Enterprise News Forum for the Information Society - Digital Economy Forum for the Information Society - Digital Economy
- 09/10/2010
On the 12th October 2010, at the Portuguese Catholic University in Lisbon, it will be held the Forum for the Information Society – Digital Economy, jointly organized by ACEPI – Association Electronic Commerce and Interactive Advertising and the Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC) (see the Forum agenda (text in Portuguese) with links to presentations) as part of the Portugal |Internet Week’10 (text in Portuguese).
The purpose of this Forum is to discuss some of the main aspects of the Digital Economy, in the context of the Digital Agenda for Europe 2010-2020, launched on the 19th May 2010 by the European Commission Communication "A Digital Agenda for Europe" as the first flagship initiative of the Europe 2020 Strategy for Growth and Employment adopted by the European Council (text in Portuguese) on the 17th of June 2010 (see also European Council Sets Key Objectives of Europe 2020 Strategy for Employment and Growth (text in Portuguese) in the 26th of March 2010), and supported by the Council of EU on Transport, Telecommunications and Energy (text in Portuguese) of the 31st May 2010.
The Forum has sessions specifically devoted to:
- Opening of the Forum (video recording of session1)
- Skills for the Digital Economy (video recording of sessão2)
- Digital Single Market (video recording of sessão3)
- Dematerialization of Economy and Public Administration (video recording of sessão4)
- Trust in the Digital Economy Forum and Closing of the Forum (video recording of sessão5).
The publication Forum for the Information Society - 3. Digital Economy: New Opportunities and Challenges in the Digital Economy (text in Portuguese) was prepared with the main messages of the debate in the Forum, as compiled by the Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC).
The areas for action put forward by the Commission for the Digital Agenda for Europe 2010-2020 are as follows and include, among others, the actions indicated:
- A dynamic digital single market
Open access to content
Simplify online and cross-border transactions
Create confidence in digital technology
Strengthen the single market in telecommunication services.
- Interoperability and standards
Improve standardization in the ICT area
Encourage better use of standards
Improve interoperability through cooperation.
- Confidence and security
Implement a strengthened, high-level policy as regards network and information security, including modernization of ENISA and the creation of a CERT for EU institutions
Fight cyber attacks on I.T. systems
- Fast and ultra-fast access to the Internet
Ensure broadband has universal coverage and increasingly faster speeds
Encourage the installation of New Generation Networks (NGN)
Monitor implementation of provisions on the Internet’s open and neutral character
- Research and innovation
Increase R&D activity and efficiency in ICT
Boost innovation in ICT taking advantage of the single market
Support initiatives in the ICT sector for open innovation
Induce more private investment through pre-commercial procurement and public-private partnerships
Simplify access to EU funds for ICT research, making them more attractive to SMEs and young researchers
Develop a new generation of Internet-based applications and services
- Improve digital literacy, qualifications in this area and inclusion in the digital society
Promote literacy and digital qualifications
Develop instruments to identify and recognize professional and user ICT competences
Stimulate development and supply of inclusive digital services
- Benefits provided by ICT to society in the EU
Stimulate ICT use in protecting the environment
Boost ICT-based sustainable health care and support for dignified and independent living
Promote cultural diversity and creative content
Expand online government, especially ensuring mutual recognition of electronic identification and authentication in the EU, the creation of cross-border online services, and interconnection of public procurement capabilities in the single market
Speed up adoption of intelligent transport systems and greater mobility
- International aspects of the Digital Agenda
Ensure Europe plays a leading international role as regards the Internet
Work with third countries to improve conditions for the international trade in digital goods and services
In response to part of these goals (goals (4), (6) and (7) of the Digital Agenda for Europe 2010-2020), Portugal launched on the 20th September 2010, within the Technological Plan, the Digital Agenda 2015, focused on the following five priority areas:
- Next Generation Networks – Installation of a nationwide telecommunications network, with high bandwidth available to the user that maximizes the creation of high value-added services to citizens and businesses, with impact on efficiency and the promotion of equal social and economic opportunities.
- Better Governance – Ensuring access of citizens and businesses to better public services, in addition to the high level of online supply that has been achieved. Identifying and developing solutions that impact on Portuguese society and have a high export potential.
- Educational Excellence – Creation of platforms on which the different actors of the educational community can develop and use ICT tools for teaching and learning, fostering the availability of content in the space of Portuguese language.
- Proximity of Health – Development of smart platforms that optimize the delivery of proximity health care, generating solutions exportable to other markets. Ensure that personal health information is available for the individual citizen and for the health professional who provides him the health services, adequately and safely, in the place and time it is needed.
- Intelligent Mobility – Development of technology solutions to support smart mobility and energy optimization, with a strong incorporation of national technology, based on national competencies in ICT, smart grids and knowledge about the technologies associated with electrical mobility, generating export capacity.
The Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC) promoted the realization of a Forum for the Information Society session on Internet Governance at the ISCTE – Lisbon University Institute, on 8th July 2010 (see Forum for the Information Society – Internet Governance), and a session on Future Internet at the Cultural Centre of Macau, on 10th May 2010 (see Forum for the Information Society – Future Internet). These sessions considered issues of other objectives of the Digital Agenda for Europe 2010-2020 (respectively, within objectives (3), (4) and (8), and objective (5) of the Digital Agenda for Europe). The Forum for the Information Society – Digital Economy considers aspects of the objectives (1), (3), (6) and (7) of the Digital Agenda for Europe 2010-2020.
The ANACOM – National Communications Authority held at Culturgest in Lisbon, on 6th October 2010, the ANACOM Conference 2010 – Net Neutrality: regulation of networks and regulation of content (text in Portuguese) which considered aspects of the objectives (1), (2) and (4) of the Digital Agenda for Europe 2010-2020.