Update October 1999: Bulgaria

The development of Information Society is a priority policy and strategic national goal in Bulgaria. The Bulgarian Parliament has adopted a number of Laws regulating: the liberalisation and free market in the sectors of telecommunications and radio and TV services; the loyal competition and non-discriminatory treatment of operators; the provision of universal services; other necessary legal conditions for securing the free market for services and the rights of citizens.

The Government has set a Special central body, the Co-ordination Council on Information Society at the Council of Ministers, to develop and facilitate the implementation of National Strategy and National Programme for Development of Information Society. The following ministries and state agencies participate in the Co-ordination Council:

• Ministry of Regional Development and Urban Planning
• Ministry of State Administration
• Committee of Posts and Telecommunications
• Ministry of Finances
• Ministry of Education and Science
• Ministry of Industry
• Ministry of Agriculture, Forests and Agrarian Reform
• Ministry of Environment and Waters
• Ministry of Trade and Tourism
• Ministry of Justice and Legal Euro-integration
• Ministry of Culture
• Ministry of Transport
• National Centre of Health Information
• Ministry of Labour and Social Policy
• Ministry of Defence
• Headquarters of Bulgarian Army
• Committee of Standardisation and Metrology
• National Institute for Statistics

Many educational institutions and non-governmental organisations are also involved in promoting IS development in the country by organising conferences, exhibitions, seminars and other activities.

A comprehensive National Strategy and National Programme for IS development were approved by the Bulgarian Government on 7^th October 1999.

Government ministries, state agencies, educational institutions and many non-state and private organisations are preparing and implementing their own action plans for the development of IS in the sectors of their activities. The Co-ordination Council on IS and the Committee of Posts and Telecommunications, jointly with several non-governmental organisations have organised a major national event for promoting IS during the European Philatelic Exhibition "Bulgaria’99". A seminar on "Information Society in Bulgaria" was held during the event. The start of the ESIS II programme in Bulgaria and the ESIS II prizes for best IS projects were announced at the seminar.

The Committee of Posts and Telecommunications organised a seminar on "Needs for registration and licensing of providers of Internet services" in September 1999. The seminar received a wide coverage in the national media reflecting the heated public discussion on the topic.

In September the National Centre of Distance Education organised a Final National Seminar of the Phare Multi-Country Programme for Distance Education. One of the main achievements of the Phare Programme (1995-1999) was the establishment of a strong national open and distance learning network. The network, comprising 4 regional and 16 support centres, all equipped with up-to-date ICT equipment, is part of an international Phare ODL network in eleven countries in Central and Eastern Europe. One of the principal tasks of the NCDE network is to implement IS technology in the education sector.

The Ministry of Education and Science is implementing an extensive programme for improving the Internet access in Bulgarian higher education institutions. The programme receives a great public support. During the period July – September 1999 four Bulgarian universities have upgraded their ICT infrastructure and Internet access.