Update July 2000: Central and Eastern European Countries

1. Introduction

During the last quarter a number of new contacts and organisations in the Information Society field have been added to the ESIS Knowledge Base. Access to these new contacts will be very useful for public institutions, private investors, journalists or any other individual interested in the Central and Eastern European Information Technologies markets.

The ESIS Knowledge Base and the accompanying national reports provide numerous key person contacts and organisations dealing with the Information Society in the CEEC.

2. Changes over the last three months

2.1 Ministries and governmental organisations

Ministries and governmental organisations are key actors of the Information Society initiating and financing IS programmes. Furthermore, they organise national R&D activities. The main events and the key persons in the governmental sphere are detailed below by country:

In Albania, among the key persons in the area of Information Society one can note :

• Mr Geron Kamberi, Director of the Information and Libraries Department at SOROS Foundation, who is leading the project consisting in implementing a network between libraries,
• Mr Vojo Spahiu, member of the board of directors at the Telecommunications Regulation Entity (TRE) and the administrator of the .AL domain. During the last quarter, he organised a seminar focusing on Internet Services,
• One can also mention Ms. Alma Sevrani who manages the database on information society at the Institute of Statistics of Albania.

In Bulgaria, main developments that occured during the last three months have been :

• the creation by the government of a Co-ordination Council for Information Society. The council is headed by Mr. Antoni Slavinski, Minister of Transport and Communications.
• The nomination of Mr. Alexander Kratovchi as the new Chairman of the State Information System Office.

Estonia has seen several developments :

• Creation / reorganisation of entities dealing with Information Society : the Ministry of Finance announced the establishment of the Technology Agency. It aims to promote IS in the country. The Ministry of Education has re-organised the Research and Development Council. Its aim is to propose axes for national research and development policy to the government. Its members are Ministers, the Chairman of the Parliament's Cultural Affairs Committee and representatives from the Academy of Science and Universities.
• Tõnis Sildmäe became Chairman of the Board of the Estonian Technology Foundation.

In Hungary, Mr. Zoltán Sík was nominated as the new Government Commissioner for IT.

In Latvia, among the key persons dealing with the development of Information Society : Mr. Anatolijs Gorbunovs, Ministry of Transport, and Mr. Andris Virtmanis, Department of Information.

In Lithuania, a main event that occured during the last quarter was the creation of the National Regulatory Agency (NRA). The head of the NRA and its 5 members will be appointed by the Lithuanian President Valdas Adakmus before October 1st.

In Macedonia, Mr. Vecko Burevski is the new assistant to the Minister of Transport and Communications.

In Romania, among the major changes that occured during the last quarter are the nominations of new responsible among the different IS States offices : Mrs Ioana Slavescu, Director for Strategy and Development in Communications, has been appointed new Vice-President of the National Agency for Communications and IT (NACI), and Ms. Anca Voicu was appointed as the new Director of the Information Department.

In Slovenia, the establishment of a new government has lead some new nominations. Mr Andrej Baruk has been appointed as the new Prime Minister,

• Key people at the Ministry of Science and Technology are Dr Lojze Marincek, the Minister, Dr Cene Bavec, the State Secretary for Technology, Dr Anton Jeglic, the State Secretary for Science. These people belonged to the former government. The minister of Transport and Communications remained Mr. Anton Bergauer.
• It is interesting to note that Mr. Vekloslav Korosec replaced Dr. Ivo Banic as the director of ELES, the Slovenian electric company, because Dr. Banic opposed the opening of the electric power market.

2.2 Universities and research institutes

Universities and research instituteshave a very important role in the generation and the implementation of IS projects. They work closely with the governments. They naturally appear to be a main relay of the governments in the fields dealing with Research and Technology.

In Estonia the Universities of Tartu and Tallin, Estonian Telecom and the Association of Estonian Computers Companies have created a research center dealing with new information technologies, the Information Technology Centre.

2.3 Chambers of Commerce & Industry and Professional Associations

Chambers of Commerce & Industry and professional associations are important actors whose mission is mainly to inform and support private companies. They can work on key issues (electronic signature…) or they can provide professional training, etc.

In the Czech Republic, the SPIS (Consortium for Information Society) proposed an Electronic Signatures Act to the Senate and the House of Representatives. Both chambers approved this Act. The Centre for Electronic Commerce (CEO) organised with the Virtual Information Park (VIP) the VIP Forum E-conference.

In Estonia, among the new organisations created during the last three months it is worth mentioning :

• The Estonian Standardisation Centre, a new non-profit organisation, created in January by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Confederation of Employers. It started work on April 1st 2000. Members of the board are the Heads of the founding organisations.
• The Association of Information Technology and Communication Companies, established in March. Its purpose is to represent the common interests of its members and to try to influence the development of legislation accordingly.

In Hungary, János Zsakó replaced the president of the Council of Hungarian Internet Providers (ISZT). Another event was the nomination of Gézá László, director of Antenna Hungária, as the chairman of STRATOS (The National Association of Strategic and Public Utility Companies).

In Poland, the EDI Centre Poland and the National Chamber of Commerce have created the Committee for the Rationalisation of Business Procedures (POLPRO). Its aim is to promote EDI in Poland.

In Slovenia, Mr Pukl resigned from his job as the General Secretary of the Slovene Electronic and Electrical Engineering Association. According to the national report, he was offered a position as a general manager in a big Slovene electronics company.

2.4 Private companies

Private companies that constitute key contacts belong mainly to the data processing & electronic sectors and to the telecommunications sector, but also to the banking sector.

A lot of partnership agreements have been concluded in Estonia, like Eesti Ühispank with ETC, Ühispank with SEB, Ericsson Eesti, Estonian Mobile Telephone Company and Tallinn Technical University. (For more information, please consult the Estonian Report and the ESIS Knowledge Database).

In Hungary, Microsoft Hungary appointed Gábor Varga as its business unit director for network service providers, and Balázs Tordai as its business development manager for e-commerce solutions. These appointments aim to answer the increasing demand for Internet business solutions.

In Slovenia, IBM Slovenia announced that it had signed two partnership agreements with Jerovsek Computers and Hermes Plus to strengthen its position in the Small and Medium Enterprise market.