“The European Commission’s “i2010” programme is an indispensable initiative for making it easier for all European citizens to take part in the Information Society. We want to make the Internet accessible to as many of the Union’s citizens as possible. The Internet should be a technology for everybody. That is why we in the public sector in particular should endeavour to make all applications user-friendly and to offer electronic communication for trnasactions with the authorities quickly and unbureaucratically”, said Secretary of State Franz Morak, speaking today, Friday, at a joint press conference with Viviane Reding, the EU’s Information Society and Media Commissioner. The reason for this press conference was the conference held today in Vienna entitled “e-Government for all Europeans”. This theme had already been the main focus yesterday at the conference “Trust in the Net”.
“The information, communication and media industry is one of the strongest growing sectors of the economy. Between 2000 and 2003 alone, the rate of growth in the ICT sector contributed in excess of 25% to Europe’s growth in productivity. Broadband as a tool for transporting information and services is the highway of the future. As President of the EU Council, Austria is therefore actively supporting the European Commission in implementing the i2010 Strategy”, Morak said.
He emphasised that the development of European identity management should be viewed as a “magic triangle”. It involves “finding the right balance between technical possibilities, what is politically and socially desirable and acceptance by the population”. The Secretary of State cited the Austrian “e-card”,“help.gv.at” and “A1 Signature” projects and the project undertaken by the town of Graz for on-line applications for disability identity cards, all of which were presented at the press conference, as examples of successful implementation. According to Morak, all these examples demonstrate the additional benefits afforded by the ATM card, the e-Card and the A1 signature.
“How we communicate with one another is a cultural and political topic. The themes of digitalisation and the information society are too important to be entrusted solely to engineers and technicians. In the future, we also have to drive forward awareness in all professions of the opportunities afforded by this new technology. According to the Secretary of State, “it is up to politicians here to eliminate fear and provide security”.
Commissioner Reding emphasised Austria’s role in the “European project” and praised Austria’s “exemplary initiatives” regarding an information society for all, saying it was necessary to put trust in e-Government on the political agenda and hurry along the timetable for electronic identification across Europe, along with the authentication of electronic documents. “For me, the promotion of technology, for example, in the areas of e-health, human rights and democracy is work for the benefit of citizens. Both citizens and companies require reliable and trustworthy government services," emphasised Reding. Commissioner Reding announced the start of an initiative, “Access for all”, in the spring of this year together with her colleagues, Neeli Kroes, the Competition Commissioner, Mariann Fischer Boel, the Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, and Danuta Hübner, the Commissioner for Regional Policy.
Mrs Reding then emphasised that both she and the Austrian Presidency are also very concerned with the issue of content and pointed to the “Film Online” CEO conference on 20 and 21 February in Vienna and to the conference entitled “Content for Competitiveness” taking place in Vienna at the beginning of March, at the initiative of the Austrian Presidency. “This concerns precisely the issue of the integrative information society and the implementation of the i2010 Strategy,” concluded Mrs Reding.
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