Western Balkans

*This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence.

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News archive - EC-Consultation: on the international dimension of ICT research open

On July 2, 2007 a public consultation on ICT competitiveness was launched running until September 17, 2007. It is open to all stakeholders, including industries, research community and consumer organisations to learn about their opinions on the global position of Europe's Information and Communication Technology (ICT) industry and research. The EU strategy for international cooperation in this field shall be refined in order to strengthen Europe's postion by ensuring access to global markets.

“Our ICT industry in Europe needs to think and be global," said the EU's Information Society and Media Commissioner Viviane Reding. "While we have been working hard to create a single telecoms market in Europe, we must not lose sight of the global picture. There are further markets to take abroad for Europe's ICT industry if we strengthen its competitiveness and remove barriers to trade in third countries. Today's consultation therefore seeks to identify trade barriers and business opportunities that exist worldwide for Europe's ICT industry."

With the public consultation launched today, the Commission aims to formulate a more ambitious, targeted international EU strategy for ICT that explores new markets for EU industries, improves the competitiveness of Europe's ICT industry in global markets and promotes EU interests worldwide.

To request input for this international strategy (which will be published in the first half of 2008), the consultation asks interested stakeholders for input in three areas:

Regulatory, market access, trade issues, looking at regulatory cooperation, standards, intellectual property rights, access to spectrum and smart radio tags (RFID);
Research and innovation, focusing on ICT research collaboration, research infrastructure and the role of ICT in global challenges such as energy efficiency, ageing, healthcare etc;
Social aspects, such as network and information security, internet governance, the digital divide between poor and rich countries, and improving existing bilateral agreements with non-EU countries.

The public consultation is part of the overall i2010 initiative to create an information society for growth and jobs.

Source: Press Release on europa.eu

Further information:
http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/newsroom/cf/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=3475

Public consultation document:
http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/newsroom/cf/itemlongdetail.cfm?item_id=3475

In order to promote the view of Western Balkan countries in EU policies, see-science.eu wants to encourage you to submit your view! (We would be happy to receive copies of your comments in order to be able to further support WBC positions in our work.)