Overview July 1999: Slovenia

1. Organisational Awareness Aspects of Information Society

Slovenia has been active in the promotion and development of the Information Society since early nineties. It belongs to a group of small countries that have successfully developed the infrastructure for the Information Society. The Government has been devoted to fostering the usage of information technology, yet its promotional activities for the Information Society continue to be rather fragmented. Although the Government has not adopted any umbrella policy on the Information Society, it has promoted its development through various activities. There are several ministries and departments within the Government working on the promotion and development of the Information Society, two most important of them being the Ministry of Science and Technology and Ministry of Education and Sport.

The Ministry of Science and Technology organised a number of international events with the aim of promoting the Information Society. In 1994, the Ministry in co-operation with the Commission of the European Union, DG III, organised the International Ministerial Conference on Information Infrastructure and Technology Diffusion in Central European Countries (6-7 September 1994, Bled, Slovenia). The main orientation for the Conference was given by the members of the High-Level Group on the Information Society headed by the Commissioner Dr. Martin Bangemann who also participated the event. Participants of the Conference adopted Conclusions and a separate Declaration on the Information Society.

The Ministry of Science and Technology has organised or been involved in the organisation of various other international or national events, e.g. CEEC/EU Panel on Co-operation in R&D (7-8 March 1996, Bled, Slovenia), European Information Society Awareness Week - Information Society as a Challenge - How Business is Preparing to Respond (17 September 1996, Ljubljana, Slovenia). It has also played an important role within the CEEC/EU Forum on Information Society. The Ministry has been actively involved in promoting and shaping the Information Society in Slovenia by financing the Academic and Research Network of Slovenia and Institute of Information Science as well as various research and development programmes, conferences, workshops, seminars and publications related to the Information Society. It has also co-financed the development of on-line libraries.

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 as well as increasing the efficiency in schools, particularly in primary and secondary ones. The Ministry has financed various events that also promote the Information Society, amongst them, e.g. an annual conference the Open Days of Slovene Education.

Other powerful ministries in terms of the Information Society activities are, e.g. the Ministry of Culture that fosters and (co-)finances the development of on-line libraries and on-line presentations of galleries, museums and other cultural institutions, and the Ministry of Health by promoting the informatisation of the healthcare sector.

2. IS national/ regional strategies and action plans

Ministries initiated and drafted some sectorial national programmes related to certain aspects of the Information Society:

• A Proposal of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia of the National Information Infrastructure Strategy, drafted by the Ministry of Science and Technology in January 1996 but has not been adopted by the Government;
• A National Programme for the Development of Telecommunications, drafted and co-ordinated by the Ministry of Transport and Communications. It has already been adopted by the Government and passed to the National Assembly for adoption;
• A National Programme of Medical Informatics, being drafted by the Ministry of Health.

In order to foster the informatisation of the Government or some particular sectors, experts group have also been established, e.g. the Government of the Republic of Slovenia Council for the use of information technology in state bodies and public institutions, as well as in other organisations performing public functions that is a governmental advisory body on information technology.

Non-governmental bodies have also started to develop initiatives aimed at stimulating the development of the Information Society:

• The Executive Committee of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia established the Informatics Committee that initiated different studies on information and communication technologies. It also prepared Chamber’s Position Paper on the Informatisation of Slovenia in 1997. The Position Paper was later presented at the Information Society ’98 Multi-Conference and published in a book with the same title (see below);
• A group of six Slovene companies known as G6 initiated the Technological Initiative ’98. It was presented at the 11^th Electronic Commerce Conference at Bled, Slovenia, in June 1998, and at the Information Society ’98 Multi-Conference and published in a book with the same title (see below);
• In addition to public finances, the Open Society Institute – Slovenia aims at supporting and funding institutions of open society, and in particular various educational and cultural projects in the field of Information Society.

Despite a relatively high level of the Information Society development in Slovenia, it is interesting that the term "the Information Society" has not yet come into common use neither in the governmental nor other sectors. Other descriptors are still frequently used, expressing preoccupation with technological rather than societal aspects of information. This can also be revealed by analysing various events that often emphasise technological or application issues.

Apart from the events mentioned above, Slovenia has been hosting a number of the Information Society related conferences, workshops and seminars. Amongst them, there are some renowned annual international conferences, e.g. Electronic Commerce Conference, that bring together experts, scientists and businessman from all over the world.

There are some important annual national events that significantly rise awareness of the Information Society within various target groups, for example:

• Competitive Advantage Improvement Through Electronic Commerce (a seminar),
• Open Days of Slovene Education (a seminar),
• Meeting for Chief Information Officers (a seminar),
• INFOS (a seminar and fair),
• VITEL (a workshop taking place twice a year),
• Internet in Slovenia (a seminar),
• Information Society Multi-Conference (a conference),
• Days of Slovene Informatics (a conference).

There have been some benchmark studies, market analyses carried out and strategies prepared:

• Research on Internet in Slovenia – RIS ‘96, ‘97, ’98, by the University of Ljubljana – Faculty of Social Sciences;
• Strategy of Efficient Customer Response, by EAN Slovenia;
• National Information Infrastructure for Business Sector – Foundations of National Strategy, prepared by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia and financed by the Ministry of Economic Affairs;
• Comparative Analysis of Leased Lines Markets and Leased Lines Tariffs Comparison, two studies by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia aiming at the analysis of core infrastructure for the development of the Information Society applications and electronic commerce;
• Y2K – Analysis of the Situation in Slovene Companies, by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia.

Also, a few books have been published:

• Electronic Commerce, by Zalozba Atlantis (a book concentrates on juridical aspects of e-commerce);
• Internet in Slovenia, by the University of Ljubljana – Faculty of Social Sciences;
• The European Market of Telecommunications Services by the University of Maribor;
• Information Society 1998, by the Jozef Stefan Institute (a book contains selected articles of the conference Information Society 1998).*