February 2001

Central and Eastern European Countries Synthesis of Summary Reports (1999 - 2000)

This is the final IS key persons and organisations synthesis report covering the countries of Central and Eastern Europe as the ESIS project ended in January 2001. 

Introduction

This report presents a retrospective regarding nominations of Key Persons and changes within Organisations involved in the Information Society since the launch of ESIS II in July 1999. The report is a synthesis of national reports which also cover the whole ESIS period. It also puts an emphasis on events and changes concerning key persons and organisations that have occurred during the last 3 months.

The different headings are :

• Part 1: Ministries and governmental organisations

• Part 2: Universities and Research Institutes

• Part 3: Companies

• Part 4: Professional Associations

Within each heading, the reader will find synthetic information classified by countries. Further information concerning Key Persons & Organisations are available in the ESIS Knowledge Base and in National Reports.

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. Main events and key persons in the governmental sphere are detailed below by country:

Albania

 

A new government was created in November 2000. The following ministries and organisations are in charge of IS development : 

• Ministry of Public Economy and Privatization (www.mepp.gov.al) which deals with telecommunications issues. (www.mepp.gov.al). This Ministry regulates the telecommunications sector through both : 

  • the Telecommunications Regulatory Entity (TRE), established in February 1998. Its role is to guarantee and safeguard public interests, to create a transparent legal and regulatory environment and to deliver the frequency.Mr Vojo Spahiu is member of the board of directors at the Telecommunications Regulation Entity (TRE) and the administrator of the .AL domain. He is also presidency advisor on issues of telecommunications. Ms. Spahiu has organised the seminar on issues of Internet service providers, with the all ISPs that are currently operating in Albania.

  • and the General Department of Postal Telecommunications.

• the Ministry of Education and Sciences (www.mash.gov.al), 

• the Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Trade (www.mbet.gov.al) 

• During June 1999, the National Council of Radio-Television (NCRT) was established. NCRT attributes licenses to local, private and national radio and television stations and it will be responsible for frequency delivery to these entities.

The Ministry of Information, which was under the control of the Council of Ministries and which had a project on extending the informatisation process through the ministry as well as to the press offices of the government in several districts of Albania was missing in the new government.

 

Among other key organisations in the area of Information Society one can note :

• the SOROS Foundation, who is leading a project consisting in implementing a network between libraries,

• The Institute of Statistics of Albania which is developing a database on information society. 

• A consultative council for telecommunications is planned for the future.

Bosnia and Herzegovina

 

According to the Dayton Agreement 1995 the country is divided into two administrative entities: Federacija Bosne i Hercegovine (Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina - commonly recognised abbreviation: FBiH) and Republika Srpska (Republic of Srpska - commonly recognised abbreviation: RS). Both entities enjoy a high level of autonomy that surpasses that of other countries. Both entities have their own governmental structures, including a parliament (assembly), government, ministries and a presidency. They possess their own telecommunications systems etc. 

 

The country is still in the process of recovering from the war at the beginning of year 2000. Few IS activities have taken place. 

• Republic of Srpska : The government of RS has proposed national programs related to the Information Society, especially in education. The Ministry of Transport and Communications is officially responsible for Telecoms and Information Society issues. The Ministry had a central role in drafting the Program for the Development of Telecommunications. Mr. Marko Pavic is the Minister.

• Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina : Similarly, the government of FBiH has proposed certain initiatives related to the Information Society.

Bulgaria

 

The main public actors and changes are :

• The Committee on Posts and Telecommunications as a state central public administration unit, implements the Telecommunications policy. At the end of December 1999, this Committee was integrated in the new Ministry of Transport and Communications in charge of the telecommunications policy (www.mt.government.bg). In 2000, Mr. Antoni Slavinski was appointed as the new Minister of Transport and Communications and M. Aleko Konstantinov became Deputy Minister of Transport and Communications responsible for IS development.
  

• In May 2000, a renewed Co-ordination Council for Information Society was established. New members were appointed. The council is headed by Mr. Antoni Slavinski, also Minister of Transport and Communications. Its secretary is Mr. Ivan Taushanov. The first Co-ordination Council on IS was established in 1998 with the main functions to design strategies, to organize the development of the project "Strategy and National Program for Information Society Development in the Republic of Bulgaria and to help in the implementation of adopted policies related to the development of IS in the country in close interaction with the different units of the central and local public administrations. The Council has set up a Permanent Working Group on "Strategy for development of Information Society".Representatives of state bodies, public organisations, academic society and private business take part in the work group (www.mt.government.bg/en/cpt/infosoc/coord/def_KS.htm). 
  

• The State Commission for Telecommunications (BCC) is a state authority - a collective body consisting of five members, including a Chairman and his Deputy, all of them appointed by the Prime Minister with a seven-year term of office. The Committee has a full range of regulatory functions that are separated from Telecommunications policy, as well as public ownership functions. In 2000, Mr. Ivan Taushanov has been appointed as the new chairman of the State Commission for Telecommunications. He is the former Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Transport and Communications.
  

• The Ministry of Education and Science (www.minedu.government.bg/). It is in charge of the Fifth Framework Programme for Bulgaria.

Czech Republic

 

In the Czech Republic, several ministries conduct activities concerning the development of the Information Society, in particular the Ministry of Transport and Communication newly headed by Mr Jaromir Schling, the Ministry of Education and Youth, The Ministry of Industry and Trade, The Ministry of Justice, The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Finance.

 

The coordination role in the area of Information Society has been transferred to the Minister without portfolio Mr. Karel Brezina

 

Among other major governmental organisations :

• The "Governmental Council for State Information Policy ", established in 1998, In March 2000, it has  significantly increased it competencies in the area of IT procurement for state authorities.

• The "Czech Information Forum" grouping together representatives of the civil society to act as an advisory body to the Governmental Council for State Information Policy. The Forum provides dialogue with the public and discuss various issues related to the Information Society. The chairman of the Executive Committee is now Mr. Zbysek Bahensky (www.info-forum.cz). 

• The former State Information System Office (USIS) which has been renamed the the Public Information Systems Office (UVIS) is in charge of the coordination to interconnect various independent information systems of the state authorities (www.uvis.cz).

• the Czech Telecommunication Office (CTU), providing the observation of the Telecommunications Act along with legal regulations issued to execute the Act and regulations related (www.ctu.cz)

• The newly established - in June 2000 - Personal Data Protection Office (UOOU) (www.uoou.cz). The major UOOU task is the supervision of the institutions that collect and process citizen personal data, supervision and authorisation of certification authorities. The appointed Director is Mr. Karel Neuwirt, the former Director of the Department of Protection of Personal Data in the State Information System Office (USIS).

