Overview
On 1 June, the European Commission adopted the initiative “i2010: European Information Society 2010”. (1) The overarching aim of the i2010 initiative is to ensure that Europe’s businesses, governments and citizens make the best use of ICT in order to improve industrial competitiveness, to support growth and the creation of jobs, as well as to address key societal challenges. The i2010 initiative has three broad policy objectives:- Promoting a borderless European information space with open and stable markets for electronic communication services and the emerging digital services economy.
- Stimulating innovation through investment in research, the development and deployment of ICT and through encouraging the industrial application of ICT.
- Making the European Information Society in 2010 an open, transparent and inclusive knowledge society which is accessible everywhere and to everyone in Europe.
The i2010 initiative will set 5-year objectives and yearly action plans under each of these three broad policy areas.
Priority 1: Single market for converging ICT and media
The Commission aims to create an open and competitive single market for information society and media services within the EU. To support technological convergence through regulation, the Commission plans to introduce a number of measures:- an efficient spectrum management policy in Europe (2005)
- a modernisation of the rules on audiovisual media services (end 2005)
- an updating of the regulatory framework for electronic communications (2006)
- a strategy for a secure information society (2006), and
- a comprehensive approach for effective and interoperable digital rights management (2006/2007).
Of particular relevance to BReATH is this: one of the challenges posed by digital convergence that shall be addressed according to i2010 is broadband. The i2010 document states that “faster broadband in Europe services to deliver rich content such as high definition video”. The objective is “a single European Information Space offering affordable and secure high bandwidth communications, rich and diverse content and digital services”. (2)
Priority 2: Increase of investment in ICT research
The Commission wants to increase EU investment in research on Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) by 80% in order to strengthen Europe’s competitiveness. Europe lags behind in ICT research, investing only €80 per head as compared to €350 in Japan and €400 in the US. i2010 identifies steps to put more into ICT research and get more out of it, e.g. by trans-European demonstrator projects to test promising research results and by integrating small and medium sized enterprises better in EU research projects.
In the context of BReATH it is noteworthy that the Commission in particular wants to promote investments in high-speed and secure broadband networks offering rich and diverse content in Europe.
Priority 3: Inclusive information society
The third i2010 priority is the promotion of an inclusive European information society. To close the gap between the information society “haves and have nots”, the Commission plans to propose the following activities:- an action plan on e-government for citizen-centred services (2006)
- three “quality of life” ICT flagship initiatives: 1. technologies for an ageing society, 2. intelligent vehicles that are smarter, safer and cleaner, and 3. digital libraries making multimedia and multilingual European culture available to all (2007)
- actions to overcome the geographic and social .digital divide., culminating in a European Initiative on e-Inclusion (2008).
Although there is no specific reference to broadband in this priority, many of the above-mentioned services would require broadband.
Development of EU ICT strategy
With the launch of the Lisbon Agenda in 2000, the EU implemented an ICT strategy which was meant to provide an overarching framework for the Commission’s and Member States’ ICT policy.- The first initiative, eEurope 2002, ran from 2000 to 2002 and set policy objectives to stimulate the use of a cheaper, faster and more secure Internet. Its main focus was on connectivity, i.e. getting people on line.
- The eEurope 2005 initiative ran until the end of 2005. Its overall policy objective has been the need for higher adoption of broadband and other ICT services. It has focused on providing a favourable investment environment, modernising public services and e-inclusion.
- The current i2010 is a continuation of the previous initiatives with an adjusted focus in the context of the revised Lisbon Agenda. i2010 sets the EU ICT policy until 2010. The member states were asked by the Commission to define national information society priorities by mid-October 2005 as a contribution to the objectives of i2010.
Conclusion
Compared to eEurope 2005, in i2010 the focus has moved from broadband to convergence and rich content. However, the focus on bandwidth-consuming services, such as high-definition video, requires the widespread deployment of broadband. For BReATH this could mean that the promotion of broadband should be viewed in the wider context of the convergence of ICT and media, which is regarded by the Commission as a major driver of economic growth and employment in view of the revised Lisbon goals. BReATH plans to observe closely the development of the i2010 strategy and check if i2010-related events could be of interest for the dissemination and networking activities of BReATH.
References
(1) All EC documents related to i2010 are available on the EC i2010 website at http://europa.eu.int/i2010
(2) Commission of the European Communities: “i2010 – A European Information Society for growth and employment”. Communication From the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions. Brussels, 1 June 2005.