Commission responds to calls for a new information society strategy
Just two months after a Dutch Presidency report called for a rethink of Europe's policy agenda for information and communication technologies (ICT), the Commission has taken a first step towards that goal by publishing a communication on the EU's information society strategy beyond 2005. In an introduction to the report, the Commission suggests that with the current eEurope Action Plan coming to an end after 2005, the time is right to take stock of its achievements, consider the coming challenges and identify policies to address them. This communication, it says, is the first stage in that process. From the outset, the report highlights the strategic importance of ICTs to the EU, and in particular its contribution to achieving the Lisbon goals. This contribution is threefold, argues the Commission. First, ICT is an important sector in its own right, accounting for six per cent of employment in the EU in 2000. Second, new technologies are vital for improving productivity and competitiveness, having been responsible for almost half of Europe's productivity growth between 1995 and 2000. Lastly, the report cites the important contribution that ICTs make in boosting citizenship and quality of life in Europe. Having established the value of ICT to European economic and social development, however, the report concludes that while 'several EU countries stand out in adopting and making gains from innovations in ICT [...] the average European performance in realising the potential of ICT needs to be substantially improved.' In this context, the Commission predicts a need for ICT specific policies for many years to come, especially given the relatively early stage of technological adoption in Europe, the need to stimulate increased research spending, and the existence of pressing regulatory issues. Moving on to launch the debate on exactly what those ICT specific policies should be, the report takes a similar approach to that adopted by the Dutch Presidency, but instead of identifying ten 'breakthroughs', the Commission sees eight key 'issues for an information society beyond 2005'. Despite the different nomenclature, however, a number of these 'issues' are the same, such as recognising ICT as a key industrial sector and ensuring the security and dependability of the Internet. The report does identify issues for future policy making not considered by the Dutch Presidency, though. For example, it recognises that audiovisual and multimedia content are both driving forces in the success of new technologies in general, and broadband in particular, and says that the EU can play a proactive role by 'supporting content providers and fostering the emergence of innovative services.' Furthermore, as ICTs begin to permeate society, the importance of equal access to technology and services at an affordable cost, so called 'eInclusion', becomes more pressing. 'eInclusion should be tackled at national, regional and local level [and] policies should ensure digital literacy for everyone in society,' believes the report. 'They should ensure that technologies are easy to use and provide content and services to prevent new digital divides from opening up.' However, the Commission warns that such policies are hard to implement and will require a substantial research effort that is unlikely to be provided by the private sector alone. In conclusion, the Commission says that it hopes that this communication will begin a process of reflection on the new vision for the information society that will be put into place by 2006, and promises to consult widely with stakeholders in the coming year before outlining a new policy agenda in detail.