Estonia

 

The Ministry responsible for IS infrastructure and public sector IT development is the Ministry of Transport and Communications (until September 2000 the State Chancellery co-ordinated public sector IT development). It has the mandate to operate the Estonian National Communications Board (established in 1998 on the basis of National Telecommunications Inspection). The Board is responsible for co-ordination and surveillance in fields of telecommunication, cable distribution and broadcasting. In the first quarter of year 2000, Mr. Margus Leivo has been nominated as the Secretary General of the Ministry of Transport and Communication and Mrs. Marika Priske as the new Secretary General of the Ministry of Economics.

 

The Ministry of Economic Affairs creates a favourable business environment, analyses and supports investments into Estonian economy and directs national innovation policy in business, elaborates economic and industrial policies.

The Ministry of Education is among other responsible for organising education and research related matters.

A Copyright Committee has been set up at the Ministry of Culture.

We can also mention two other organisations: 

• the Estonian Informatics Council which advises the Government of the Republic in matters concerning IS.

• Estonian Informatics Centre which promotes the IS development by the means of telecommunication. It provides services to Ministries and other governmental institutions.

In Estonia, the ESIS II period was very rich in other events and changes concerning the IS field.

• The former General Director of the Estonian Privatisation Agency Väino Sarnet started work as the head of the Public Administration Reform Bureau of the State Chancellery in November 1999. The new acting General Director of the Privatisation Agency is Jaan Liivik.

• In June 2000, a department of State Information Systems has been created within the Ministry of Transport and Communications.

• In December 2000, the Government established the National Information Communications Foundation with the purpose to regulate the national information communications system.

• In May 2000, Tthe Ministry of Economic Affairs announced of founding the national technology agency aimed at improved expediting and financing of development activities and innovation.

• Two new foundations (Ettevõtluse ja Elamumajanduse Laenude Tagamise Sihtasutus and Ettevõtluse Arendamise Sihtasutus) will be established in place of existing 9 foundations. The aim of the action is to stop duplicating the work of private sector and to increase the transparency of business support schemes.

Hungary 

 

In Hungary, several Ministries have a significant role in building an information society with a major role for the Prime Minister Office and interministerial coordination. 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 prepared on the behalf of the Office (http://www.iif.hu/~lengyel/valasz/). 

 

Moreover, considering that "the establishment of the information society as key from the point of the competitive superiority of the Republic of Hungary" and in order that Hungary could serve the new economic challenges", the Prime Minister has created a new structure within its office: the Information Technology Government Commissariat. Mr. Zoltán Sík has been appointed as the new Government Commissioner for IT. The section heads of the Information Technology Commissioner's Office were appointed effective August 1, 2000. Péter Szemerei manages the Information Society Section and Anna Dessewffy is the head of the Regulatory Section.

 

Among other important ministries and organisations, one can note :

• The Ministry of Economics (http://www.gm.hu/) which has an important task in preparing consumers for the new challenges : (globalization, environmental protection, an information society (cf Szechenyi Plan in March 2000).

• The Ministry of Youth and Sport (http://www.ism.hu/) puts a special emphasis on preparing the new generation to be active participants in an information society.

• The contents are emphasized within the framework of Sulinet Program (http://www.sulinet.hu), operating in supervision of the Ministry of Education (http://www.om.hu).

• The National Communication and Informatics Council is an advisory body established according to the statutes relating to the media.

• The Communication Authority was established by the government in 1993 on the basis of the statutes concerning the media (http://www.hif.hu/). It is in charge of preparing the bill about the digital signature which is going to be discussed in 2001. In autumn 2000, Mr Ferenc Bánhidi nominated vice-president of the market regulation branch of the Communication Authority.

FYR Macedonia

 

The President of the Republic of Macedonia Boris Trajkovski sponsors the recent initiative "e-Macedonia for All" and founded a Committee which has gathered enough expertise for working on future IS umbrella policies and strategy. The major objective of the initiative is to "speed up the activities of transition of the country to Information Society and Networked Economy". 

 

Several Government restructuring took place in 1999 and 2000. The number of ministries was reduced from 21 to 14. Ministries and Entities having a central role on IS policy are :

• The Ministry of Education and Sciences is 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.

• The Bureau of Standardisation of Ministry of Economy (IT standards) (http://www.ms.gov.mk/)

• The Ministry of Traffic and Communications. It is responsible for the enactment of subsidiary legislation of the Law on Telecommunications. The Ministry had a central role in drafting the "National Program for the Development of Telecommunications". Mr. Ljupco Balkoski is the new Minster.

• The Broadcasting Council (http://www.srd.org.mk/).

• The State Statistical Office. Ms. Svetlana Antonovska is the Director.

Latvia

 

In Latvia, the election of a new government in July 1999 has resulted in several changes. In particular, Mr Andris Skele, the Prime Minister, created a new function of Adviser of the Prime Minister for Informatics. The next change of government took place after one year – in May 2000. The present government with Prime Minister Andris Berzins follows the previous politic in IS issues.

Despite these changes, the main government body responsible for IS development in Latvia - the Ministry of Transport - works in a stable environment without serious discontinuities. The Minister of transport Anatolijs Gorbunovs manages the Ministry since 1998. Two departments of the Ministry are directly involved in IS activities. There are the Department of Communications and the Department of Informatics, headed by Dr. Andris Virtmanis and in charge of the national programme "Informatics". During the ESIS period, Supervisory boards for 3 long-term complex informatics investment projects of state significance.

Established in August 1999, the main goal of the State Information Network Agency (VITA) is to implement State policy in the development of an integrated state level information and communication system. A new   general director was appointed in winter 1999 Dr. Rihards Balodis.

Lithuania

 

The main event in 2000 was the elections of Lithuanian "Seimas" (Parliament) in October 2000. In November 2000 the new Parliament created a new Commission on Development of Information Society in Lithuania.  The head of this Commission is member of "Seimas" Mr. Gintautas Babravicius (http://www.lrs.lt). The Committee on Education, Science and Culture of the Lithuanian "Seimas" is also the highest body in charge of RTD policy in Lithuania.

 

Following this election, a new government was formed. The Parliament confirmed Mr Rolandas Paksas in the position of Prime Minister. In December 2000, the Parliament adopted the State Development Programme for the years 2000 - 2004 and the budget for the year 2001. This programme foresees fostering of IS development.

