EU drive to foster ICT investment

On wednesday, the European Commission launched a new task force intended to foster the competitiveness of Europe's Information and Communications Technology (ICT) industry. Its objective is to carry forward the debate on the challenges and opportunities created by the convergence of digital networks with a focus on the content as well as the devices.

In particular, the task force has been asked to identify obstacles to the competitiveness of Europe's ICT industry and to recommend possible policy responses to resolve them.

The ICT task force is composed of high-level representatives of the ICT industry, of representatives from relevant facets of civil society, such as chambers of commerce and universities, and with the participation of two of the Commission's directorates-general, those for Enterprise and Industry and for Information Society and Media. Among others, the ICT task force includes the president of ST Microelectronics.

The ICT task force is one of several initiatives launched under the Commission's 'industrial policy' that aim to create a more favourable environment for business development, in Europe. It is clearly complementary to the Commission's other, ICT-related initiatives such as i2010, about which I had written some time ago.

The latter initiative was launched in the spirit of the renewed Lisbon strategy for growth and jobs to promote an effective partnership between the Commission, member states and all relevant stakeholders. The ICT task force is expected to provide additional support to this initiative by helping to clarify further some of the key considerations.

The i2010 initiative is based upon three pillars and the ICT Task Force will have a link with each of them. These three pillars, or main lines of thrust, are to: a) create an open and competitive single market for information society and media services within the EU; b) increase investment in research on ICT within the EU and to encourage innovation in these fields; and c) promote an inclusive information society within the entire EU.

The ICT task force will establish a number of working groups to address six principal topics, which I will briefly introduce, using the same nomenclature as adopted by the Commission.

The first topic is that of 'ICT uptake'. The introduction and adoption of ICT technology has not progressed at the same rate within all parts of the EU and, in most instances, it still does not match the rate observed in the United States. The objective is to identify potential reasons for this divergence, so that appropriate remedial action may be suggested.

Aspects to be covered will include the adaptability of enterprises to changing technology, the impact of ICT on the workforce, the adequacy of current ICT education and the question of suitable standards for effective ICT interconnection and interoperability.

The second topic is that of 'IPR for competitiveness and innovation'. IPR stands for Intellectual Property Rights, including copyrights, patents and trademarks, and it is generally recognised to be a critical element in the promotion of innovation in the ICT area.

However, piracy and counterfeiting continue to undermine the innovative efforts of European industry. IPR itself also remains the subject of much controversy. While, on the one hand, it is acknowledged that protecting intellectual property is a fundamental pre-requisite for investment in R&D, such protection is often misperceived as obstructing innovation rather than encouraging it.

The working group will therefore study the links between IPR and R&D and innovation as well as the causes and impact of piracy. The objective is to determine what adjustments need to be made to the IPR regime within the EU to sustain ICT development while also enhancing ICT uptake.

A related topic is that of 'Innovation in R&D, manufacturing and services'. Few will dispute that innovation is a crucial driver of economic growth and job creation. However, in comparison to its potential, not enough attention has been paid to how best to foster it in a systematic rather than in a haphazard manner.

Ultimately the objective is to identify critical barriers to innovation to generate policy recommendations on how to eliminate them.

A fourth working group will be focusing on 'SMEs and entrepreneurship'. This will look into SMEs' ability to compete in the field of ICT but also their capacity to benefit from ICT solutions.

Linked to these questions is the issue of 'Skills and employability', which will be covered by a separate working group. ICT uptake and competitiveness will depend on the ICT awareness and skills of those who must drive the process (the entrepreneurs), of those who must contribute to it (the employees) and, ultimately, also of the public in general (as the final customers).

This is a generic statement that requires a wide-ranging perspective and this working group has been entrusted to pursue three linked, but nevertheless different issues: how best to interest the current and future generations in the process of technology innovation; how to exploit ICT to transform the way in which we learn and work; and how to develop an environment that encourages greater skill development and attracts and retains those with higher skills.

Finally, there is a sixth working group, which will address 'Achieving a truly single market'. The ICT sector is characterised by convergence across technology platforms. However, there is still a lack of coherence in the way in which legislation is implemented that has led to a fragmentation of the European ICT market.

This has hindered companies in the implementation of strategies on a truly EU-wide scale and this working group will examine how to achieve a better regulatory environment for ICT innovation and development. The ultimate goal, quoting the heading which has often been mentioned by the Commission, is 'The Single European Information space', although this is a more strategic and therefore necessarily longer-term objective.

What will determine the extent to which this and related goals are achieved will depend on the actions that are taken. At the end of the day, it will be actions and not words that will matter. However little action is likely to be forthcoming unless the need for it has been identified and society made aware of it.

Similarly, actions are bound to be much more effective if they can be co-ordinated and channelled into where they are the most needed and where they are likely to have the greatest impact. It is this strategic consideration that lies behind the establishment of the ICT task force as was described very clearly by Commissioner Viviane Reding:

"The ICT industry is crucial to Europe's economic recovery and a strategic, market oriented co-operation of the EU institutions with the private sector is the key to its successful development. With the ICT task force, we want to ensure that Europe's ICT industry keeps its leading role in the world.

"Jointly we will focus our work on facilitating cross-border competition in Europe, on removing barriers for a true internal market for online content services and on combining more effectively public and private research efforts to spur ICT investment."