Transcript Bit by Bit - Progetto ESperANTO

European Content for the
Global networks
INFO 2000 and beyond
Milano, 10-4-2000
Yvo Volman
European Content for the Global Networks
Agenda
 Content in the EU: economic and
social implications
 INFO2000 what impact ?
 The year 2000 and beyond
The EU view on the Information Society
The Prodi Commission
 “The key to the future of our Continent is in the
hands of hi-tech, knowledge-based industries, at
the cutting edge of research.”
 “Just think of the Internet. It can change the
whole organisation of production, reducing
stocks and creating virtual products.”
 “Modern economies are increasingly knowledgebased, and this is an area where we have a
competitive advantage at world level”
Romano Prodi, European Parliament, 1999
The emerging Information Society
Which would you choose?
Air mail
Courier
Fax
E-mail
Cost (US$)
7.40
26.25
28.83
Time
5 days
24 hours
31 minutes
0.095
2 minutes
From “either”… “or” to “and”…
“and”
Source: Northern River Ventures, quoted in ITU
“Challenges to the Network: Telecoms and the Internet”,
1997
Bertelsmann Multimedia
Shift in Importance of Success Factors in the Multimedia Market
Bertelsmann Multimedia
Content creation
and ownership
Technical infrastructure
Marketing and service capabilities
1995
2005
Advantages for
technology-driven companies
Advantages for
content-driven companies
The Economic Challenge
What is the economic weight of content ?
 Sheer size


€376 billion - or 5% of the EU GDP
4 million employees
 Growth rate


Can be up to 20% per year
Job creation engine: up to 1 million new jobs by
2005
 Indirect effects


driver and tradable good in e-commerce
pushes ICT goods and services demand
The Social Implications
Content fulfils important social functions
 Skills


New needs for content creation
Improving workers employability
 Culture

An underexploited asset
 Language diversity


Equal access to the Information Society
Export opportunities
 Wider implications


Healthcare, elderly, environment
Enlargement
The marketplace
A turbulent marketplace
 Demand side:


Internet users

275 million (February 2000, NUA, IE)
Mobile Telephony
 120 million mobile subscribers in the EU
 Supply side, changing structures:


Convergence
Mergers and take-overs
Europe versus US
Infrastructure:
Europe’s multimedia structure lags behind, but
Europe leads in mobile communication
Telecommunication costs:
5 times higher in EU than in US (source: Forrester Research,
quoted by NUA internet services)
Content:
Europe leads in professional information, but lags in
entertainment
Users:
Europe as a whole lags, but some European countries do
very well
Europe versus US
Opportunities in Content
Rich content base
public sector information
World ranking players
Long publishing tradition
Chances in linguistic and cultural
customisation
but:
Lagging in electronic publishing
The Content Industries
Global market share: print publishing
38%
Europe
Japan
USA
11%
51%
Global market share : Electronic publishing
52%
33%
Europe
15%
Japan
USA
Are we losing this battle ?
Catalysing the transformation
Encouraging Experimentation
MLIS
Content
INFO2000
Scribe to
Screen
Media II
audiovisual
TEN
Telecom
Information
Technology
Telematics
Applications
Advanced
Communication
Services
Technology
Research
Development
Validation
Implementation
Growing emphasis on content
The IST Programme
Systems & Services
for the citizen
Multimedia
content & tools
New methods of working
& Electronic Commerce
Essentialtechnologies
technologies
Essential
infrastructure
&&infrastructure
Future & emerging technologies
Research networking
Independent and interdependent
INFO2000: Operational Impact
Job creation
Multimedia Projects:


More than 50% have indicated that they have
created jobs as a direct or indirect result of their
respective projects
Job creation ranges from 0.5 to 15 persons per
project, and up to 45 person years
Public Sector Information projects

Projects under way: 50% of the projects claim they
will generate jobs
How is INFO2000 perceived ?
Multimedia Projects Survey
Usefulness of the project support from the INFO2000 programme
7
Extremely useful
Very useful
4
Useful
4
14
5
3
8
Somewhat useful
1
Not at all useful
Do not know
0
0
5
0
0
5
10
15
#projects
Definition
Implementation
20
25
INFO2000: from scribe to screen
Strategic Impact:
Strategic Studies:


Strategic Developments for the European Publishing
Industry towards the Year 2000 (1996)
Content and Commerce Driven Strategies in Global
Networks (1998)
Green Paper on Public Sector Information:


Improving access to information throughout Europe
Facilitating exploitation of public sector content
resources
Green Paper published
20 January 1999
Events throughout Europe
Discussions with various institutions
Numerous replies
European Content for the Global Networks
CONDRINET Study
INFO2000 Mid-term evaluation

“It is essential to instill a great sense of urgency and
to give priority to initiatives that increase the pace of
market development and penetration”
Informal consultation round with industry

“Having the content is a huge comparative advantage”

“Who will be able to capture the value of the customer
relationships?”

“The window of opportunity is still open for new
entrants”
A continued dialogue with the real world
Proposal follow-on INFO2000/MLIS
Three Action lines
Supporting Europe wide investments:
Access to capital for Internet start-ups
Expanding the information supply:
Exploitation of Public Sector Information
Tailoring Information Content: Linguistic
and Cultural customisation
Support Measures
Applying / Tailoring available technology
Access to Capital
“Europe’s great weakness in the
communications revolution has been a lack
of bright young entrepreneurs and of
venture capitalists to back them. The best
way for Europe to exploit its lead is to start
thinking of schools and universities as
breeding-grounds not of more jobless
youths but of new business start-ups”
The Economist, October 23, 1999
Access to capital
The problem
 Non-mature risk culture in Europe



Assets based
Severed links between industry and university
Problems for start-ups
 Great regional differences in the EU
 No cross-border fertilisation
 For each 1€ of high-tech investment in the EU
14€ are invested in the US
Exploitation of public sector information
What’s at stake
Digital content is central to the
Information Society development
Public sector information is a prime
content resource: huge opportunities
 Barriers at European level prevent
improved access and better exploitation
Government online: a real challenge for Europe
Public Sector Information: extensive potential for
exploitation
Revenue electronic information EEA
5 517 MECU
Other
7%
Travel,
Legal
information tourism
STM 4 %
1%
6%
Further
business
8%
Gvt/political
information
15 %
Patent
information
1%
Finance
34 %
Company
profiles
24 %
Linguistic and cultural customisation
Background

Towards a Barrier-free Information Society


Internet is increasingly Multilingual



overcome exclusion factors
50% of online content in languages other than
English
bi- and multi-lingual web sites becoming the
norm
E-commmerce provides instant access to
Global Markets

business must speak the language of the
customer
Barriers and Losses
Perception of the business community
Findings of the European Study "ELUCIDATE" (Leonardo programme)
Preparatory actions for the year 2000
• 10 MEUR in 2000
• call for proposals April 2000
Rationale
Ensure political continuity
Enable focus on actual problems
Prepare ground for mainstream
programme
Keep interest alive in the community