ISPO survey of European Information Society projects and actions
ISPO, the European Commission's Information Society Project Office, has launched a survey of actions and projects being carried out by the Member States in the field of the Information Society. The European survey of the Information Society (ESIS) will run for two years initially, and is being conducted by organizations in each Member State, with coordination at European level undertaken by ISPO. The organizations involved were selected following a call for tender, launched in March 1996 (OJ No C 72 of 12.3.1996 p. 19). ESIS was announced in the Commission's Information Society Action Plan. The aims of the survey are to monitor progress in the development of the Information Society and anticipate possible impacts of these developments. The core of ESIS is establishing an inventory of projects. These projects must use information and communications technologies in an innovative, interactive way and provide remote access. The inventory will be constructed on the basis of a standardized questionnaire, to be filled in by project promoters. The ESIS will also include the monitoring and regular analysis of new regulations as well as actions aimed at promoting public and private initiatives in the Information Society. The third activity of the survey is the mapping of actors, in particular public or private network facilities offering Information Society infrastructure, services and applications.