Brussels, May 29, 2000

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European Survey of Information Society

During the last few months the European Survey of Information Society has undergone many changes. Firstly, an update of ESIS I, covering the 15 member states of the EU, has begun. Secondly, ESIS II, covering central and eastern Europe and the Mediterranean area, has been updated. Thirdly, the ESIS Knowledge Base is now on-line. This information source is therefore an essential guide for all persons concerned with the development of IS in the EU, CEEC and Mediterranean regions. Furthermore, ESIS can play a role in the preparations of the EU and the CEEC for forthcoming enlargement by collecting basic data on the Information Society and helping develop a better understanding of the 'acquis communautaire' in the CEEC.

ESIS I update begins

The ESIS inventory of IS projects conducted in the EU Member-States in 1997-1998 has been a key resource enabling users to monitor the progress of the Information Society in the European Union.

The European Commission has decided to launch an update campaign of the data held on ESIS projects, so that the database will remain one of the most comprehensive and up-to-date information sources on European Information Society projects.

The update will focus on IS projects, key persons and organisations and Basic Facts and Indicators as well as a survey of IS national strategies. The updates will be made on-line by those responsible for each individual project. Furthermore, all the key features of ESIS 1 (as of January 1999) will remain available via the search engine as well.

ESIS II updated

The database of IS projects, promotional actions and key persons and organisations and the reports on regulatory developments, alternative networks, promotional activities, key persons and organisations and WWW indicators for the CEEC and the Mediterranean area have been updated and are now on-line. The database now contains 377 IS projects, 594 promotional actions, 2122 key person contacts and 1985 organisations.

The new ESIS Knowledge Base has been launched. It is now online at http://www.ispo.cec.be/esis

The new ESIS Knowledge Base is a powerful mechanism that enables the user to search and use the wealth of data, synthesis and analysis that is being generated by the ESIS survey's coverage of the issues concerned with the development of the Information Society across the countries of the European Union, Central and Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean area. This is a new approach, which places the search engine at the core of the access process. The concept is to build a multi-sourced Knowledge Base that can be interrogated from a unique entry point. The output (the result of a search) will be integrative and harmonised and without regard to the original format of the information (documents or database).

Further Information

Structure of ESIS

ESIS consists of:

• an inventory of IS projects, promotional activities and a who's who of Information Society
• reports on several aspects of the IS developments at the national and interregional levels

Data collection is carried out in a decentralised manner through the ESIS network of contractors ensuring high quality research built on local knowledge, contacts and understanding.

The core of ESIS is the inventory of Information Society projects. The ESIS Knowledge Base enables qualitative and quantitative analyses of project promoters, project focus and application areas, geographic areas, technologies used, sources of funding, etc. In addition, using various local sources, the database is mapping all promotional activities and key person contacts and organisations in the countries.

Complementary to the database, there is a detailed reporting exercise. Specific country reports were produced at the beginning of the project and are updated and synthesised on a regular basis.

The reports are produced on the following topics:

• Basic Technology Indicators

These reports highlight all the relevant key ICT parameters of each country, thus providing an overview of the status of IS development. The reports focus on socio-economic data, telephone lines, telecommunications equipment, Internet, data markets etc.

• Regulatory Developments

Every three months, ESIS reports on regulatory developments within the countries. These reports focus upon: IS development, general telecom policy, institutional structures, international relationships and agreements, the liberalisation process, freedom and protection and information society policies.

• Alternative networks

The owners of alternative telecommunication networks can play a key role in the development of competition and the provision of new telecommunications services within their respective markets.

• IS Promotional Activities

These reports, complementary to the database, present all the major actions and initiatives undertaken in the countries to promote Information Society: programmes and calls for projects, conferences, surveys, studies, observatories, publications and the creation of expert groups.

• IS Key person contacts and organisations

These reports give an overview of the key persons and organisations (with contact addresses and numbers) involved in the development of Information Society, at both national and regional levels.

• WWW Indicators

These reports provide a statistical overview of the web sites developed within the following entities: Schools, Universities, Hospitals, Museums, Libraries, Regional and Local Authorities.

Background to the ESIS Project

In 1997, ISPO, the Information Society Promotion Office of the European Commission, launched ESIS (European Survey of Information Society projects) in the 15 EU Member States. The objective of ESIS was to build an inventory of projects as well as to collect European data concerning promotional activities, regulatory developments, alternative networks and key persons and organisations.

ESIS II as an extension to the ESIS project was launched in March 1999 and is actively surveying 24 countries in Central and Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean area. It is the first survey of Information Society development on this geographical scale.

ESIS is a valuable instrument in the developing framework of dialogue and co-operation between the EU and these countries and aims to provide:

• a knowledge tool on the transition towards the Information Society;
• an operational tool: the opportunity for all public and private actors to compare their actions and projects with those of the other countries at an interregional level and to prepare new projects or programmes;
• a partnership tool: the encouragement of contacts and partnerships between the different actors at all levels, the development of linkages and exchange of ideas and best practice;
• a 'navigation tool', in particular for policy makers: thanks to a better perception of the development of the Information Society, ESIS should give political and economic decision makers the possibility of choosing priorities when enacting or reshaping IS policies;
• a promotion tool of the Information Society in the CEECs and Mediterranean countries: ESIS should help to raise awareness among national and local bodies, citizens, businesses etc;

ESIS is led by ISAC / ISPO of the European Commission with the support of an external project management team in charge of the co-ordination, data centralisation and synthesis, database and web management (esis2@ll-a.fr). Data collection in each of the countries concerned is carried out by a local contractor team.

Project Management Contacts