February 2001

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

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

The following document summarises development which occurred during the year 2000 in the field of IS promotional activities (conferences, seminars, forums, IS national and regional strategies…) in Central and Eastern European countries.

Examples of the main IS promotional activities that occurred within the months October – December are detailed below. You can find more details in the ESIS Knowledge Base.

This synthesis is divided into 7 chapters:

• 1st chapter describes the Governmental activities supporting the development of IS.

• 2nd chapter tackled IS national and regional strategies within all analysed countries.

• 3rd chapter gives an quickly overview of non-governmental organisations and their activities supporting the IS development.

• 4th chapter summarises all IS promotional activities within the educational sector.

• 5th chapter describes all IS activities promoting e-commerce in concerned countries.

• 6th chapter gives an overview of main conferences, workshops and seminars that happened during the year 2000 in the field of IS development.

• 7th chapter mentions other promotional activities which contributed to the development of Information Society in Central and Eastern European countries.

Albania: 

Albania is characterised by a unstable political situation. This political situation has negatively affect the implementation of Information Policies, as well as the development of Promotional Activities in this field. However the year 2000 has been successful especially in terms of privatisation of strategic sectors, starting with privatisation of Albanian Mobile Communication Company. 85% of shares were bought by Cosmote-Telenor. The privatisation process was completed by the end of July 2000. Albania is expected to have the second mobile operator active on March 2001.

Czech Republic:

Based on the initiatives of the Czech government following decisions, measures and activities took place:

• Establishing of new Public Information Systems Office on 23 of October 2000;

• Approval of the Electronic Signature Bill on June 2000. The Czech Republic became the first country of the Central and Eastern Europe to have this law formally in power, however, in practical terms, the effectiveness of the law has been postponed until mid-2001;

• Start of a new governmental activity: "Realisation of involving of the private sector in the state information policy", through which the Government of the Czech Republic turns to the private sector with invitation for active co-operation in support of development of the Information Society in the Czech Republic;

• Licenses for the wireless FWA network were accorded to Broadnet, GiTy/ STAR ONE and Nextra;

• Preparation for sale of licenses for operating of UMTS mobile telecommunication networks

Hungary:

Following changes happened in Hungary during the period of ESIS II:

• Establishment of Government Commissionership for Information Technology, on June 2000. Major duties of this Commissionership are:

  • Planning and enforcement of government duties necessary for the integration of citizens in the IS;

  • Creation of the appropriate conditions for the penetration fo electronic commerce ;

  • Development of propositions concerning the application of new technologies and methods by the government ;

  • Representation of Hungarian interests in the issue of information society on international level, with special attention to the European Union ;

• Within the framework of National Information Infrastructure Development Programme considerable changes have occurred:

  • Increase of the number of Internet hosts (120 000 by the middle of 2000);

  • 40 long-distance connections have been operating at the end of 2000;

  • Connection to the QUANTUM’s TEN-155 network with 155 Mbps European and 65 Mbps overseas connectivity;

• Following projects were launched by the Government in order to establish the system of electronic government:

  • Document management system;

  • Digital Map database;

  • One-window administration to allow citizens to conduct all their affairs at one place including tax paying or applying for a passport…;

  • Electronic signature;

Lithuania:

Following activities have been promoted by the Lithuanian’s government:

• Concept of E-government, to provide easy and fast access to government information sources;

• Lithuanian Information Society Development strategy. One of the strategic programme directions is development of science, education, language and culture in IS;

• computerisation of Lithuanian schools and connection of Lithuanian schools to the single educational network until 2003;

Establishment of special "Sunrise Committee" for the promotion of business. The government plans to allocate over 398 M EURO in the year 2000- 2002 for IT projects. The most important IT projects are:

• Lithuanian Education Information System;

• Development of state institutions Computer Network VIKT ;

• Establishment of Electronic Signature Infrastructure;

• Development of IS for Administration of Regions;

• Lithuanian Libraries Integral IS;

• Customs IS;

• State Border Control IS;

Macedonia:

As the strongest trend of the IS development is « enabling and offering of telecommunication services », a considerable par of the promotional activities has been focused within the telecommunication sector. Following the same trend, the focus of promotion has also been around the governmental bodies in charge of the corresponding regulative framework. Please, refer to: www.mt.com.mk for more details.

