EU Must Address Key Digital Issues or Lose Out, Spanish Official Says
BRUSSELS -- The economic downturn may have been the “spark we needed” to shift information and communication technologies to the top of European priorities, an official from the incoming Spanish EU Presidency said Tuesday. The EU is in the process of setting its digital agenda for 2020, and must answer several key questions about its future or fall behind, said Francisco Ros Peran, secretary of state for telecommunications and information society for Spain’s 2010 presidency. He spoke at the European Competitive Telecommunications Association regulatory conference.
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Europe’s future ICT policy must be broader and have a more global outlook, said Leif Zetterberg, secretary of state to the minister of communications for the outgoing Swedish Presidency. It must tackle climate change and take into account how ICT is transforming societies and economies, he said. Telecom ministers will agree on the next phase of ICT policy at their next meeting, he said.
Spain has some specific objectives for its term beginning Jan. 1, Peran said. By April, it expects government agreement on the “Granada Strategy,” an action plan for 2010-2015, he said. The plan will include industry input in the form of a high-level report due the presidency next month, as well as feedback from the European Commission and Parliament, he said. Spain also wants to create a favorable regulatory environment for rollout of advanced platforms and structures for new services, Peran said. It will promote an EU charter of ICT users’ rights, a move seen as key for moving to a single digital European market, he said. Another goal is to reinforce rules on network security, privacy and intellectual property protections, he said. Spain will also seek a harmonized mechanism for gauging the progress of its information society, he said.
Now that the telecommunications reform package is in place, it’s time to move on to the digital revolution, said European Parliament member Pilar del Castillo Vera, who’s preparing a report on Europe’s digital agenda. The digital revolution won’t happen unless people have the skills to use the technologies, she said. Citizens also need a clear legal framework that shields their fundamental rights in the digital world, she said. She will also press for an end to barriers hampering digital and content markets across Europe, she said.
The digital agenda is a broad concept that basically boils down to arguing the case for better use of ICT in many areas, said Fabio Colasanti, director general of the EC Information Society and Media directorate. Any change that allows use of more applications will create an enormous macroeconomic effect, so intervention is necessary in many areas, he said. If mobile payments, for instance, are regulated the same as financial institutions, those services won’t take off, he said. The development of ICT and telecommunications so far has shown how many limitations the single market faces, Colasanti said. The EC’s overriding priority is to create a single digital market whose success will mean easier access to applications, content and services cross-border, he said.
The EC has three priorities in the telecom arena, Colasanti said. EU states must now adopt the new telecom rules into national law, but the EC is concerned that many national regulators lack the technical skills, resources and independence to do so, he said. The second priority is the development of high-speed networks, he said. Europe has decided that networks must be deployed underground, rather than above-ground as in Japan and South Korea, he said. That decision comes with a cost, and it’s unclear who should pay, he said. Moreover, many countries have a maze of rules and regulations on rights-of-way which the public sector should sort out to reduce costs, he said. Some of this may involve taxpayer money, but there’s a strong case for convincing governments to spend more for passive infrastructure, he said.
The third EC priority is spectrum management, Colasanti said. More spectrum must be made available, and the EC must maintain pressure on governments to move to digital TV as soon as possible, he said.
European states are well-positioned to leverage IT for economic growth, the Business Software Alliance said Tuesday at a European Parliament hearing. Five of the top 10 countries in a BSA-commissioned IT industry competitiveness index are European, it said. However, the overall business environment in EU states is characterized by “fragmentation and over-regulation; shortages of IT talent and low enrollment in science classes; and low numbers of IT patents,” it said. The U.S. tops the index for the third year in a row, BSA said.
The EU needs a holistic approach to driving IT competitiveness that includes trade policies, intellectual property rights protection, Internet security, investment in broadband networks and research and development incentives, BSA said.