Mr Madelin delivered a presentation about the digital agenda during a business breakfast organised by the European Union representation in Malta.
The European Commission adopted the ‘Digital Agenda for Europe’ last May by unveiling a detailed action plan aimed to improve the competitiveness of the ICT industry by infusing a real EU-wide single market for online products and services.
He highlighted the high take up of broadband internet services among the Maltese people, the use of e-government services, the use of IT among businesses and initiatives taken at community level to bridge the ICT gap. “Internet is for all and Malta is a leader in this. All the seven areas of the digital agenda will have an impact on our lives, whether you are the man in the street or a business person,” he said.
Focus on the digital agenda
The digital agenda outlines seven priority areas:
- Creating a digital single market
- Improving the framework conditions for interoperability between ICT products and services
- Boosting internet trust and security
- Guaranteeing the provision of much faster internet access
- Encouraging the provision of much faster internet access
- Enhancing digital literacy, skills and inclusion
- Applying ICT to address social challenges such as climate change, rising healthcare costs, and the ageing population.
The digital agenda is the action plan for making the best use of information and communication technologies to speed up economic recovery and lay the foundations of a sustainable digital future. The new action plan proposes to remove current obstacles to maximising the potential of ICTs, with long-term investments to minimise future problems.
At least 30 per cent of Europeans have never used the internet. There are four times as many music downloads in the US as in the EU because of the lack of legal offers and fragmented markets. Europe is also lagging behind its industrial partners, such as the US and Japan, on investment in ICT research and take up of ultra high-speed networks. Only one per cent of Europeans have access to fibre-based high-speed networks, as compared to 12 per cent of Japanese and 15 per cent of South Koreans. The EU is spending only 40 per cent of US levels for ICT research and development.
The objective of this agenda is to chart a course to maximise the social and economic potential of ICT, most notably the internet, a vital medium of economic and societal activity: for doing business, working, playing, communicating and expressing ourselves freely.
Successful delivery of this agenda will spur innovation, economic growth, and improvements in daily life for both citizens and businesses. Wider deployment and more effective use of digital technologies will enable Europe to address its key challenges and will provide Europeans with a better quality of life through, for example, better health care, safer and more efficient transport solutions, a cleaner environment, new media opportunities and easier access to public services and cultural content.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Elaine Attard
Quelle/Source: The Malta Independent Online, 16.09.2010
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