The privatisation of the publicly owned national operator has been completed.

The Macedonian Broadcasting Council has shown high IS awareness, being very active in adopting and modernising the broadcasting regulation, as well as promoting the globalisation of services and emerging digital broadcasting technologies;

Poland:

Resolution of Polish Parliament on Building Basis for IS, passed on July 2000. It includes:

• Universal access to Internet;

• Computer education for youths;

• Long-live computer education;

• IST in central, regional and local administration;

• Defence and security issues;

• Information systems for research and university centres;

PIONIER – "Polish Optical Internet – Advanced applications, Services and Technologies for Information. A new project launched for 2001 – 2005 will ensure wide access to the Internet and its services for education sector, create a national infrastructure of a broad-band government and self-government administration network.

Romania:

Two research programmes approved by Romanian Government in November 2000, were launched:

• "New materials, technologies and microsystems for quality of life and environment";

• "Micro and nanotechnologies for competitively and sustainable growth";

More information can be had at http://www.imt.ro/.

Slovakia:

• During the 1998 – 2000 period a governmental grant "Telecommunication Infrastructure Support for Transformation to Multimedia Services of the Information Society" has been realised by the Research Institute of the Posts and Telecommunications;

• Draft law on Electronic Signature was submitted to the Parliament during the December 2000;

• The Government of Slovakia is currently preparing a National Strategy on Information Society;

Albania: 

• Big investments have been attributed to the telecommunication field more precisely in the:

• Inauguration of the extension of existing telecoms central which doubled the capacity of transit telephonic central for urban and interurban links. This extension will creates the possibilities for interconnections in the liberalised market;

• Launching of "Alba Post", in December 1999. Alba Post is the only postal company which is seeking access in new postal services. The main objectives of Alba Post are to computerise the postal services and to establish a Post Bank;

• Renewal of existing depreciated technology by new phone numbers assigned by Alcatel;

• Installation of new telephone centrals contracted between the incumbent operator Albtelecom and Siemens. Over 50 000 lines were installed. Thus 1000 ISDN lines with a 64 KB/s transmission speed;

• Setting of the conventional lines between communes. In the first year 34% of communes were installed by lines;

• Installation of Back Bone Internet network, which has been competed in July 2000 . Albtelecom got the license as a national ISP;

• Establishment of training centres for librarians by the Ministry of Culture in co-operation with the SOROS Foundation. This centres aim to train librarians on how they can integrate the library with the current technological advancement;

Bosnia and Herzegovina:

The Tuzla Canton Information Network – an initiative developed by the Ministry of Reconstruction, Entreprise and Development. The special database aiming to supply information on several areas of the region in the field of agriculture, tourism and mining and chemical industries has been set up;

Estonia:

• Tiger Tour – events at local level introducing Internet, computers and IT as means to improve education. The tour covered 8 Estonian cities;

• E-Tartu – programme initiated by Tartu City Government, which aim was to elaborate the IS projects;

Latvia: 

Of the main activities that occurred during the period ESIS II these can be mentioned:

• National Programme "Informatics" has been elaborated and approved by the Cabinet of Ministers as a complex programme for 1999 – 2005. Its up date "Informatics 2000" paid special attention to the:

  • Priority significance of the informatics as a branch of the national economy to increase the GDP;

  • Training of the skilled IT specialists including training of specialists of the highest academic and professional level;

• "Socio-Economic Programme eLatvia" was develop also during this period. The essence of the "eLatvia" programme is:

  • Encourage formation, spread and introduction in Latvia the basic conditions and processes of the New Economy;

  • Create opportunities for every citizen and business to take full part in the processes of the New Economy;

  • Promote the increase of welfare’s level of every person, to encourage civil harmony in the country, the economic and social cohesion;

