[p2p-research] Fwd: EU's Digital Priorities at Lisbon Council

[Michel Bauwens]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Dante-Gabryell Monson <dante.monson at gmail.com>
Date: Sun, Jul 12, 2009 at 4:36 PM
Subject: EU's Digital Priorities at Lisbon Council
To: Michel Bauwens <michelsub2004 at gmail.com>


*European Telecoms and Media Commissioner Viviane Reding on Thursday delived
a major policy speech in which she outlined the EU's priorities in the
digital area for the coming years.*

Reding made her remarks while delivering the 2009 Ludwig Erhard lecture at
The Lisbon Council in Brussels.

To watch excerpts of the lecture:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqkvaa3czwg

To Read the Lecture :

pdf on :

http://www.lisboncouncil.net/media/initiativesinnovation/lisbon_council_viviane_reding_speech.pdf

( also pasted below )

---

Found through

http://www.eux.tv/

---





Viviane Reding
EU Commissioner for Telecoms and Media
Digital Europe - Europe's Fast Track to
Economic Recovery
The Ludwig Erhard Lecture 2009
Lisbon Council, Brussels, 9 July 2009


Dear Mr Hofheinz, dear Ms Mettler,
Ladies and gentlemen,
I feel very honoured that you have invited me to give this year's "Ludwig
Erhard
Lecture". The moment for this is very well chosen, and I would like to
congratulate
the organisers of the Lisbon Council for their excellent timing.
In these days where Europe is in the deepest economic crisis since the
1930s, it is
very useful, in particular for politicians, to remember the work of Ludwig
Erhard and
to take another look at his writings. Before becoming German Chancellor,
Ludwig
Erhard was the first Minister of the Economy of the young Federal Republic
after the
Second World War. After years of dictatorship and centralised management of
the
economy, after a national catastrophe of unprecedented dimensions and total
economic and social break-down, Erhard was entrusted with the Herculean task
of
rebuilding the German economy. That he managed to do this, that by the end
of the
1950s, he was able to transform West Germany into the second most important
economy in the world after the United States, is often described as "the
economic
miracle" ("Wirtschaftswunder").
However, when we look more in detail at what Erhard did in his policy, this
was no
miracle at work. It was rather a good combination of strong political
determination
and sound economic principles, coupled with a good understanding of the
importance of psychology for macroeconomics. In view of the crisis we are
currently
experiencing, allow me therefore to take a step back and to elaborate a bit
on this:
first on the principles needed for a sound economic policy. And then on the
necessary political determination.
Core principles of a sound economic policy
The starting point of Erhard's policy for re-launching the German economy
was a
firm belief in the benefits of the market economy, in open markets and in
the rules of
supply and demand. The return to a market economy was not at all
self-evident in
post-war Germany, after a decade of nationalisation, protectionism, and
centralisation of most industrial sectors. Bringing the market economy back
to
Germany was therefore one of Erhard's key achievements. However, Erhard also
knew well that it would be naïve to trust market forces alone. The rules of
supply
and demand allow the market to maximise individual freedom only when one
market
player, or several market participants jointly, are prevented from achieving
a position
of market dominance. The State has thus an important role to play. In
particular, the
State has a responsibility to ensure effective competition on the market,
and to fight
against monopolies and cartels. This might appear obvious to us today, but
it was
not at all self-evident in the 1950s when Erhard fought hard for Germany's
very first
Antitrust-Law - a law that provided a lot of inspiration for the creation of
the
competition provisions of the EEC Treaty.
                                              2
Erhard's approach did not end with a reliance on market forces and ensuring
effective competition. He had personally witnessed the effects of the 1929
World
Economic Crisis where millions of workers lost their jobs within days; where
banks
went bust and massive bank runs showed that the population had lost all
trust in the
financial system; and where economic depression led ultimately also to a
social
crisis. This experience was crucial to Erhard's personal thinking and in his
policies.
This is why he wanted Germany's post-war economic system to be a "social
market economy". A stable currency, protecting citizens' savings from
inflation is
an important pillar of such a system, and price stability a social policy
measure par
excellence. Another factor is a social policy that protects the weaker parts
of society
and compensates for market failures; and that allows each and every citizen
to see
the advantages of the market economy in their pockets. The title of Erhard's
famous
book "Wohlstand für alle" ("Wealth for All") is very telling about the real
objective of
the social market economy.
Erhard would be certainly proud to see that over 50 years after he and his
close
collaborator Alfred Müller-Armack coined the term "social market economy",
the
Lisbon Treaty now states that the economic constitution of Europe's single
market
should become a "social market economy"1. This means of course that the EU
continues to have the core responsibility to ensure effective competition,
monetary
stability, and financial stability, and to create a sound legal framework
