained: security and the building of trust. Denmark has a 95 per cent Internet connection rate, said Ms Aegidius, but some businesses will not enter into e-commerce as they do not feel safe using it, she added. 'We must eliminate the fear by doing something,' she said. In Denmark a digital signature is being introduced to address this issue. The Danish Presidency will also be addressing e-government, e-content, e-learning, e-health and accessibility to broadband, said Ms Aegidius. Benchmarking will also be a focus for the next Presidency, and Denmark is considering introducing a set of new indicators measuring Internet connectivity in both the business and public environment.
Countries
Denmark