11 December 2003
Speech by Ms Paula Lehtomäki, Minister of Foreign Trade and Development of Finland
Regional and subregional strategies for the information society
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Substantial reforms in the Union's economic, employment and social systems are required in the face of globalization and ever-stronger international competition,
First of all, I would like to thank you for inviting me to take part in this seminar. Enhancing regional co-operation in order to build information societies is one the main challenges for the WSIS Summit, offering much potential for new types of partnership and the sharing of experience. Regional co-operation is one important level of the follow-up of the Geneva phase of the Summit. But as regions differ from one another and are at different levels of development, the form and modalities of future regional work will naturally depend on the needs and wishes of the regions themselves.
My country, Finland, has been member of the European Union since 1995. As a well advanced information society my country strongly supported the important decision taken by the Heads of State and Government of the European Union to raise the information society to a position of high priority.
In the face of globalization and growing international competition, substantial reforms in the Union's economic, employment and social systems were required. At the Lisbon Summit in March 2000, Heads of State and Government of the European Union decided that the EU should become the most competitive economy in the world by 2010.
Consequently, in order to accelerate the development of information societies, the Commission and Member States launched the eEurope Action Plan. The two-phase Plan (namely eEurope 2002 and eEurope 2005) has the objective of promoting the use of information and communications technology in the public sector, in the business community and in peoples' everyday lives. Furthermore, it aims to improve information security and the basic infrastructure of the information society.
Responsibility for the implementation of the Plan lies heavily with Member States. One of their specific responsibilities is to see that joint efforts are implemented according to schedule.
A two-part eEurope steering group led by the Commission monitors implementation. Member States are represented in the first part, while the second part consists of representatives of trade, industry, organisations and other important stakeholders. The monitoring of implementation is based on statistical indicators developed by Union officials.
In several countries within and outside the Union, the eEurope Action Plan has boosted national information society strategies. It was one starting point for the Finnish Government's information society programme, although the final outcome was more a result of history and local circumstances.
The aim of our Government is to build a competitive information society making good use of the best elements of the welfare state. These include social and regional equality, a high level of mutual trust, a high standard of education and strong support for research and development. These factors create an excellent basis for the utilisation of information and communications technology, the related expertise and new areas of development throughout society. Effective utilisation, in turn, increases productivity and competitiveness – generating tax revenue and making its use more efficient.
The Union’s common information society policy shows in the content of our Finnish programme. It also provides us with a framework for evaluation. Moreover, it allows us to influence the content of the joint policy. And we have actively taken part in the preparation, and now the implementation, of the Plans.
The information society programmes of the United Nations provide us with a new challenge to find common goals in the building of the information society. I believe that we have a lot to offer in their preparation too.
Information:
aisi@uneca.org
© Copyright ECA 2003