for this. It also
means that, ultimately, the benefits of stability and a competitive single
market must
be felt by citizens. As Erhard said: "An economic policy may only be called
social
where it makes sure that economic progress, higher performance and
productivity
growth in the end will benefit the consumer."2 In this Erhardian sense, the
EU's
competition policy (to mention the most prominent example) is not an end in
itself,
but a policy that allows consumers, thanks to the determined intervention of
the
European Commission against anti-competitive practices, to save up to 11
billion
euro per year. In the same way, telecoms liberalisation driven by the EU is
a
success story not only because it has led to open markets, new market
players and
enhanced investment. But in particular because it has allowed Europe's
consumers
to save around 35% on their communication bills in the past five years
alone.
Relying on market forces and competition on the one hand, and generating
tangible
consumer benefits on the other, are therefore the two sides of the same coin
in a
social market economy. And it should, in my personal view, certainly be the
guiding
principles for the first European Commission to take office under the new
Lisbon
Treaty.
The political determination now needed for economic recovery
The sound principles of a social market alone were of course not sufficient
to allow
post-war Germany to recover economically; nor will the words "social market
economy" suffice to bring Europe today back on track to sustainable economic
growth and jobs. The principles of a social market economy must be
implemented
by concrete and determined policy action. Ideological solutions will not do
the job.
Pragmatism and an openness to new solutions are needed, in particular in
times of
crisis. Ludwig Erhard was very good at that, as he was telling people from
the
beginning what to expect from his action, sometimes also by resorting to
"self-
fulfilling prophecies".
1
       Article 3(2) of the reformed Treaty on European Union.
2
       "Eine Wirtschaftspolitik darf sich aber nur dann sozial nennen, wenn
sie den
       wirtschaftlichen Fortschritt, die höhere Leistungsergiebigkeit und
die steigende
       Produktivität dem Verbraucher schlechthin zugute kommen lässt."
(Wohlstand für Alle).
                                                 3
What must be avoided is a "Christmas Tree Effect" in recovery measures.
Let's be
clear: Those who try to satisfy everybody will in the end satisfy nobody.
Priorities,
focus and political leadership are thus needed when the European Union works
in
the next weeks and months on further measures for the aftermath of the
global
financial and economic crisis - the measures which citizens expect will help
to bring
about sustainable economic recovery.
For the EU today, the first priority must be to transpose the important
proposals of
the De Larosière-Report into concrete EU legislation. These proposals aim to
ensure financial stability, which is the pre-condition for lasting economic
stability in
Europe.
In addition to that, we need to focus on those measures which have the best
chance
of stimulating our economy and preserving jobs in the European Union. There
is an
important consideration which we need to bear in mind when setting our
priorities. In
the past months, governments and central banks have been pouring
unprecedented
amounts of money into the economy to provide liquidity and to limit the
downturn.
Fiscal stimulus packages adopted by governments across the euro area amount,
for
2009 and 2010, to EURO 400 billion, or 4.6% of GDP (including automatic
stabilisers).
This stimulus is an unquestionable necessity, and Ludwig Erhard would
probably
have agreed with many of these measures. He had always warned against an
ill-
conceived "austerity policy", in view of Germany's bad experiences in the
late 1920s
and early 1930s. We also heard this week from the Ministers of Economy and
Finance that the time for an exit strategy from stimulus measures is still
not there
yet, in spite of the first "green shoots" of economic recovery that can be
detected.
But public authorities should never forget that it is the taxpayer who picks
up the bill
for all this at the end. And that ordinary citizens would be the first to
suffer from
inflationary developments that could result from further monetary expansion.
If we don't want to hang this burden around the necks of future generations,
governments will have to make very smart use of the public money that will
now be
invested into Europe's recovery. They will also have to seize increasingly
those
opportunities with little or no extra cost attached for the taxpayer. And
yes, there are
such opportunities.
The Digital Europe Strategy
This brings me to my specific answer to the present economic downturn:
Europe's
digital economy, where private and public investors can expect a
particularly good
return on investment.
This innovative sector with importance across the whole economy generates
already
today substantial revenues via the internet and mobile phones, in particular
by
providing access to news, information, music, books, films, games and other
digital
content. And Europe's digital economy has tremendous potential: With a
mobile
penetration rate of 119% (up from 84% in 2004 when the Barroso-Commission
took
office), there are today more mobile phone subscriptions than citizens in
the EU.
60% of households are connected to the internet (up from 41% five years
ago). And
while in 2004, only 33% of these households had a high speed broadband