• "Concept of National Integrated Library Information Network" has been elaborated. The aim is to realise principles of knowledge management on the state scale:

  • Libraries should become the main providers of all types of information;

  • Any library should be possible to provide full set of advanced information services to the users;

  • "Concept for increasing quality of Information Services provided by public bodies" which encompasses key principles for development of types of information services (communication services, information services related to the activities of the public body, transaction services for distance contacts with the public body);

  • "Concept of national ID cards" which identifies Latvia’s private persons, that corresponds to principles of the European Union;

Macedonia: 

An important emerging sector supported by several promotional activities was that of networks of local authorities. Promoting the thematic networking among them, employing ICT services with the aim to facilitate further municipality development.

• Project SEEMUNIS – South – East Europe Municipality Infrastructure

Bosnia and Herzegovina:

The World University Service Austria established in February/ March 2000 the "Centre of Excellent Projects" as a cradle for new initiatives. Out of twelve approved projects, six are connected to Telemedecine, Laboratory of Computer technology, Laboratory for CAD/CAM technologies, Computer supported mine and coal areas modelling and Laboratory for Digital Systems and Signals;

ZIRA is one of the leading companies in the field of software engineering. They received the certificate ISO 9001 and announces readiness for helping to build the information systems and provide professional training;

Czech Republic: 

While the state authorities of the Czech Republic showed increased practical support of development of the Information Society, only in the second half of 2000, the branch-focused organisations and professional unions (such as Chamber of Commerce, Union of Publishers, Industry and Transport Union) gradually started to establish specialised sections, which have contributed to the development of IS in the Czech Republic. Some of them are mentioned below:

• Establishment of a new alternative Association for Internet Advertising on August 2000;

• The civil association "March the Internet Month" started developing its activities during the last months of 2000. The framework of its activities is organising of conferences, seminars with the goal of supporting development of the IS all over the country;

Estonia:

• International organisation "Business Software Alliance" has become active in fighting against widely spread software piracy. BSA has organised training for police officials, educated computer users through media;

• Tiger Leap Foundation played a significant role in IS development, by organising promotional activities such as conferences and seminars;

• Association of Estonian Information Technology and Telecommunication Companies was established in March 2000;

Lithuania: 

• The Lithuanian Computer Society and INFOBALT, Association of the largest IT companies are the most active in promoting IS;

Albania:

• Installation of Intranet in the directories of the Ministry of Education and Science. The Intranet is planned to by extended to universities in Albania;

Bosnia and Herzegovina:

World University Service Austria launched two interesting projects within the educational sector:

• Support for University Network (SUN) with the aim to provide technical and material support for faculties to connect to university computer network with the necessary equipment provided by this association;

• Support to Small Projects (SSP) with the mail goal to promote the practical implementation of students’ projects. The programme covers such activities as improvements of databases in university libraries, consultations, internet educational seminar and others;

Czech Republic:

• Approval of the Concept of the State Information Policy in Education, which expects every single school in the Czech Republic to be connected to the Internet until the end of 2001;

Estonia:

• During the year 2000, the Estonian Government established the Estonian Information Technology Foundation, the goal of which is the establishment of the Information Technology College;

Hungary:

• In the framework of "SchoolNet programme" all primary schools are expected to get Internet connection by the end of 2002;

• UNIWORLD Virtual Academy, builds a virtual co-operation network with the participation of Hungarian and foreign educational institutions. The project attempts to improve the efficiency of Hungarian higher education and pays a special attention to the rural areas;

• The country first’s Internet teleteaching center has been established. Due to this center and affordable course charges everyone can take part in any of the 20 courses in the five categories from foreign languages, European studies, marketing and rules of conduct to programming languages;

Macedonia:

• Establishment of national bodies for co-ordination of the implementation of the study centres;

• Promotion of TEMPUS Joint European Project - Establishment of a National Contact Point for Open and Distance Learning in Macedonia;

Poland:

