Europe's role in the future development of the Internet
A study on "The future of the Internet - What role for Europe?" has recently been published. The study, the interim report of a Commission advisory group, analyses the development of the Internet and makes recommendations for European policy. The study looks at the development of the Internet, tracing it from its early uses as a means of transmitting unformatted text e-mails, through its increasing ability to transmit larger and more complex files of both text and graphics, to the development of multimedia applications on the World Wide Web. Current developments relate to applications such as electronic commerce, security and encryption, legal issues at international level, and Intranets. The report acknowledges that Europe lags some two to three years behind the USA in the extent to which the Internet is used, both for home and business use. This means that European firms are at a disadvantage for developing new applications compared to their US competitors. The advisory group has, therefore, put forward a number of recommendations to ensure that the Internet develops successfully in Europe: - It is important that the EU should recognize the key role that the Internet is likely to play in the economic development of Europe over the coming decades; - Specific recognition is needed that now is a critical moment for the evolution of the Internet towards electronic commerce; - These acts of recognition must be followed by urgent and effective action, and appropriate budgetary commitments, aimed at ensuring that Europe reduces the extent to which it is lagging behind the USA in the development and application of the Internet. Other recommendations include: - The Commission should have a carefully focused and adequately resourced centre of expertise for dealing with the Internet and its likely ramifications; - The parallel creation of a forum which would bring together all Europeans having a strong interest in the evolution of the Internet; - All geographic areas of the EU should be able to benefit from timely deployment of the Internet; - The EU must continue its strong emphasis on fast and effective liberalization of telecommunications. The report also lists a number of research projects which the group suggests should receive Community support.