connection, this has grown to 80% in the five years of this European
Commission.
                                             4
All this is only the starting point. Europe promises to become even more
digital in
the years to come. A demographic analysis tells us that today, only 35% of
the total
population in the EU have used advanced internet services in the last 3
months.
This is markedly different for people between 16 and 24: 73% of them have
recently
used the internet for advanced data transmission, in particular for uploads
and
downloads of content and for social networking. This figure rises to 89% in
Denmark, Europe's most competitive telecoms market.
With these young, regular and intensive internet users, there is a whole
generation
of "digital natives" ready to apply innovations like web 2.0 to business and
public
life, whether as podcasters, bloggers, social networkers or website owners.
It is in
this new generation that there is real growth potential for Europe. Very
soon, these
digital natives will be turning into consumers with important purchasing
power. This
is one of the reasons why the European Commission believes that the roll out
and
development of high speed broadband internet - whether via fixed or via
wireless
connections - could create around one million jobs in Europe, and spur
broadband-
related growth in economic activity to the tune of EURO 850 billion. Let us not
forget that
each 10% of additional broadband penetration yields 1.3% extra growth,
according
to a new World Bank study.
To seize this potential in our digital economy, Europe will need to create
the right
framework for ensuring effective competition and sound regulatory conditions
in a
well-functioning single market as well as incentives for innovation. In view
of the
commitment to the social market economy, we also need to make sure that, in
the
end, consumers benefit from the digital economy. This is particularly
important if we
want to convince the digital natives to become the drivers of our digital
economy.
President Barroso has clearly set out our ambitions when he wrote to the
Heads of
State and Government on 17 June. He said that we now have to bring about "a
Europe committed to the radical transformation towards a knowledge-based
society."
To achieve this radical transformation, I have been working with my team in
the past
weeks on a strategy for a Digital Europe. This plan has two parts: First,
action
which the EU institutions can take or prepare still this year, under the
present
Commission, on the basis of work already started. And secondly, action which
we
believe should become a priority for the next five years.
The imminent actions for boosting Digital Europe
In line with Ludwig Erhard's understanding of the social market economy, we
have
so far been focussing our action on the structural pre-conditions needed to
get the
digital economy going. Our policy target is clear: We would like to have
internet
broadband for all Europeans by 2010. And high-speed internet broadband for
all
Europeans by 2013.
The "first movers" in Europe have already started implementing these
targets: The
French government, with its plan France Numérique 2012, is pursuing the
objective
to equip all French households with an internet connection of at least 512
Kbit/s by
the end of 2012. In the UK, Lord Carter told us, in his ambitious Digital
Britain report,
that the government sets the objective to serve all British households by
broadband
networks of at least 2 Mbit/s by the end of 2012, eased by the creation of a
Next
Generation Fund. In Germany, the federal government, in its
Breitbandstrategie,
calls for connections of 50 Mbit/s to serve 75% of the population by 2014.
Finland
has even committed to a universal broadband service at 100 Mbit/s. These are
examples of countries who got their priorities right. They all have
recognised the
need for boosting the digital economy.
                                           5
What can Europe add to this? We can make sure, over the next months, that
these
positive beginnings are accompanied and reinforced by clear European signals
and
complemented by concrete measures. We must encourage all EU countries to
join
the "first movers" swiftly, in the spirit of our open single market and our
common
European competition rules.
To promote competitive infrastructures for a Digital Europe, there are four
concrete
steps we can and should take in the next months:
-   First of all, we need to bring into force the reform of Europe's
telecoms
    rules: two Directives and one Regulation on which the European
Parliament and
    the Council of Telecoms Ministers have agreed on after 18 months of
    negotiations. The agreement encompasses a reform package of more than
160
    Articles with 750 subparagraphs. There is only one subparagraph on which
no
    agreement could be found so far. I call on both sides of this debate to
come to a
    very swift agreement on this subparagraph. The reform would pave the way
for
    better regulation and coordination of telecoms rules in Europe's single
market,
    improve the way radio spectrum is managed in Europe, and strengthen
    consumer rights as well as the open nature of the internet. The reform
would
    bring us in particular substantially closer to completing a single
European
    telecoms market. Just think about what more consistent telecoms
regulation
    could do for the providers of business services in the EU. If access
rules for
    businesses were more consistently and effectively enforced across the
EU, GDP