• Project called "Internet classrooms in Each High School" has been established. During April 1999 and September 2000, over 3200 high schools have been equipped with computer classrooms providing Internet access;

• New project "E-School" presented in November 2000 is aimed to provide Internet access in all Polish schools before year 2005;

• Project called Interkl@sa has been implemented by the Ministry of National Education, the Parliamentary Commission for Education, Science and Youth, Non-governmental bodies and private companies;

Bosnia and Herzegovina:

• Internet Shopping Centre opened in February 2000. Over 100 companies already offered their products via Internet;

• Inter-Tec Tuzla offered a free-of-charge on-line legal service on the Internet. Users can put their questions via e-mails. Experts from various legal and juridical areas provide answers, advises and suggestions;

• Started from March 2000, an on-line bookstore (Interliber) offers titles written in Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian languages with subjects varying from all literature areas. Interliber decided to connect the increasing popularity of the Internet with popularity of books. It seems, that this on-line bookstore is an excellent opportunity for local publishers to grow their businesses;

Czech Republic:

• "Draft of the basic measures for supporting of the e-commerce", approved by the Governmental Decree for the January 2000;

• Association for Electronic Commerce and Centre for Electronic Commerce have been carrying out the project of certifying of electronic shops, handle the co-operation of individuals and companies;

• One of the most important activity of Centre for Electronic Commerce was the distribution of information concerning the financing of projects supporting the Information Society;

Macedonia:

• "e-Macedonia for All" – a project under a direct sponsorship of the Macedonian President. The major objective of the initiative was to speedup the activities of transition of the country to Information Society and Networked Economy;

Albania:

• The Telecommunications Regulatory Entity organised a seminar on ISPs in Albania. The seminar aimed to gather all the experts of telecommunications field such as ISPs, Albtelecom users and others to discuss the technical issues in developing ISP;

• Seminar on E-commerce organised by the Ministry of Trade with co-operation with the Union of Chambers of Commerce and some private companies;

Bosnia and Herzegovina:

Following activities contributed to the increase of awareness of IS in Bosnia and Herzegovina:

• Broadcasting, Multimedia and Telecommunications Forum held in Sarajevo in June 2000. The Forum presented showcases of broadcasting, multimedia and telecommunications technologies, supported by seminars and discussions on these subjects;

• International conference on Copyrights was held in Sarajevo in May 2000. The main topics were:

  • Protection of human rights;

  • Government of rights;

  • Market economy;

  • Taxation;

Czech Republic:

• Trade fair – INVEX COMPUTER, which took place on October 2000. During this fair a conference "Information for the 21^st century" was held;

• Regular informal meetings "First Tuesday" of prospective investors , entrepreneurs and other individuals, focused on various aspects of the issue establishing and financing of new companies of the New Economy;

• Seminar called "E-commerce 2000 – the current state and the future" was held during the International Engineering Fair in Brno on September 2000;

Estonia:

• Forum "From Visions to Solutions" on the information technology;

• Conference "New Media and Business" which took place on June 2000 in Tallin. Main subjects of this conference were:

  • Relations between media and information technologies;

  • Electronic and mobile business opportunities;

• Telecommunication fair – Contact 2000 oriented mainly to specialists on telecommunication technology;

• High level conference – "Genes, Nation and Money" took place in Tartu on September 2000. Topics related to gene technology development in Estonia;

• International conference on Baltic registers – Regno 2000. It dealt with management of state database systems and development trends in the Baltic region;

• International contact fair – Technology 2000, organised by Tallin Technical University and Foundation TTU Innovation Centre. The purpose of the conference was to introduce the achievements of the Estonian R&D and to built contacts between science and industry;

• International regular meetings – "First Tuesday" with the aim to find contacts and to discuss possible investments to the IT sector;

Latvia:

• Annual International conference "Baltic IT&T". The conference was focusing on E-business, on the convergence of various kinds of communications, on Internet training and effects of IS on individuals;

• Annual Baltic Sea Communications Forum which tacked following issues:

  • Role of telecommunications and IT for the further development of the Baltic states;

