IfG.CC -
Institute for eGovernment

Governments and politicians have attempted to exploit social media for their own ends. However, a study published in the International Journal of Electronic Governance reveals that governmental Twitter accounts across the European Union have almost totally failed.

These accounts do not widely engage members of the public and have not created the “communities” their advocates desired in the quest to elicit public adoption of e-government.

Data innovation is a significant and growing part of Europe’s economy, but EU member states are not equally poised to benefit, according to a comprehensive analysis released by the Centre for Data Innovation. The Centre, a data-policy think tank, recommends that European policymakers encourage data-driven innovation by maximising the supply of reusable data, improving infrastructure that supports data innovation, and developing data science and data literacy skills among workers.

“Supporting data innovation can help countries grow their domestic economies, improve the lives of their citizens, and maximise their competitive advantage in Europe and internationally,” said Daniel Castro, director of the Centre and co-author of the report. “But countries need strong national leadership and the right public policies to realise the full benefits of data innovation.”

One of the most significant lessons learnt during the pandemic is that digital connectivity is a lifeline for society. It can also drive our economic recovery, build resilience, and enable our green transition. Joakim Reiter, Vodafone Group’s Chief External and Corporate Affairs Officer, explains why we need faster development in 5G if we are ‘to build back better’ and ensure Europe remains competitive.

Q: How has the pandemic changed our relationship with online technologies?

We spoke to people from across Europe, with the help of Friends of Europe, to understand their experiences with technology during the pandemic. Many described connectivity as ‘essential’, as digital technologies were the only way to stay informed, connected, keep working, access crucial public services and healthcare, and study. It’s incredible to realise how schools responded by transferring lessons online, and how small businesses pivoted to provide online services. In early 2020, how many of us regularly used video conferencing technologies?

A recent report released by the European parliament entitled “How blockchain technology could change our lives” outlines the capabilities of blockchain technology. The report was presented by European Parliamentary Research Service and notes the following as being of considerable significance:

Digital Property Rights

Blockchain technology has great potential for application in intellectual property rights in digital materials. It could be applied in multi-territorial licensing policies with the effect of improving legal certainty for creators and purchasers of digital content. Moreover, it has the potential to provide a sure way of protecting the patent rights of innovators from infringement by competitors. “Hashing” and “proof of existence” could help improve the patent system and deal with the current state of affairs where there is no unified patent system in EU.

Interestingly, while the country’s large land area is still one of the main factors impeding the U.S. government’s ability to successfully leverage its IT capabilities to a maximum, the biggest reason for the country’s underperformance has been its “less than satisfactory” political and regulatory environment, according to The Global Information Technology Report 2012 [PDF].

"The European Union’s Digital Agenda – one of the flagship initiatives of the Europe 2020 Strategy – firmly recognises the revolutionary potential that information and communication technology (ICT) offers to boost growth, increase productivity and improve the welfare of citizens and consumers.

The evidence that supports greater use of ICT and advances in the Digital Single Market are convincing: even in times of recession and sluggish growth prospects, the Internet contributed on average 3.8% to the EU’s gross domestic product in 2010 and it is forecasted to grow exponentially in coming years. In the leading Internet economies, including the United Kingdom, Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands, the Internet accounted for as much as 7.2%, 6.6%, 5.8% and 4.3% of GDP in 2009, respectively.

The CPOE market earned revenues of $106 million in 2010 and it is estimated to reach $173.5 million in 2017.

European health ministries have been adamant about improving health IT infrastructures across the EU. CPOE has only recently become an important part of that strategy.

It was proposed in the 2013 budget speech that foreign businesses that supply digital goods and services be required to register as vendors in South Africa.

This line of thinking follows the current trend adopted by the European Union (EU) requiring such suppliers to register for Value-added Tax (VAT) in the country where the consumer resides. E-commerce changes things of fundamental importance from a direct and indirect tax perspective. It allows a foreign vendor who essentially has no physical presence to sell into another territory and bypass the payment of any local taxes that may have been imposed on a source basis, for example, the purchase of e-books or music by a consumer, with no collection mechanism, as opposed to the delivery of physical goods that must go through customs. The tax issues associated with e-commerce, specifically cross-border activities on the internet, remain for the most part unresolved.

Die EU-Kommission will eine Agentur für das Betriebsmanagement von IT-Großsystemen im Bereich, Freiheit, Sicherheit und Recht gründen. Diese soll als eigene Rechtspersönlichkeit im ersten Schritt für den Betrieb des Schengener Informationssystems II (SIS II), des Visa-Informationssystems (VIS) und der zentralen Fingerabdrucksdatenbank für Asylsuchende (European Dactyloscopie; EURODAC) zuständig sein, so der Vorschlag für eine entsprechende Verordnung.

Vor allem die Standardsetzung sei eine ganz wichtige Aufgabe, sagte die Ministerin am Mittwoch auf der Konferenz "Work on E-Justice" in Bremen. Einheitliche Standards seien in der EU zwar nicht möglich, allerdings sollten mit Hilfe der IT-Unternehmen gemeinsame Schnittstellen erarbeitet werden. So soll unter anderem der EU-weite elektronische Austausch von Strafregisterauszügen beschleunigt werden. Bisher werden solche Verfahren schriftlich bearbeitet und nehmen daher oft mehrere Monate in Anspruch.