    could be boosted by 1.6% to 2%. Experts also estimate that the present
    regulatory fragmentation in telecoms costs Europe's businesses EURO 20
billion per
    year - a cost factor that, in view of the present crisis, we should
eliminate as
    soon as possible by bringing the reforms into force, and by applying the
new
    rules effectively.
    Secondly, we should encourage effective competition and sustainable
-
    investment in Next Generation Networks - in particular into fibre
networks
    instead of copper ones. As the evolution of the telecoms sector shows,
the
    best instrument for sustainable investment in new networks is a set of
solid rules
    ensuring effective competition. On top of that, market-driven investment
can be
    given extra impetus through co-investment schemes under which several
    operators deploy fibre-to the-home. Where investors take very large
investment
    risks to bring fibre-to-the home, Europe's regulators should be
flexible. Together
    with my colleague Neelie Kroes, I have therefore published a draft
    Recommendation on this matter with the aim of offering regulatory
solutions and
    legal certainty.
-   Thirdly, I believe we should make 3G mobile phones services more
    attractive in Europe and pave the way for LTE, the next generation of
    mobile services. More and more people want to be online wherever they
are,
    and wherever they go, via their mobile device. This is not only a dream
for
    business people and technology savvy consumers, but has the potential to
    create a mobile knowledge based society in Europe. Thus far, there are
only
    about 92 million 3G users in the EU, only 16% of all mobile subscribers,
with
    Italy, Finland and Austria leading in this field. Here, we are preparing
important
    measures to abolish regulatory restrictions and reduce the cost of
offering 3G
    and more advanced mobile services. The reform of the EU's GSM Directive,
    proposed by the Commission last year in parallel to the ongoing broader
EU
    telecoms reform, will allow the re-farming of the radio spectrum in the
GSM band
    for new mobile services, thereby leading to savings of up to EURO 1.6
billion in
    capital costs for the mobile industry. I will do my best to ensure that
this
    important reform can be agreed and implemented as soon as possible, so
that
    Europe can continue to be THE mobile continent on the globe.
                                             6
-    Last but not least, I believe the present economic crisis requires us
to
     accelerate the ongoing switchover from analogue to digital TV in
Europe.
     The switchover will free very valuable radio spectrum, currently used
by
     terrestrial analogue TV, for use by new communications and content
services.
     This process has already been completed in Germany, Finland,
Luxembourg,
     Sweden, the Netherlands, in Flanders here in Belgium as well as in
major areas
     in Austria. The Commission estimates that the incremental value of this
     spectrum for wireless broadband across the EU is between EURO 150 and EURO 200
     billion. Appropriate European coordination of Member States' work on
the digital
     dividend would increase the potential economic impact of the digital
dividend by
     an additional EURO 50 billion between now and 2015. Every corner of Europe
could
     reap this "digital dividend", without it costing the taxpayer a single
cent - if all EU
     governments act now. I recall that the United States as a whole
switched to
     digital TV last month. I call therefore on all EU governments: Don't
wait until
     2012, the EU-wide deadline for the final analogue switch-off, to bring
these
     benefits to you businesses and citizens. Act swiftly now. Tomorrow I
will
     present a package of draft measures in order to accelerate Europe's
digital
     switchover. I hope that these proposals will receive a positive
reception in the
     public consultation and by that contribute to a more positive economic
attitude.
     As Ludwig Erhard always stressed: 50% of macro-economics are
psychology.
Digital Priorities for the next five years
These four measures mentioned should be implemented in the next coming
months.
You can be sure that I will not tire in pushing for their successful
completion.
However, we already need to look today at the strategic priorities for the
medium
term. With other regions of the world becoming ever more competitive, Europe
cannot simply tread water, by simply ensuring sufficient spectrum and modern
infrastructures. Would you take a high speed train that isn't going to an
exciting
destination? Obviously, high speed internet requires high interest content
and
attractive services for the end-consumer. Also for this part of Europe's
digital
economy, a sound framework, combining the strength of market forces with a
single-
market-wide regulatory level playing field, appears to be the best answer
that
Europe can give. The Commission will open a broader consultation on our
Digital
Europe Strategy in August. Already today, I would like to present to you the
four
priority areas where EU action appears to be most needed3:
1. My first and most important priority for Digital Europe is: To make it
easier and
more attractive to access digital content, wherever produced in Europe. The
availability of attractive content that appeals to European viewers,
listeners and
readers will be decisive in driving further the take-up of high-speed
broadband
internet. It is therefore regrettable that we currently have an extremely