  • Last achievements of the communications technologies;

  • Advanced telecommunications technologies and their utilisation;

• Annual national exposition "LatSTE" which goal was to promote integration of advanced IT in the educational process by:

  • Involving a wide audience of participants (teachers, pupils…);

  • Using different forms of work (exhibitions, plenary meetings, workshops…);

Lithuania:

Main events dedicated to the IS were:

• INFORMATION SOCIETY 2000, goals of which were to display the importance of IT, Telecoms and mass media forming the IS;

• International conference – "Jump into the new E-economy", which took place in Vilnius, October 2000. The main topics were:

  • Development Policy and Future vision of the IS;

  • Development of New E-Economy;

  • Development of Knowledge and Knowledge-Based Society;

  • IS and law;

  • Life Style of the IS;

• International Trade Fair of IS Technologies on October 2000 with the aim to introduce the most recent information technologies;

• Annual conference "Information Technologies 2000". The participants discussed urgent tasks for Lithuanian science and industry, readiness of Lithuania’s integration to the EU…;

Poland: 

Numerous conferences and exhibitions, both international and nation-wide, dedicated to computer science, telecommunications and the promotion of IS were organised :

• Computer Expo 2000 – an international fair on computer software and hardware;

• INFOBAZY "Databases for Science" – a biannual nation-wide conference aimed to promote the achievements in design and dissemination of databases for research and development;

• "Information Society: Accelerating European Integration" – a ministerial conference organised in May 2000. The main subject of the conference was the significance of the IS as a factor in acceleration and facilitating European integration;

• "Information Society Problems in Provincial Development Strategies" in January 2000. This first conference which allowed the discussions on provincial development strategies in different regions in Poland;

Romania: 

Main events having played a major role in the process of IS development:

• Conference on "New modern technologies and their impact on education and training in the South Eastern Europe", organised by the Ministry of Education in December 2000. The conference tackled:

  • The challenges of the new technologies for education and training;

  • Employability, new qualifications and labour market development;

  • New learning forms and modes from the perspective of lifelong learning, school and classroom management;

  • Citizenship education;

  • Special actions for vulnerable individuals and groups as regards both schooling and employment process;

• Forum on Electronic Business in Romania and South East Europe, held on October 2000 and organised by Romanian Foreign Trade Centre. The objectives of the forum were:

  • Promote the development of the Internet and electronic commerce in transition economies;

  • Review the Internet infrastructure and prospects for electronic commerce;

  • Consider the potential of electronic commerce for small and medium-sized enterprises;

  • Identify the needs for capacity building;

• Annual International Fair for Information Technology and Office Organisation, in October 2000;

• Information Society Projects in ESIS II – Romania, organised in December 2000. The seminar was focused on major IS projects:

  • Informatisation of Finance Ministry, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of National Education, Romanian Customs Administration;

  • E-commerce projects (SoftNet, Compaq Romania);

Slovakia:

• INFOSEM 2000 – an international seminar on IS development which took place on November 2000. The major topics discussed at the seminar were:

  • IS Development – present status and perspectives;

  • IS in the state administration;

  • E-business;

  • Use of progressive IT in the 2000 population census in the Slovak Republic;

Albania:

• Publication of the Directory of export-import enterprises by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Tirana. The directory gathered the information regarding businesses operating in Tirana region;

Czech Republic:

• A great media attention in December 2000 has been attracted by a statement of the Czech Press Agency, according to which the number of mobile phones should reach the total penetration of 40% (i.e. 10% more than six months ago);

• Electronic Commerce development research published results according to which the turnover of the researched group of the Czech Internet shops increased by 497% year-to-year in the second half of 2000;

Estonia:

One of the project increasing general awareness of IT was Radio and TV programme "Tehnokratt", the most popular broadcast about information technology;

Slovakia:

At the beginning of October 2000, Nextra, a subsidiary of Norway’s Telenor finalised the acquisition of an eastern region Slovakian ISP – Vadium. The Slovakian market is consolidating;