 

The main ministries in charge of IS development are : 

• The Ministry of Education and Science 

• The Ministry of Internal affairs, coming from the merging of the Ministry of Public Administration Reforms and Local Authorities with the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The reform is very important for IS development, as the Department of Information and Informatics (headed by Mr. Edmundas Zvirblis) under the Ministry of Public Administration Reforms and Local Authorities was one of the IS development co-ordinating bodies. New appointments and changes in the Department of Information and Informatics are foreseen in January 2001. 

• The Ministry of Economy has an important role for the development of Information Society in Lithuania. 

• The Ministry of Finances 

• the Ministry of Transport and Communications is in charge of telecommunications and the transport system in Lithuania. 

Besides the Government, the President of Lithuania  Mr.Valdas Adamkus - elected in January 1998 - has played a key role for IS development. During the years 1999-2000, he has initiated several actions to support the development of IS, e-business, Internet and computerisation of Lithuanian schools. The Advisory IS development Commission was established at the President Office. 

 

Other public organisations and commissions are :

• The Delegation for the EU Accession Negotiations which negotiates telecommunications matters.

• The Science Council of Lithuania which is the most important body co-ordinating RTD.

• The Lithuanian high level (inter-ministerial) State Information Policy Development Advisory Commission which was formed in March 1999 and which groups together vice-ministers of all Ministries. It is chaired by R. Gudauskas.

• The Permanent Information Society Commission as a top-level Advisory body was established in 1998.  It is chaired by Mr. Laimutis Telksnys.

• In the third quarter of 2000, two groups related to IS development were established to advise the government: the e-Vyriausybe working group and another temporary-working group whose goal is to promote and support the development of e-business. 

Poland

 

In Poland, the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications is responsible for telecommunications policy and regulation. The Minister is Mr Tomasz Szyszko; the Deputy Minister Mr Slawomir Kopec is the new Plenipotentiary of the Polish Government for Telecommunications in Rural Areas. The information service http://www.ml.gov.pl/telnawsi.htm has been installed including the full text of "The Strategy of the Telecommunications Development in Rural Areas (2000 - 2004) and regulatory documentation. 

 

The Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications is the supervising institution of the following public utility units:

• The Polish Post (Poczta Polska)

• The Telecommunications Institute (Instytut Lacznosci)

Among other important governmental organisations and key persons :

• From 1 January 2001 the new governmental independent body is the Office of Telecommunications Regulation (OTR). The President of the OTR, Mr Marek Zdrojewski, is appointed by the President of the Council of Ministers for a 5-year term.

• The Parliamentary Commission for Transport and Telecommunications, which is the National Regulatory Authority, is in charge of stimulating the process of fine-tuning new and amended legal acts in the telecommunications sector.

• Włodzimierz Marciński is the Counsellor in the Republic of Poland Mission in the European Union, Brussels, responsible for negotiations of EU accession and Information Systems in EU institutions.

• Under the Act of Telecommunications Law (July 2000) the President of the Council of Ministers shall appoint to the Telecommunications Council one representative each of the minister and representatives of the civil society, including companies.

Romania

The general elections on 26^th November and 10^th December 2000 changed the institutional structures. New Ministries have been created and new key persons are now involved in the Information Society.

• The new legal authority of the National Agency for Communications and Informatics - NACI - which was since December 1998 organised as the Ministry of Communications and the legal authority for telecommunications and informatics - has changed on December 29 2000 : a new legal entity has been created: the Ministry of Communication and Informatics. Mr. Dan Nica has been appointed as the Minister. 

• The National Agency for Science, Technology and Innovation which was formerly organised as Ministry of Research and Technology and the National Education Ministry have been replaced on December 29 2000 by a new legal authority for national education, scientific and technological research and development : this is the Ministry of education and research. The Minister is Mrs. Ecaterina Andronescu, and the Minister of Research is Mr. Serban Constantin Valeca.

• Another ministry plays an important role, in particular in e-commerce issues : the Ministry of Industry and Commerce (MIC). Within MIC an important role in promoting the IS and especially the electronic commerce is played by the Romanian Foreign Trade Centre.

Slovakia

 

The main institutional players in Information Society are : 

• The Ministry of Transport, Posts and Telecommunications, the central body of the State Administration for the Telecommunication sector. The minister is Mr. Jozef Macejko (www.telecom.gov.sk).

• The Telecommunication Office : it is an independent regulatory authority which is responsible for executing the State regulation of telecommunication activities. It is also responsible for international relations in the field of telecommunications, technical and price regulation of telecommunication market and the co-operation with the Council of the Slovak Republic for radio and TV broadcasting. It is chaired by Mr. Ludovit Hogh.

The Antimonopoly Office, the Government Office, the Statistical Office and Infostat are the main consultative councils to the administration on telecommunications.

 

Slovenia

 

The Government of the Republic of Slovenia was appointed on 30 November 2000. The new Prime Minister dr. Janez Drnovsek. In recent years, it has proposed a few sectorial national programmes related to the information Society (education, infrastructure, research and development). 

 

In January 2001 government  established new Ministry for Information Society. The Minister is dr. Pavel Gantar. 

 

Among the other ministers playing an important role in IS development, one can mention the following:

• The Ministry of Science and Technology is responsible for the Information Society issues related to research, technology and development. It finances the Academic and Research Network of Slovenia (ARNES) and the Institute of Information Science (IZUM), the institutions that have played a significant role in shaping the Information Society in Slovenia. Within the Ministry, there are two offices playing an important role in shaping the IS policy concerning standards and intellectual property rights: The Standards and Metrology Institute of the Republic of Slovenia and The Intellectual Property Office of the Republic of Slovenia 

• The Ministry of Transport and Communications is in charge of telecommunications. The Ministry had a central role in drafting the National Programme for the Development of Telecommunicatons and is now drafting a new telecommunication law. Within the Ministry, the Telecommunications Administration of the Republic of Slovenia has an important role in the implementation and supervision of telecommunications legislation. 

• The Ministry of Education and Sport launched the six-year Computer Literacy Development Programme (Ro) in 1994 aiming at fostering the computer literacy development and usage of information technology in education, particularly in primary and secondary schools, and increasing the efficiency in schools.

• Ministry of Culture is responsible for implementing the legislation on mass media. 

• Ministry of Economic Relations and Development has an important role in forming the macroeconomic framework for the development of the Information Society. A

Other organisations can be mentioned:

• The Government Centre for Informatics which was established in January 1993 as a governmental agency in order to implement Information technology in State institutions. The Centre drafted the Strategy for Providing the State Bodies with an Information Infrastructure by the Year 2000. Recently, it established a new agency called SIGOV-CE in charge to take care for the certification of the digital signature, which is the bases for electronic commerce. Director of the Government Centre for Informatics is Mr. Marin Silic.

• Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia

• The Government of the Republic of Slovenia’s Council for the use of information technology in State bodies and public institutions. Mr Banovec is the Vice-President.

 

Universities and research institutes have 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 field of IS dealing with Research and Technology.

 

Bosnia and Herzegovina

 

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, two important public institutions provide communication and information services to educational and research community:

• BIHARNET- Academic and Research Network of BiH. The Director is Mr Marko Bonac.

• UniNet - University Computer Network at Banja Luka and Academic and Research Network of Republic of Srpska (SARNET). The director is Mr. Miroslav Roglic.

Bulgaria

 

Among the universities and research organisations working on IS, we can mention:

• the Co-ordination Centre of Informatics and Computational Technologies (KCCIT), Bulgarian Academy of Sciences

• Department of Information Technologies, University of Sofia headed by Roumen NIKOLOV www-it.fmi.uni-sofia.bg

• the Applied Research and Communications Fund (ARC Fund - www.arc.online.bg)

• the Agency for Economic Analysis and Forecasting (www.online.bg/femirc_e/agency_e.htm)

• the Central Laboratory for Parallel Processing of Information (CLPOI) (www.acad.bg)

• The Institute for Scientific Research in Telecommunications (NIIS) which is part of the Bulgarian Telecommunications Company for research and experimentation in telecommunications and information technology (http://www.infotel.bg/~niis/).  

Czech Republic

 

Four universities can be mentioned :

• Prague University of Economics (CSSI co-founder and organizer of annual System Integration conference)

• Brno University of Technology (CEO co-founder)

• Masaryk University of Brno (the current Rector of the university, Prof. Jiri Zlatuska, was the chairman of the Czech Information Society Forum) 

• The Czech Technical University in Prague (Mr. Karel Kveton, member of the preparatory committee of the Czech Information Society Forum).
  www.vse.cz, www.vutbr.cz, www.muni.cz, www.cvut.cz

Also, the Technology Center of the Academy of Sciences which is the national contact point for the 5^th framework EU programme publishes the Czech Republic Information Society Technology Contacts (www.tc.cas.cz)

 

Estonia

 

In Estonia, IT education is mainly concentrated in Tallinn Technical University and University of Tartu. These two Universities, with Estonian Telecom and the Association of Estonian Computers Companies have created a research center dealing with new information technologies, the Information Technology Centre.

 

In November 2000 the Estonian Educational and Research Network (EENet) signed the agreement to carry out the Geant project with other European E&R networks.

 

FYR Macedonia

 

In Macedonia, among the research institutes and universities being key players in IS :

• The SS. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje (http://www.ukim.edu.mk/)

• The Academic and Research Network of Macedonia (MARNET) which has been established to provide communication and information services to educational and research community.

Hungary

 

In Hungary, there is an intensive participation of universities and research organisations dealing with the Hungarian information society. Among them :

• The Technical University of Budapest (http://www.bme.hu/).  Extensive research is carried out at the Information Society and Trend Research Centre (ISTRI http://www.ittk.hu).). In addition, INFONIA (Foundation for Information Society and Information Culture) has been operating since November 2000 with the aim of promoting the IS research activities and projects at the regional level. 

• The Eötvös Loránd University is the most significant national centre investigating the social effects of informatics with special attention to changes in the public sphere (http://www.nscnt2.elte.hu/elte/esh5.html).

• the Faculty of Communications of the Jannus Pannonius University carries research on the changes in communication within the information society (http://www.jpte.hu).

• The UNIWORLD Virtual University has constructed a virtual corporate network with the participation of Hungarian and foreign higher education institutions (http://www.uniworld.hu/).

• The activities of several research institutes of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences are related to the building of information societies.

• Third Millennium Foundation and the Strategy Research Institute carries out research on information national and regional strategies (http://www.inco.hu).

• The Federation of Technical and Scientific Societies (MTESZ) ( http://www.mtesz.hu  ).

Also, according to the recommendations of the OMFB, the Hungarian National Host was established as association under the auspices of the KHVM in October, 1998 (http://www.host.hu/indexh.html). The National Information Infrastructure Development Program (http://www.iif.hu) joining in the GEANT project, is going to execute the network accessibility with 2,5 Gbit/s speed for the research sphere.

Latvia

A number of research studies concerning IS at the University of Latvia have been funded by the Latvian Council of Sciences and grants from EU. There are near to 140 researchers, engineers and software developers on the staff of the Mathematics and Informatics Institute (MII) of the University of Latvia.

The Riga Information Technology Institute (RITI), a non-profit organisation of the DATI Group, is the only private science institute in Latvia. 

Among other research institutions taking part in IS promotion actions and in realisation of IS projects we can find:

• Riga Technical University

• Latvian Academic Library

• Latvian Academic Network LATNET

• Latvian IT Standardisation Technical Committee

• FEMIRC – Latvia.

Lithuania

 

In Lithuania, several Universities are key ators in IS. Some organise various conferences, seminars and workshops related to Information Society and Information Technologies.

• Kaunas University of Technology

• Vilnius University

• Vilnius Gediminas Technical University

• Vytautas Magnus University

Others carried out a lot of IS related local and international R&D projects

• The Computer Science Informatics and Communications Faculties of Kaunas

• The University of Technology

• The Institute of Mathematics and Informatics carried out scientific activities in mathematics and R&D activities in Informatics on the following topics

• Institute of Information Technology is contractor and co-ordinator of various IT and IS projects in state and private enterprises. 

The Lithuanian Science Foundation, State organisation supports science and IS related programs and projects.

Poland

 

In Poland, among the key actors:

• The State Committee for Scientific Research (KBN). Chaired by Prof. Andrzej Wiszniewski coordinates the growth of the Polish Internet and supports development of computer and Internet facilities for scientific community in Poland. The KBN Under Secretary of State, Ms Małgorzata Kozłowska, is responsible in for the Information Society issues.

• The Institute of Fundamental Technological Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences was chosen by KBN as the National Contact Point (NCP) for the 5th Framework Programme in Poland. http://www.npk.gov.pl

Romania

 

Among active Institutions, we can mention:

• The National Institute for Research and Development in Informatics - ICI – Bucharest (www.ici.ro)

• Institute for Computers - ITC – Bucharest (www.itc.ro)

• National Research and Development Institute for Microtechnologies - IMT – Bucharest (www.imt.ro) 

• National Communications Research Institute

• National Design Institute for Telecommunications – Telerom Proiect SA – Bucharest (www.telerom.ro)

• Centre for Economy Informatics and Cybernetics - Academy of Economic Studies – Bucharest

• FEMIRC Centre – Innovation Relay Centre.