polarised
debate on the matter: While many right holders insist that every
unauthorised
download from the internet is a violation of intellectual property rights
and therefore
illegal or even criminal, others stress that access to the internet is a
crucial
fundamental right. Let me be clear on this: Both sides are right. The drama
is that
after long and often fruitless battles, both camps have now dug themselves
in their
positions, without any signs of opening from either side.
3
    This adds to, and complements, the "Digital Agenda", presented jointly
with Consumer
    Affairs Commissioner Meglena Kuneva. See the press release of 5 May 2009
"Consumer
    Rights: Commission wants consumers to surf the web without borders"
(IP/09/702).
                                               7
In the meantime, internet piracy appears to become more and more "sexy", in
particular for the digital natives already, the young generation of intense
internet
users between 16 and 24. This generation should become the foundation of our
digital economy, of new innovation and new growth opportunities. However,
Eurostat figures show that 60% of them have downloaded audiovisual content
from
the internet in the past months without paying. And 28% state that they
would not be
willing to pay.
These figures reveal the serious deficiencies of the present system. It is
necessary
to penalise those who are breaking the law. But are there really enough
attractive
and consumer-friendly legal offers on the market? Does our present legal
system for
Intellectual Property Rights really live up to the expectations of the
internet
generation? Have we considered all alternative options to repression? Have
we
really looked at the issue through the eyes of a 16 year old? Or only from
the
perspective of law professors who grew up in the Gutenberg Age? In my view,
growing internet piracy is a vote of no-confidence in existing business
models and
legal solutions. It should be a wake-up call for policy-makers.
If we do not, very quickly, make it easier and more consumer-friendly to
access
digital content, we could lose a whole generation as supporters of artistic
creation
and legal use of digital services. Economically, socially, and culturally,
this would be
a tragedy. It will therefore be my key priority to work, in cooperation with
other
Commissioners, on a simple, consumer-friendly legal framework for accessing
digital content in Europe's single market, while ensuring at the same time
fair
remuneration of creators. Digital Europe can only be built with content
creators
on board; and with the generation of digital natives as interested users and
innovative consumers.
I will give you two examples of what Europe could do concretely for this:
- First of all, we could facilitate the licensing of intellectual property
rights for
    online services covering the territory of all 27 EU Member States.
Today,
    right holders and online service providers need to spend far too much
time and
    money on the administration of rights, instead of investing this money
in attractive
    services. And consumers often cannot access online content if uploaded
in
    another Member State. For online content in a single market of 27 Member
    States, economies of scale and consumer-friendly solutions will require
a much
    simpler and less fragmented regulatory framework than the one of today.
We had
    a similar problem when commercial satellite TV started more than 30
years ago.
    As right clearance for this per se cross-border service became
increasingly
    complex, Europe developed the Cable and Satellite Directive and
introduced a
    simplified system of rights clearance for the whole of Europe. I believe
it is now
    time to develop similar solutions for the evolving world of online
content.
                                             8
- Second example: We should create a modern set of European rules that
   encourage the digitisation of books. More than 90% of books in Europe's
   national libraries are no longer commercially available, because they are
either
   out of print or orphan works (which means that nobody can be identified
to give
   permission to use the work digitally). The creation of a Europe-wide
public
   registry for such works could stimulate private investment in
digitisation, while
   ensuring that authors get fair remuneration also in the digital world.
This would
   also help to end the present, rather ideological debate about "Google
books". I do
   understand the fears of many publishers and libraries facing the market
power of
   Google. But I also share the frustrations of many internet companies
which would
   like to offer interesting business models in this field, but cannot do so
because of
   the fragmented regulatory system in Europe. I am experiencing myself such
   frustrations in the context of the development of Europeana, Europe's
digital
   library. Let us be very clear: if we do not reform our European copyright
rules
   on orphan works and libraries swiftly, digitisation and the development
of
   attractive content offers will not take place in Europe, but on the other
side
   of the Atlantic. Only a modern set of consumer-friendly rules will enable
   Europe's content to play a strong part in the digitisation efforts that
has already
   started all around the globe.
2. Priority two on my to-do-list for Digital Europe is: preparing for a safe
and
consumer-friendly European space for mobile payments. Today, the lack of
common EU-wide standards and rules for "m-cash" leaves the great potential
