European Information Trends 1996
The European Commission, DG XIII, has published, within the framework of its INFO2000 programme, a report on "European Information Trends 1996", which outlines the development of the European information content industry during 1996. The year was an important one for the European information content industry: revenues reached record levels; and the Internet continued to grow at an unprecedented rate. Companies positioned themselves to take advantage of the opportunities presented by technological convergence, a de-regulated telecommunications regime and a liberalized broadcasting system. At EU and Member State level, considerable attention was given to the creation of a European Information Society - in which the information content industry will play a key role. In this respect, the European Commission launched INFO2000 to stimulate the development of the European multimedia content industry and to encourage the use of multimedia content in the emerging Information Society. Attention also began to focus on the development of electronic commerce. The report looks at the European content industry, both traditional print publishers and electronic publishers, as well as the audiovisual industry. It examines the development of the content market, both in Europe and world-wide, the regulatory and the policy framework, as well as technological and infrastructure developments. Finally, it considers the employment situation in the field and addresses skills shortages.