We can also mention the Academy of Sciences – Section for the Science and Technology of Information. 

 

Slovakia

 

In Slovakia, the Research Institute of Post and Telecommunications (VUS), is a nation-wide scientific research institution, responsible for the support of State telecommunication (www.vus.sk). VUS has implemented an Internet site, named "Information Society Slovakia", to support the development of Information Society issues in the country. The site started as a platform for the exchange of information among experts and now operates as a point of contact for companies interested in establishing an Action Plan and for the preparation of a National Strategy of Information Society in Slovakia.

 

Several universities manage specific application projects related to Information Society, for instance :

• The Slovak Technical University in Bratislava

• The Zilina’s University

• The Technical University Kosice

• The Commenius’s University in Bratislava

• The Matej Bella’s University in Banska Bystrica

Sanet is the Slovak Academic Network.

 

Slovenia

 

In Slovenia, the following institutions are very active in the field of IS :

• The University of Ljubljana and the University of Maribor are organising various events, workshops and seminars relating to ICT and are carrying out numerous IS projects. Rectors of both Slovene universities, Prof Dr Joze Mencinger (University of Ljubljana) and Prof Dr Ludvik Toplak (University of Maribor) signed an agreement on co-operation in the academic year 2000/2001 with the General Manager of IBM Slovenia to educate a new generation of engineers that will help establish the new information economy in Slovenia.

• The Jozef Stefan Institute plays an important role in shaping national information and communications technology environment. 

• The Slovene Science Foundation is a private foundation with a public function. Amongst other functions, the foundation leads the activities of the Co-operative Research in Information Infrastructure (CRII) project, which is an umbrella project consisting of several subprojects under the unifying theme of "Information Society".

• The Academic and Research Network of Slovenia (ARNES) (see also 1.).

• The Institute of Information Science (IZUM) is an information infrastructure service for Slovenian science, culture and education (see also 1.). 

 

Private companies that constitute key contacts belong mainly to data processing & electronic sectors, telecommunications industry, or are alternative telecom operators. Leading international information technologies equipment suppliers are present in numerous CEEC countries where they have established subsidiaries.

 

Public companies are often incumbent telecom operators which are obviously key actors in the Information Society as they act as the main promoters and distributors of new technologies. Events concerning this sector that is still widely public, are also mentioned in the chapter "  2. Ministries and Governmental Organisations "

 

Albania

 

There are currently two public telecommunications operators in Albania: Albtelecom and Albanian Mobile Communication Company (AMC). 

• Alb-Telecom is 100% state owned company. On June 8, 2000, Albtelecom signed a co-operation agreement with Siemens Company, for implementing several investments in telecommunications infrastructure in Albania. Mr. Petri Deti, deputy General Director of Albtelecom leads a project "Establishing Back Bone Internet Network as well as a national ISP in Albania".

• The entire privatization process of AMC Company (Albanian Mobile Communication Company) was accomplished by July 2000. The tender was won by Cosmote - Telenor (a Greek -Norwegian consortium). Parliament ratified the AMC privatisation contract between State and the Winner during September 2000. AMC is now operating as a private company. There is no longer any state owned mobile company.

In February 2001 a second mobile operator is expected to be licensed following an open call for tender launched in August 2000.

 

In Albania, M. Agim Bufi is co-ordinating both "Sinfoal" project and the "ABC network" project in Albania. It is a regional project extended to Balkan countries.

 

There are several ISP companies (Cybernet, abissnet, adanet, Albania on Line, AT ISP, etc.) which contribute to the development of the of Information Society in Albania. These companies provide Internet Services mainly in Tirana and in some nearest cities looking for further extension in the future. Main target groups are both governmental and non-governmental structures.

 

Bosnia

 

In Bosnia and Srpska the incumbent operators ( public and with monopoly) are:

• JP PTT Saobracaja Bosne i Hercegovine. The Director is Tarik Sarhimamovic

• PTT Srpske - main telecom operator in the Republic of Srpska.

The potential alternative infrastructure providers and Internet services providers are :

• JP Elektroprivreda FBIH - The company core activities are in the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity. However, there are plans to improve its telecommunications capacities as a first step toward alternative network. 

• Cable TV Banja Luka - This is cable TV company that covers the region of Banja Luka. 

• BlicNET Internet Services - This is private company that provides various Internet services. 

Bulgaria

 

The Bulgarian Telecommunication Company (BTC) is a state-owned monopoly public limited liability company set on 1st of January 1993, with its rights and obligations defined by a Decree of the Council of Ministers and a License issued by the Committee of Posts and Telecommunications. BTC is earmarked for privatisation in 2001 (http://www.btc.bg/).

 

Bulgaria currently has two mobile phone operators: 

• Mobikom: Mobikom is the trademark name for Radio Telecommunications Company Ltd, a joint venture between Britain's Cable & Wireless, BTC and an Interior Ministry-owned firm Radio Electronic Systems. Mobikom covers 65% of Bulgaria's territory. The company has 180,000 mobile subscribers and an additional 33,000 subscribers in a paging network. 
  

• digital GSM operator MobilTel. In December 2000, shareholders of MobilTel, elected a new supervisory board on Friday. It reflected a change in its ownership. Formally, a deal to sell MobilTel to a consortium of Israeli businessmen and media firm was yet to be finalised to be completed soon. MobilTel has doubled the number of its registered subscribers to 450,000 from 1999 to more than 550,000 subscribers at the end of 2000. It covers 76% of Bulgaria.

In December 2000, Bulgaria's government announced that it approved a decision granting Greece's OTE Telecom a 15-year licence to operate a second GSM digital cell phone network in the country. The tender, launched in October 2000, attracted five bids from companies backed by world telecom majors.

 

Among the other important companies, we can mention:

• Global One Communications and Information Services Ltd. (GOCIS) is a joint venture of Global One Communications Ltd. and BTC. GOCIS is a licensed telecommunications operator, data services provider and Internet service provider. 

• BULNET is one of the biggest Internet service providers in Bulgaria. 

• BOL.BG Ltd., established in 1993, is an e-mail and full Internet access, dial-up and leased line access provider. 

• TEA Ltd. is a private company established in 1995. Its activities include ISP, import and sale of ICT equipment and building and supporting information databases. 

Czech Republic

 

In the Czech Republic, the main changes concern the telecommunications industry.