of "m-
commerce" and the mobile web unexploited. We have more than 500 million
mobile
users in Europe. This means that Europe has the economies of scale to offer
for an
innovation-friendly environment that will allow transforming the mobile
phone into an
electronic wallet. Very quickly, we could see the mobile phone being used
for buying
most day-to-day items electronically, such as tickets in a station, sodas
from a
vending machine or flowers in a shop. This would make life easier for
consumers;
and open up new business opportunities for European companies.
3. My third priority for boosting the digital economy is: Europe's digital
economy
should be opened up to small businesses. In Europe, we have 23 million small
and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) which make up 99% of all firms.
Accounting
for over 100 million jobs, SMEs can be the mainspring of Europe's economic
resurgence. But in the use of productivity-boosting ICT tools, SMEs lag
substantially
behind big firms: only 9% of SMEs use electronic invoices, and only 11% of
them
have technology-based human resource management. If SMEs could access
computing power over the web, they would no longer need to buy and maintain
technologies or IT applications and services. Such web based services -
called
"cloud computing" - are the medicine needed for our credit squeezed economy:
they can make businesses more productive by shifting from fixed costs (i.e.
hiring
staff or buying PCs) to variable costs (i.e. you only pay for what you use).
However,
today these new services are nearly all US-owned and US-based. Once again,
the
US has started to exploit a business model before Europe has managed to do
so.
We cannot let this continue. In my view, we need a major effort to set up
Europe-
hosted "clouds" to give European SMEs access to fast, open and productivity
enhancing services. A recent study estimated that online business services
could
add 0.2% to annual GDP growth, create a million new jobs and allow hundreds
of
thousand of new SMEs to take off in Europe over the next five years. So what
are
we waiting for?
4. My fourth priority for Digital Europe is: making better use of innovative
ICT
solutions to meet our objectives of a low-carbon economy. This aspect is
still
neglected in our ongoing work to prepare with ambition for the Copenhagen
Conference at the end of the year. Just consider the following: If
businesses in
Europe were to replace only 20% of all business trips by video conferencing,
we
                                            9
could save more than 22 million tons of CO2 per year. And cloud computing
could,
by helping to improve the efficiency of IT solutions, lead to electricity
savings in
computing activity of up to 80%. Let us also not forget what ICT could do
for safer,
smarter and greener cars in Europe. I firmly believe that Digital Europe
cannot afford
to turn a blind eye to its ecological potential, which in turn can open up
new
business opportunities for European ICT companies. We will therefore have to
add
some "green" to Ludwig Erhard's social market economy.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Ludwig Erhard wrote, in his book "Wohlstand for alle", that in the course of
European integration, politicians could be tempted to focus too much on
institutions,
and not enough on what these institutions are there for. Too much
institutional talk
and not enough concrete policy outcomes, was his criticism of the European
process. I am afraid that if Erhard could have seen what sometimes happens
here in
the "Brussels bubble" in these days, he might have felt justified in his
criticism - and
rightly so.
I therefore hope that, after some weeks of hesitations and doubts, we will
now
swiftly get back to business. In view of the economic crisis, wait and see
is certainly
not an option for Europe. I personally feel very confident that with a
strong,
independent European Commission that seeks inspiration from the principles
of the
social market economy, we will indeed manage to bring Europe swiftly back on
the
path of sustainable growth. A clear strategy for boosting a digital economy
for
businesses and citizens, as outlined in my Digital Europe plan, should play
an
important role in this.
If we keep Ludwig Erhard, his principles and the importance of psychology
for
economic development in mind, we may even be able to perform a small
"economic
miracle" in the coming years. In the past 20 years, Europe led the mobile
phone
revolution thanks to the innovative force of its researchers and businesses,
its team
approach and its capacity for creating a level playing field that allowed
economies of
scale to unfold. The next decade's technologies will be as markedly changed
as the
economy and society. A generation of high-tech Europeans, using mobile
devices to
access the internet and using the internet to access mobile services, can be
just
around the corner - if we focus our policies on the right priorities. I
believe the time
for this is now. Let's get the job done.




-- 
Working at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhurakij_Pundit_University -
http://www.dpu.ac.th/dpuic/info/Research.html -
http://www.asianforesightinstitute.org/index.php/eng/The-AFI

Volunteering at the P2P Foundation:
http://p2pfoundation.net  - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net -
http://p2pfoundation.ning.com

Monitor updates at http://del.icio.us/mbauwens

The work of the P2P Foundation is supported by SHIFTN,
http://www.shiftn.com/
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