Keith NuthallEuropean Union heads of government have welcomed a plan unveiled
by European Commission President Romano Prodi, to boost the amount
of IT used throughout the EU.
The communique for the EU summit in Helsinki said that Prodi's
"e-Europe initiative" was "a way of turning Europe into a genuine
information society for all".
The Commission president made his ambitious plans in a
Communication (white paper). It called for "every business, school,
home and citizen" to be given access to the Internet, via
computers, mobile phones or TV set-top boxes. Prodi's paper
proposed a number of targets on developing IT, many of which are
way ahead of existing national timetables.
These include:
- The EU and member states being committed to establishing
Internet access for all schools by January 2001, making all
teachers competent in use of Internet and multimedia resources
before 2003 and ensuring that all pupils were "digitally literate"
by 2004.
- Ensuring that by 2001, at least one university and one
scientific research centre in each member state should have a
campus network capable of supporting multimedia
communications.
- A review by March of Commission funding in support of technical
innovation and, by end of 2000, the release of firm new proposals
for financial support arrangements.
Other priorities were developing technology to improve transport
management, safety and information, healthcare, and increasing
access to government information.
The summit's leaders told the Commission to draw up by June 2000
a firm action plan for implementing Prodi's proposals and to
provide a progress report at a special summit in Lisbon, this
March.