• The public telecommunication operator, SPT Telecom, changed its name to Cesky Telecom on January 1, 2000. www.telecom.cz

• Two GSM mobile networks are operated by Eurotel, Radiomobil (has firstly introduced the phone-phone type of Internet telephony service in the country) and CeskyMobil  www.eurotel.cz, www.radiomobil.cz, www.oskarmobil.cz

As concerns Internet providers :

• Eunet has been acquired by KPNQwest in 2000

• In April 2000, Czech On Line (the Czech largest network Video On Line operator) has been acquired by Austria Telekom. It was the biggest venture capital transaction in the Central and Eastern Europe.

• CESNET which is historically the first provider of Internet connection

• Other largest Internet providers are Internet On Line (division of SPT Telecom), PVT, Contactel and World Online. Some of them provide also free Internet access Internet On Line.

• In September 2000 CTU also decided about the licences for the FWA wireless networks that have been granted to Broadnet, GiTy/StarOne and Nextra.

Within the financial and logistics sector, the following companies play an important in e-commerce: the Expandia Banka, pioneer of the electronic commerce and Internet banking in the Czech Republic, Komercni Banka and CitiBank which has offered another way of Internet payments – Juice Pay payment card. 

 

There are number of other entities which contribute to the Information Society development in Czech Republic among which traditional media, content providers, portals, the the BMI consortium whic is the organizer of the annual national campaign "March – The Internet Month", etc.

 

Estonia

Key points are the following : 

• Estonian IT companies sector is relatively moderate: hardware and software systems used are often developed in other countries and produced as well. The number of enterprises active with offering IT systems and services does not exceed 300 and most companies are small businesses.

• Despite of the extremely rapid development of the telecommunications market in 1990s, the question about services provided by telecommunications operators and tariffs is still in the air. Accordingly the number of telecommunications operators is high. Most companies are data communication service providers or local cable distribution operators. Among those 8 organisations are of all-Estonian importance. Most significant telecommunications operators in 1999 and 2000 have been AS Eesti Telefon (with exclusive rights granted on fixed voice telephone market till January 1, 2001), and AS Eesti Mobiiltelefon, AS Radiolinja Eesti and AS Ritabell on the mobile communications market. Starting September 1, 2000, the Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Eesti Telekom, Toomas Sõmera was replaced by the former Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Eesti Telefon Jaan Männik. Valdo Kalm was appointed the new Chairman of the Supervisory Board of AS Eesti Telefon.

• During 1999 and 2000 content service development in business sector has begun.

• Data communications market has been open for competition and most significant enterprises in both 1999 and 2000 have been AS Eesti Telefon, Delfi OnLine, Esdata AS, KPNQwest Estonia AS, Uninet AS and Infonet AS.

• From 2001, the most important companies in the market will probably be AS Eesti Telefon, Levicom BroadBand OÜ (TELE2) and Uninet AS.

FYR Macedonia

 

The main companies are :

• Macedonian Telecommunications (http://www.mt.net.mk/indexns.html).

• Makpetrol AD (http://www.makpetrol.com.mk) the leading oil company and Link Telecom (http://www.link.com.mk/) are potential alternative infrastructure providers.

• There are around 8 Internet services providers.

Hungary

 

The year 2000 brought significant changes in the ownership structure of MATÁV. Deutsche Telekom gained full control of MagyarCom - the mixed holding company established in alliance with SBC. Since the Hungarian telecom market is expected to be completely liberalised in about 18 months, MATÁV will largely rely on the expertise, capacity, and resources of Deutsche Telekom.

 

Hungary changes happened mainly in the private sector by nomination of new key persons.

• Notably, Mr. Istvan Pesti was named Executive Director of GTS-DataNet.

• Mr. Tamas Varju was appointed as the CEO of the Hungarian Post.

• The new CEO of Westel Radiotelephone Company Ltd. is Mr. Norbert Jecsy. Microsoft Hungary appointed Gábor Varga as its business unit director for network service providers

• Balázs Tordai as its business development manager for e-commerce solutions.

• The John von Neumann Computer Society (NJSZT) has reorganised its internal structure. István Alföldi remains the managing director of the society but the new chairman is Péter Bakony.

• György Beck, head of Compaq Hungaria has been nominated responsable for Compaq’s subsidiaries in the whole East-Central European region : Hungaria, Poland, Czech and Slovakia.

• Another high-tech company, Lucent Technologies Service network Kft., has known changes. Zoltán Páris has been appointed the new director of the Budapest section.

• Concerning Vodafone Hungary, Beáta Schwartzné Lovász became the new managing director.

Latvia

 

In Latvia, significant actors in IS are:

• Lattelekom – historical fixed telecommunications operator;

• Latvia Mobile Telephone (LMT) and BaltCom GSM – mobile operators

• Telia Latvia – ISP and data communication operator;

• DT Media Group, Computer 2000 Latvia Ltd – IT companies

• Stock company DATI - software developer

During the last years, there were several mergers and acquisitions in IT&T field in Latvia. 

• Changes affected the biggest Internet service provider in Latvia the spring 1999. A new company "Parks LvNet" was established. It became the biggest Internet service provider in Latvia. But on November 1999 two companies – Latvian Parks LvNet and Estonian MicroLink - announced the establishment of a new Baltic Internet company called "Delfi" - http://www.delfi.lv . 

• Baltcom GSM was sold to Swedish Tele2 AB, a subsidiary of Netcom AB. 

Lithuania

 

In the fixed telecommunication sector, Lithuania has known 2 major changes :

• Lietuvos Telekomas shareholders elected a new Council. The head of the Council is Mr G.Zintelis, which was re-elected in this position. The company has the monopoly for wired voice communications in Lithuania until 31 12 2002 and is the largest Internet provider.

• TeleDenmark, the mobile Communications Company Bite GSM 100% owner, relieved Mr G.Pangonis of General Director post. The temporary Managing Director Mr Alex Wurtz will be in the position of General Director.

In the mobile sector, Omnitel is the largest Lithuanian mobile communications’ company and one of the largest Internet provider. The two other mobile telcos are Bite GSM and Tele 2.

 

In the field of E-commerce, the American company ASHBURN International (AI) invested in the establishment of an Electronic Payments Centre. The new centre will promote the development of e-commerce and mobile business in Lithuania.

 

Poland

 

In Poland, the biggest computer and telecommunication companies active on the Polish market are often branches of giant foreign companies (IBM, Oracle) but the percentage of Polish businesses is still growing. For example: 

• Optimus SA

• Prokom S.A. , Ryszard Krauze, President

• ATM S.A. , Roman Szwed, President.

Among Telecom Operators:

• Telekomunikacja Polska S.A is the biggest Polish telecommunication services operator, with a monopoly for international connection till 2003. The President of the Management Board is Mr Pawel Rzepka. The President of the Supervisory board is Mr Jan Kulczyk.

