Several changes have occurred
within organisations involved in the Information Society in the
CEEC countries over the last three months (July - October 1999).
The aim of this synthesis is to provide a quick overview. For
more details, please refer to the country page.
- In Latvia, the main
changes are due to the election of a new
government in July 1999. Mr Andris Skele, the
Prime Minister, has appointed a new cabinet of Ministers
and created a new function, those of Adviser of
the Prime Minister for Informatics. Dr. Edwin
Karnitis has been appointed to this function. He was
previously the Head of the Academic Library and
co-ordinated the activities of the ESIS II project in
Latvia.
- In Poland, the
presidencies of telecommunications operators Telefonia
Lokalna and Elnet have changed hands. The president
of Telefonia Lokalna is now the former-vice-president,
Robert Flak, and the new president of Elnet is Robert P.
Wilson. There is also an important number of new Internet
Service Providers. Internet Venture Poland is a new
company dedicated to the creation of Internet ventures.
Finally, it is planned to divide the ministry of Internal
Affairs and Administration (currently the Y2K issues
national co-ordinator) into a new ministry of Internal
Affairs and a new Ministry of Administration and Regional
Policy.
- In Estonia, the Open
Estonia Foundation, an organisation that played a
main role for promotion of IS (support of Internet
development, conferences organisation, …) is
undergoing a number of changes. The new organisation is
to have a more extended political role. That will be
reflected in the change of the organisation’s name
to the "Institute of Open Politics".
Also, in July 1999 the two leading suppliers of
information services, Microlink Online (Estonia) and
Parks LvNet (Latvia) announced a
strategic partnership. In the political field, one can
note that the former Vice President of the Bank of
Estonia, Heldur Meerits, started a new career as an
economic counsellor to the Prime Minister. The Tiger
Tour project manager Linnar Viik became a
counsellor to the Prime Minister, his main area of
influence will be the generation of new innovative
projects.
- In Slovenia, new
nominations occurred at the ministerial level. The
government also nomitated Mr Igor Janez Zajec as the new
CEO of Slovene Railways, which is
building optical telecommunication infrastructure to
establish a solide basis for providing commercial
telecommunications services once the market is
liberalised. A new Executive Committee of the Slovene
Information Technology Association of the
Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia was elected.
The new president is Mr Franci Mugerle, the CEO of the IT
company MAOP.
The Internet also came to the forefront of the political
and financial centres focus. More than a year after the
plans had been mentioned in public for the first time,
Telekom Slovenije d.d. established a subsidiary company
for providing internet services, to be started in October
1999 : Slovenija Online – SiOL Internet,
whose CEO is Mr Sreta Maric. Almost at the same
time, the first Internet commerce business was launched
by the newly set up company and the first acquisition was
accomplished.
- In Albania,
in close relation with the development of the ESIS
survey, a Steering Commitee has been
created with members from the Ministry of Information,
Alb-Telecom, the Ministry of Public Economy and
Privatisation, the Ministry of Education and Sciences,
the Telecommunication regulatory Entity and the NGO
Forum. It is chaired by ACER, the ESIS II local
contractor for Albania.
- In Lithuania, the
State Information Policy Development Advisory
Commission has been established, grouping
together vice-ministers of all Ministries. It is chaired
by R. Gudauskas who is also the Head of the Department of
Information and Informatics.
ESIS II now contains information
about IS Key persons contacts and organisations in Bulgaria,
Hungary, Czech Republic and Republic of Macedonia:
- In Bulgaria,
the Government has established a "Coordination
Council on Information Society" in February
1998 in order to monitor the preparation of the
"Strategy and national Program for Information
Society Development". This later, prepared by the
Bulgarian Institute of Legal Development, has been
approved by the Bulgarian Government in October 1999.
Several other public bodies and organisations have been
involved in this work, in particular the Bulgarian
Academy of Sciences, the Bulgarian Telecommunication
Company, the Association for the Development of the
Information Society, the National Chamber for Business
Development and the Committee of Posts and
Telecommunications assigned the development. Other
organisations play an important role in the IS
development in Bulgaria.
- In Macedonia,
the Ministry of Sciences is the Ministry responsible for
the IS issues. It is involved in various IS related
activities at the international level and play an
important role within the CEEC/EU Forum on Information
Society. In addition, it is responsible for
implementation of information technology within
governmental institutions. Other Ministries play a
central role, in particular the Bureau of Standardisation
of Ministry of Economy (IT standards), the Ministry of
Traffic and Communications in charge of the
"National Program for the development of
Telecommunications", the Ministry of Education and
the Broadcasting Council.
Several research institutes and universities are also key
players, such as the SS. Cyril and Methodius University
in Skopje and the Academic and Research Network of
Macedonia (MARNET) which has been established to provide
communication and information services to educational and
research community. Finally, the country report for
Macedonia described other important organisations: public
companies, IT companies, Internet providers, Business
associations and potential alternative infrastructure
providers.
- In Hungary, several
Ministries fulfil a significant role in building an
information society in Hungary, with a major role for the
Prime Minister Office. This later oversees the
development of the government’s information policies
and co-ordinates the work of several Committees. The most
recent information National strategy plan ("The
Hungarian response to the challenges of an information
society") and the expert material ("Hungarian
Preparatory Strategies for an Information Society")
are being prepared on the behalf of the Office. the
National Technical Development Committee, the National
Communication and Informatics Council, the International
Institute of Technology, the Communication Inspectorate
play also a major role as well as several social
organisations, universities and research institutes (the
Technical University of Budapest, the Eötvös Loránd
University, the Uniworld Virtual University, the
Hungarian Academy of Sciences, etc.), some corporate
organisations (the Telecommunication and Informatics
Arbitration Fora) and finally, the industrial
associations (Hungarian association of database
suppliers, Informatics Enterprise Association, INFOPARK,
etc.)
- In Czech Republic, several
ministries conduct activities concerning the development
of the Information Society, in particular the Ministry
of Transport and Communication, Ministry of
Education and Youth, Ministry of Industry and Trade,
Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
Ministry of Interior and Ministry of Finance. The
Government has also created in October 1998 a "Governmental
Council for State Information Policy" and
planned to create a "Czech Information
Forum", grouping together representatives
of the civil society to act as an advisory body. Two
other important governmental institutions are the State
Information System Office and the Czech Telecommunication
Office. Numerous non-governmental organisations playing a
key role in IS development have been identified in Czech
Republic, including industry and professional
associations (Czech Society for System Integration -
CSSI, Internet Providers Consortium - NIX, Content
Providers Association - APO, Consortium for Information
Society - SPIS, Center for Electronic Commerce - CEO,
Electronic Commerce Association - APEK), individual
telecommunication and IT companies and academic sphere
(Prague University of Economy, Brno University, etc.).
