IfG.CC -
Institute for eGovernment

Das Konjunkturprogramm der EU soll der angeschlagenen Wirtschaft innerhalb der Mitgliedsstaaten Impulse geben und zudem einige strategische Ziele realisieren. Dazu gehören offenbar auch eine starke Energie- und Internetversorgung: Etwa 5 Milliarden Euro aus dem EU-Konjunkturprogramm sollen für die Förderung von Energie- und Breitband-Infrastrukturen aufgewendet werden. Einen entsprechenden Investitionsvorschlag veröffentlichte nun die Europäische Kommission.

Der starke Wettbewerb zwischen neuen Providern hat die Zahl der Breitbandinternetzugänge in Europa in die Höhe schnellen lassen. Wie die Europäische Kommission heute, Mittwoch, bekannt gegeben hat, werden derartige Anschlüsse mittlerweile in acht Ländern der Europäischen Union öfter genutzt als in den USA. Neben den skandinavischen Ländern und den Niederlanden haben im Juli 2007 auch Großbritannien, Belgien, Frankreich und Luxemburg die USA in dieser Hinsicht überholt. Auch Deutschland habe mit Januar 2008 die US-Marke von 22,1 Prozent Breitbandpenetration überschritten. Bis 2010, so schätzt die Kommission, könnte dies der Hälfte der EU-Mitgliedsstaaten gelingen. Laut vorgelegtem Bericht sind im vergangenen Jahr innerhalb der EU insgesamt an die 19 Mio. Breitbandleitungen hinzugekommen, das entspricht umgerechnet etwa 50.000 neuen Haushalten pro Tag.

Broadband access is essential for every European citizen to participate fully as consumers in the digital economy, act as economic actors in their role as online businesses and as citizens in a digital democracy. Indeed, connectivity is critical to eGovernment, which can help facilitate citizens as economic actors, whether operating in small business or larger enterprise. Broadband access provides a bridge that can help exploit the full benefits and efficiencies of online business partnerships and is a gateway to accessing global markets.

Under its Digital Agenda for Europe strategy, which has also recently been relaunched with new targets, the Commission’s objective is for Europeans to have access to fast broadband by 2013 while ensuring that at least 50% of households are able to subscribe to internet access above 100 megabits per second (Mbps) by 2020. This was to be achieved through the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) for cross-border infrastructure projects under the EU’s 2014-2020 budget, involving a multi-billion Euro investment including €9.2 billion for expanding broadband and digital networks.

Broadband access is essential for every European citizen to participate fully as consumers in the digital economy, act as economic actors in their role as online businesses and as citizens in a digital democracy. Indeed, connectivity is critical to eGovernment, which can help facilitate citizens as economic actors, whether operating in small business or larger enterprise. Broadband access provides a bridge that can help exploit the full benefits and efficiencies of online business partnerships and is a gateway to accessing global markets.

The EU has launched its main e-government portal offering online services to citizens and businesses across Europe, it announced on 7 March 2005.

For this reason, during a EUROCHAMBRES/ChamberSign conference on e-Government in Brussels today, they asked Siim Kallas, Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of Administrative affairs, to introduce the use of electronic applications, such as the e-Signature, in the European Commission’s administrative procedures, especially to enable e-Procurement.

All new cars in Europe are to be equipped with automatic emergency call (eCall) technology as soon as 2009, under an action plan agreed by the Commission and industry in February this year.

Now, however, Telefonica Digital, a division of Spanish telecoms giant Telefonica, is hoping to kick-start the e-health revolution. The company has acquired a stake in Saluspot, a health community which aims to connect doctors and patients via a question and answer service.

According to an article on the EU Observer website, policymakers have now decided to pursue a "cloud active" strategy for countries in the region, with potential benefits in the field of ehealth coming about as a result.

"A cloud could be used to store all the health data of an individual, including recent prescriptions, ailments, treatments, operations, allergies and blood type," it explained.

According to EU Observer, the concept of 'e-health' could vastly benefit from the flexibility and scalability of cloud solutions.

For example, it suggests that cloud hosted services could be used to store patient data, allowing medical professionals to quickly and easily access vital information.

COCIR is pleased to note that the four pillars of the eHealth Action Plan:

• Achieve wider interoperability in eHealth services
• Support research and innovation and competitiveness in eHealth
• Facilitate deployment and adoption of eHealth and
• Promote international cooperation on eHealth at global level - are fully aligned with COCIR’s own vision and efforts developed to accelerate the deployment of eHealth.

Today, the Commission is issuing a call to action to companies, governments, educators, social partners, employment service providers and civil society to join us in a massive effort to "turn the tide". Young Europeans should have the tools to enter digital careers or to create jobs as entrepreneurs.

The European eGovernment Action Plan aims to support the transition to a new generation of open, flexible and seamless eGovernment services at local, regional, national and EU levels. More specifically, the Plan aims to make services work as well in other EU Member States as they do at home and to open the way to allowing users actively to shape the online public services which suit their needs best.