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EC criticises member states on ICT plans

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  • 22-05-2006 9:36am
    #1
    bealtine
    Registered Users Posts: 4,051 ✭✭✭


    The European Commission has published its first annual progress report on i2010 – the digital economy part of the EU's revised "Lisbon" strategy for growth and jobs. To get the full benefits from information and communication technologies (ICT), EU member states need more ambitious plans to exploit them, says the Commission. "Europe's policies for the digital economy have made some progress, but I do not think that this is good enough" said Viviane Reding, EU Commissioner Information Society and Media. To help get growth back on track, member states need to step up their efforts to improve access to broadband internet connections, facilitate the EU-wide circulation of digital content, free up radio spectrum for new applications, integrate research and innovation and modernise public services. Economic growth in the EU improved in 2005 and is forecast to be around 2 percent in 2006. But this is still well below the annual GDP growth of 2.7 percent in the US in 2000-2005. Nevertheless, the ICT sector has continued to achieve above-average growth and is still the EU's most innovative and research intensive sector, standing for 25 percent of the total EU research effort and 5.6 percent of the GDP between 2000 and 2003. ICT also generated at least 45 percent of EU productivity gains in 2000-2004.


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