• The presidency of Telefonia Lokalna has changed hands with Robert Flak

• And Elnet has also a new president : Robert P. Wilson

The three mobile telephony operators are

• TPSA

• PTC (ERA GSM)

• POLKOMTEL (Plus GSM).

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.

 

Romania

 

RomTelecom, history operator (partially privatised), retains exclusive rights until December 31, 2002 to provide local, long distance and international voice telephony services and networks. The new president of the Advisory Board of RomTelecom is George Karaplis. RomTelecom's CEO is Vassilios Tsakoniatis.

 

As concerns the mobile sector, the main operators are SunTel, MobiFon, MobilRome and CosmoRom.

 

There are around 200 Internet Service Providers, splited into academic network (such as the RoEduNet Romania Education Network) and commercial companies, the main providers being Global One, PC Net, Arexim, DNT, EU Net, FX, ITC, Kappa, RDS, SoftNet, Xnet (ISP of mobile operator Mobifon).

The privatisation of the National Radio-Telecommunications Company is envisaged, as well as setting up an agency for data protection. The consultants to prepare the company for privatisation will be contracted only after the first quarter of 2000.

Slovakia

 

In Slovak Republik, Slovak Telecom (ST) is the major supplier of telecommunications services has the exclusive rights to provide this service, until 31 December 2002. Recently, as part of the privatization, Deutsche Telekom acquired a majority stake in Slovak Telecom. The General Director is Mr. Emil Hubinak.

 

There are two mobile operators in Slovakia:

• Globtel GSM (www.globtel.sk).

• Eurotel Bratislava (www.eurotel.sk).

The Slovak Internet Service Provider (ISP) market is consolidating and basically is controlled by foreign investors. The Key players in the Slovak Internet market are:

• Nextra, a subsidiary company of Norwegian Telecoms firm, Telenor, and

• GTS Slovakia, controlled by the financial group Advent International Corporation

• EuroWeb, a subsidiary firm of Dutch KPN Telecom

• Slovak Telecom.

Five licenses for leased lines have been issued to alternative network operators within Slovakia. These operators are comprised of four energy companies (together making up the consortium group ENERGOTEL) and the subsidiary company of the state-owned Transpetrol (petrol company), TRANSTEL.

 

Slovenia

 

In Slovenia, several events occurred in Telecom and Internet business :

• More than a year after the plans have 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.

• Telemach d.o.o. ( Mr Vojko Rovere) is a new player in the Slovene telecommunications market. It was established in the beginning of the year 2000 and aims to become the first multimedia service provider.

• EON d.o.o. is the first Slovene company that started providing secure Internet commerce services. 

  Mr. Zoran Thaler is the CEO

Concerning the mobile market, the two players are :

• Mobitel d.d.. owned by Telekom Slovenija, and

• Si.mobil d.d. (MrBojan Dremelj, Chief Executive Officer )

Among potential alternative infrastructure providers for telecommunications there are :

• ELES d.d (Electricity Provider)

• Slovene Railways: the company is establishing a solid basis for providing commercial telecommunications services once the market is liberalised.

Largest IT companies are :

• Hermes Softlab d.d. , Mr Rudi Bric, CEO

• Iskratel d.d., Mr Andrej Polenec CEO

• SRC.SI d.o.o., Mr. Boris Kikelj, CEO

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.

 

International and Regional Organisations aim to facilitate the development of IS in a global world and to answer locally to specificities of different regions.

 

Bosnia and Herzegovina

 

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Chamber of Economy is presided by Mr Mensur Smajlovic. This chamber provides the necessary services to its members and to the potential customers. Besides its basic functions and services, the chamber supports and initiates several promotion actions related to information society.

 

Bulgaria

 

One can mention:

• Internet Society – Bulgaria, established in 1995, promotes Internet in Bulgaria and supports free information exchange all over the world (http://www.isoc.bg)

• Centre for the Study of Democracy 

• Bulgarian Industrial Association (http://www.bia-bg.com) 

• Bulgarian Information Industry Association (BIIA)

Czech Republic

 

In the Czech Republic, the key professional associations influencing the development of the Information Society are:

• The Czech Society for System Integration (CSSI): associating providers of information technologies and informatics services www.cssi.cz

• Internet Providers Consortium : the consortium of ISPs in the Czech Republic, with the objective of interconnecting their networks www.nix.cz
  Content Providers Association aiming at associate the providers of content on the Internet network

• The Consortium for Information Society (SPIS): it is a professional association of the top ICT companies whose aim the promotion of the Information Society. The SPIS president, Mr. Zbysek Bahensky, has recently become the chairman of the Czech Information Society Forum (see above 1.)  www.spis.cz

• The Center for Electronic Commerce (CEO), created in 1998, allows closer co-operation of individuals and organisations from the commercial sphere, state administration and academic institutions. In November 2000 it organised the ESIS conference "Information society and new economy in the Czech Republic". The chairman of the board is Mr. Vlastimil Vesely. www.e-commerce.cz

• The Electronic Commerce Association (APEK) : associates the operators of Internet shops with the aim of promoting their services. www.apek.cz.

• The Association for Internet Advertising (SPIR) founded late August 2000. The chairman is Mr. Marek Antos. www.spir.cz

• The BMI consortium (organiser of the national campaign "March-the Internet month"). www.brezen.cz

Estonia

 

In Estonia, among the new organisations created during the second quarter 2000, it is worth mentioning the Association of Information Technology and Communication Companies, established in March 2000 on the basis of the Association of Estonian Computer Companies from one side and the Union of Telecommunication Companies from the other side. Currently the Association is the most important umbrella organisation of the companies in the field. Its purpose is to represent the common interests of its members and to try to influence the development of legislation.

 

Up to the beginning of 2000 the most important contest organiser of WWW pages and new ideas was Open Estonia Foundation which at the present moment due to reorganisation has ceased organising such contests.

 

Hungary

• The Telecommunication Arbitration Forum is a social organisation established in 1994 which groups together organisations in Hungary with an interest in telecommunication (http://www.tef.hu/).

• The Informatics Arbitration Forum (Inforum) is an organisation targeted at IT services companies and organisations to informatics services (http://www.inforum.org.hu)

• The Hungarian Association of Database Suppliers is an autonomous expert body founded in 1991 as a national social organisation (http://www.dbassoc.hu/).

• The aim of the Hungarian Association of IT Companies (IVSZ) is to establish a balanced representation of interests in Hungary within the informatics industry, computer technology and telecommunications, as appropriate to their scale (http://www.ivsz.hu/). Mr. Tibor Gyuros was elected chairman at IVSZ in Spring 2000.

