1 ΤΜΟΔ Πανεπιστήμιο Αιγαίου The evolution of Information Society Policies in...

1ΤΜΟΔΠανεπιστήμιο Αιγαίου

The evolution of Information Society Policies in Europe:

A historical account and some critical remarks

Ευρωπαικές εξελίξεις στην Κοινωνία της Πληροφορίας

Anastasia ConstantelouDepartment of Financial and Management Engineering

University of the Aegean

2ΤΜΟΔΠανεπιστήμιο Αιγαίου

A bit of history….

The mix of EU policies for an Information Society unfolded throughout the 1990s with two significant landmarks: in 1994 and in 2000.

Telecommunications policy policies for the converged communications sector information society policies

1994: The Bungemann Report– In its Brussels meeting of December 1993, the European Council

requested that a report be prepared for its meeting on 24 - 25 June 1994 in Corfu by a group of prominent persons on the specific measures to be taken into consideration by the Community and the Member States for the infrastructures in the sphere of information.

– On the basis of this report, the Council would adopt an operational programme defining precise procedures for action and the necessary means.

3ΤΜΟΔΠανεπιστήμιο Αιγαίου

Highlights of the Bungemann report The actors: Telecommunications, cable and satellite operators, service

provider and content industries, citizens and users, telecommunication equipment and software suppliers

Distinction between networks, basic services, applications “The only question is whether this will be a strategic creation for the whole

Union, or a more fragmented and much less effective amalgam of individual initiatives by Member States.”

A market-driven revolution: The market will drive ... the prime task of government is to safeguard competitive forces

Interconnection of networks and interoperability of services and applications Protection of intellectual Property Rights (IPRs), privacy and data protection,

media ownership, competition rules, technology We can only create a virtuous circle of supply and demand if a significant

number of market testing applications based on information networks and services can be launched across Europe to create critical mass.

The creation of the information society in Europe should be entrusted to the private sector and to market forces.

4ΤΜΟΔΠανεπιστήμιο Αιγαίου

Ten applications to launch the information society

Teleworking Distance learning A network for universities and research centres Telematic services for SMEs Road traffic management Air traffic control Healthcare networks Electronic tendering Trans-european public administration network City information highways

5ΤΜΟΔΠανεπιστήμιο Αιγαίου

Towards e-Europe December 1999: ‘eEurope: An Information Society for All’ March 2000: Lisbon Summit (the ‘dot.com’ Summit). The European Union should

become the world’s most competitive knowledge-based economy by 2010.  June 2000: ‘eEurope 2002 Action Plan’ officially launched emphasizing the

importance of the internet and associated technologies. Included three main objectives:

– bringing every citizen, home and school, every business and administration, online and into the digital age

– creating a digitally literate Europe, supported by an entrepreneurial culture ready to finance and develop new ideas

– ensuring the whole process was socially inclusive, built consumer trust and strengthened social cohesion

December 2002: ‘eEurope 2005 Action Plan’ adopted giving greater emphasis on broadband technologies and internet security and focusing on five policy areas: eBusiness, eGovernment, eHealth, eInclusion and eLearning.

July 2003: new electronic communications regulatory framework launched

6ΤΜΟΔΠανεπιστήμιο Αιγαίου

The i2010 initiative

June 2005: "i2010 – A European Information Society for growth and employment" - a framework for addressing the main challenges and developments in the information society and media sectors up to 2010.

The Commissioner’s stated aim is to ensure that Europe reaps the benefits of technological and economic development “in terms of prosperity, jobs and growth” by:– promoting a borderless European information space with the aim of

establishing an internal market for electronic communications and digital services

– stimulating innovation through investment in research, the development and deployment of ICT and by encouraging the industrial application of ICT

Three priorities of the i2010 initiative:– ‘information space’, which promotes an open and competitive market for

information society and media– ‘innovation and investment in ICT’, – ’inclusion and a better quality of life’, with IS technologies being accessible

“everywhere and to everyone in Europe”

7ΤΜΟΔΠανεπιστήμιο Αιγαίου

Mid-term review of the i2010 initiative (April 2008) – Main Findings

The Internet has become part of daily life: in 2007 – one in every two Europeans was a regular Internet user – nearly 80% of households using the Internet had already migrated from dialup to

broadband.– Still, 40% of Europeans do not use the Internet at all and 46% of European

households do not have Internet access ICT research expenditure is still below target in most Member States. “ICTs

represent about 30% of the overall research effort in most developed countries, and the gap between the EU's efforts and those of its main competitors is undermining its future ability to lead information society innovations.”

Procurement for innovation is underutilised in the EU Broadband market is developing rapidly (penetration rate reached 20% of

population in January 2008). However, growth in penetration is slowing down and there are increasing gaps between Member States in terms of take-up, speed, price and coverage.

Fragmented regulation for electronic communication markets across the 27 Member States. Call for a European Electronic Communications Market Authority (EECMA)

eCommerce is not progressing as fast as other Internet domains

8ΤΜΟΔΠανεπιστήμιο Αιγαίου

Key challenges for 2008-2010 (according to the Commission)

Boost research performance (through Joint Research Initiatives, promoting the role of public sector as first buyer of innovation, etc.)

Facilitate the transition to new networks (Next Generation Access) and promote the “Internet of Things”

Develop pan-European public services Streamline the legal framework governing the information

society (spectrum management, e-signatures, e-authentication, ICT standardisation system, etc.)

Develop a long-term policy agenda for users in the digital environment

9ΤΜΟΔΠανεπιστήμιο Αιγαίου

Beyond initiatives, goals, and benchmarking exercises: Some critical remarks on the evolution

of Information Society policies

A political economy perspective…– How do we understand changes in the global capitalist

economic system over the last three decades and what role ICTs have played in those changes

– What are the drivers of productivity growth in traditional manufacturing sectors? ‘traditional’ economies of scale appear to be the major

drivers to globalization Major economies still dependent on oil and physical

transportation infrastructures … but at the same time rise of a range of new economic

activities where ICTs are the primary tools of production

10ΤΜΟΔΠανεπιστήμιο Αιγαίου

Implications for the European IS policy-making process

Lisbon agenda: response to the global political economy Race with the US (old wine in new bottles…) EU IS policy has been grappling with three main broad policies

(and associated theoretical strands):– Industrial policy– Consumer welfare policies (neoclassical approach)– Policies for sustained economic growth and innovation

(Schumpeterian competition) Some scholars see an inherent contradiction among these

policy strands in both theory and practice “The theories and models underlying policy formulation and

implementation are much more controversial and contradictory than theorists and policy makers are prepared to admit” (N. Garnham) the world is more complex than it appears

11ΤΜΟΔΠανεπιστήμιο Αιγαίου

Food for policy debates

Is growth in the ICT sector a cause or a result of social and economic change? (or are things more complex than appear in the outset?…)– Is the ICT sector a new growth sector seeking public intervention to

optimise its growth? …or– Is the ICT sector the essential infrastructure for cross sectoral

economic developments?

What role for the policy-maker and the policy-making process?– Vision-setter?– “Muddling through contested terrain” (Melody) for incremental

changes to inherited systems?– Put emphasis on appropriate structures and processes rather than

on predefined outcomes?– Other???