EU and China launch information society project
The EU-China Information Society Project launched its first initiative - on e-government - on 12January. The four-year project, launched in August 2005, is intended to help the Chinese government improve its regulatory and legal environment, especially in copyright, telecommunications law, information security and access to government. The EU has committed 15 million euro, and the Chinese government seven million euro to the project. According to Luc Verscoore of the Emerging Markets Group, one of the partners in the EU-China Information Society Project, this is the first project to be announced by the group. 'The steering committee will soon be established, and it will make recommendations for the direction of the remainder of the four-year project.' The project has specific aims in fostering better deployment of e-government in China. This includes implementing essential laws in China to improve the legal and regulatory framework there and specific demonstration projects to achieve optimal sharing and bridging of the digital divide. The current initiative will provide e-government training in ten Chinese provinces including Shanghai, Beijing and Guangdong. 'This project, focusing in particular on e-government but reaching out to other areas of the information society, constitute important support for the information society dialogue between China and the EU,' said Viviane Reding, the EU's Information Society and Media Commissioner.
Countries
China