• In 2000, a professional consortium (supported by the KHVM and later by the Information Government Commissariat) has been established to build a statistic monitoring system on ICT from 2001. 

• The ten biggest Hungarian telecommunication and computer technology companies brought about the INFOKOM Association.

• INFOPARK is a scientific and technical park giving home to research and development activities of societies active mostly in businesses of informatics and other related fields.

• In Spring 2000, ISZT (Council of Hungarian Internet Providers) had a new an administrative office with a permanent staff to fulfill domain registration duties. János Zsakó replaced the resigned president of Association.

Romania

 

Several experts groups have been established to promote the development of IS:

• The Commission 2 (Information Society) - coordinated by prof. Dan Dascalu coordinator of ESIS for Romania – In April 2000, it started the activity to establish an Information Society strategy for development of Romania.  This non-governmental commission bring together members of Romanian Academy, members of professional associations (ATIC, ANIS, ARIES, APRCC), Chamber of Commerce, Romanian Association of Banks, representatives of political parties, of Ministries involved in IS, of SME's, other specialists (www.imt.ro/socinfo2000).

• The Commission 10 (Telecommunication and Information Technologies for draft a strategy) where many specialists of NACI work. They are coordinated by prof. Segiu Iliescu (www.rnc.ro/strategie2000).

Major associations involved in IS are :

• ATIC - Association of Information Technologies and Communications of Romania whose director is Mr. Dan Mihalcea (http://www.atic.org.ro).

• ANIS – National Association of Software Enterprises whose president is Mr. Vlad Florian Tepelea (http://www.anis.ro)

• ARIES – Romanian Association for Electronic & Software Industries (http://www.aries.ro).

• ROMINFOR - Romanian Association for Research in Communication and Information Technologies (http://www.cef.pub.ro/rominfor)

• APRCC – Romanian Cable Communication Professionals Association 

• INFOREC – Romanian Association for Promotion of Higher Education of Economic Informatics, whose president is Mr. Ion Gh.Rosca

• ARCA – Romanian Association for Audiovisuals Communications 

• National Association of Romanian Exporters and Importers-Foreign Trade Promotion Centre SA-Informational Systems Department (http://www.aneir.ro)

• ANISP – National Association of ISP (Asociatia Nationala a ISP din Romania)

• the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Romania is an active promoter of IT in the business field (electronic commerce, electronic certificates).

Also, the Forum for the Information Society (since March 1997, under the aegis of the Romanian Academy) plays the role of a forum of the civil society. It aims to arise the interest in the Romanian society concerning the development of the information society, and to propose and stimulate by specific proposals a series of measures and actions in this direction.

 

FYR Macedonia

 

One can mention:

• The Open Society Institute – Macedonia (http://www.soros.org.mk/) aims at supporting and funding institutions of open society. In the field of Information Society, the Institute supports financially various educational and cultural projects and provides Internet connections. 

• Chamber of Commerce of Macedonia , Macedonian Association for Information Technology.

• Association of computer specialists.

Latvia

 

In the last years we can register an increasing role of professional non-government organisations in the IS issues. The main non-governmental professional associations promoting IS are :

• Latvian Information Technology and Telecommunication Association (LITTA)

• Telecommunications Association of Latvia (LTA)

• Latvian Association for Computer Technology (LDTA)

• Latvian Electrotechnical and Electronics Industries Association (LETERA),

• Latvian Internet Association (LIA). 

Lithuania

• The Lithuanian Computer Society (http://www.liks.lt) and Infobalt, Association of the largest IT companies (http://www.infobalt.lt) are the most active associations promoting Information Society, forming of state IS policy and public opinion in Lithuania. The Lithuanian Computer Society and the Infobalt association are initiators of many local and international conferences, meetings and discussions. The Chairman of the Lithuanian Computer Society is Mr. Alfredas Otas. The President of Infobalt is Mr. Robertas Tamulevicius.

• The Lithuanian Open Society (Soros) Foundation supports various programs including IS projects in Lithuania. Managing Director Diana Vilyte.

Poland

 

Non Governmental Organisations dealing with IS are:

• The Polish Chamber of Information Technology and Telecommunications

• Polish Chamber of Electronics and Telecommunications

• The Association of Polish Software Market "PRO"

• The Polish Forum of Information Society (SPIN). After formal registration, it conducted its first meeting on 10 January 2000 in Warsaw. Mr Jozef Orzel was elected the president

• Cities in the Internet Association,

• The Polish Information Processing Society

• The Society for Open Systems Development

• The Scientific Society for Information Processing in Economy.

• 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.

• Forum Polskiego Internetu Komercyjnego – The Polish Commercial Internet Forum – which aims to monitor the Polish Internet activities has established the information service http://www.forum.org.pl

• The Society of the Rural Telecommunications RUTEL is active in awareness actions dealing with development of telecommunications infrastructure on remote rural areas. 

Slovakia

 

In Slovakia, several expert associations perform their activities in the Information Society:

• Slovak Electrotechnic Society (professional association supporting telecommunication activities and systematic distribution of Information to own members and also to the public)

• Slovak Informatics Society (voluntary professional association supporting informatics activities and systematic distribution of Information to own members and also to the public)

• APKT (Association of Cable TV operators)

• SAKT (Slovak Association for the Cable Telecommunications)

• SAEC (Slovak Association for e-Commerce)

• The Association of Telecommunication Users in Slovakia, established in 1997, is a professional protection association of users of telecommunications services and technologies, including Information Technology users.

• Jozef Murgas Foundation has been in existence for 6 years and has occupied an important position in support of young professionals, education, science and propagation in telecommunications.

• ATM Association (establ. In 1997)

• ISDN Association (establ. In 1998)

• API (Association of Internet Access Providers) a non-profit organization was founded in April 1999. API represents Internet service providers in the area of creation of conditions for Internet service development in the Slovak Republic.

• The Voluntary Interest Associations also play an important role in spreading and propagation of expert knowledge and possibilities of new services in the user environment.

Slovenia

 

In Slovenia, we can mention:

• The Slovene Information Technology Association of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia where a new Executive Committee has been elected. The new president is Mr Franci Mugerle, the CEO of the IT company MAOP. The Executive Committee prepared a draft of the working plan for the next year and put promotion of Information Society at the top of their agenda.

• The Slovenian Society INFORMATIKA is a non-profit society of individuals who work in various areas of information technology and information sciences -- in business, universities, and administration.

• Information Society Forum: The main goal of Information Society Forum is to promote development of information society in Slovenia. Main activities are based on "Blue book – information society in Slovenia", published by Slovenien Society INFORMATIKA. It is chaired by Mr Niko Schlamberger.