During the past two years, the Information Society Project Office (ISPO) of the
European Commission has been running a survey of European Information Society projects and
actions throughout the European Union Member States. This initiative acts as a decision
support system for the implementation of Information Society initiatives and actions and
is called ESIS I.
Encouraged by the experience of ESIS I and within the
efforts to strengthen the co-operation and the links of the European Union with its
neighbours, it has been decided to extend the ESIS survey to a number of Central and East
European (CEEC) and Mediterranean countries. This project is called ESIS II and has been
launched in March 1999 for an initial duration of two years.
During the Survey several reports will be produced
describing Information Society developments in relevant countries. There will be also
comprehensive database established.
Over a period of two years ESIS II will:
- set up an inventory of IS projects and a who's who in order
to obtain a vision of present and planned projects in the Mediterranean and CEEC
countries;
- produce reports on several aspects of the IS developments at
the national and interregional levels;
- promote ESIS II at national and interregional level.
The contractor for implementing Estonian Survey of
Information Society is ARCHIMEDES Foundation and it is
working in close co-operation with Estonian
State Chancellery.
In December 1994, the European
Commission established the Information Society
Project Office (ISPO) - a joint unit of DG III and DG XIII - to provide a single
user-friendly interface to those who are taking initiatives that contribute to the
development of the Information Society in Europe. Through ISPO, the Commission has been
providing information on relevant actions, bringing together actors from different
sectors, as well as facilitating the optimal use of the various instruments available in
the European Union for promotion of Information Society.
The priorities of ISPO include the ESIS (European Survey of Information Society
Projects and Actions) initiative which has been running since January 1997 and has been
providing detailed information on Information Society developments in the Member States.
The primary objective of the survey is to provide an overview on the current projects and
developments in Information Society in the Union i.e. to build an Inventory of projects as
well as to assemble European data concerning promotional activities undertaken by public
authorities and private and actors, be they European, national, regional or local. Other
aims were to monitor and to analyse new regulatory developments in the field of
telecommunications and Information Society, as well as to present a mapping of the actors,
notably the public or private network facilities offering Information Society
infrastructure, services and applications.
The ESIS survey has progressed rapidly and it now offers:
- the opportunity to keep up-to-date on regulations aiming at
a unified market ;
- the opportunity for all public and private actors of a
Member-State to compare their actions and projects with those of their European
counterparts ;
- the improvement of information and knowledge transfers ;
- the encouragement of partnerships on different levels
(regional, national, European) ;
- a better perception of the development of the European
Information Society and the possibility to select action priorities ;
- a promoting tool of the Information Society.
The First ESIS conference, which took place in March 1998
in Brussels, has had a great success with more than 550 participants from 35 countries
attending. Findings were presented as well as the first publication of the ESIS database
on the Web site.
Due to this success and following several requests, it has
been decided to extend ESIS to the CEEC and Mediterranean countries.
In fact, during the 3rd EU/CEECs Information Society Forum
that took place in Brussels on the 9-10th of October 1997, it was decided to
"fund the extension of the European Survey on the
Information Society to CEECs and, in particular, to identify and analyse regional
disparities in terms of basic telecommunications services, information infrastructures and
applications."
Also, during the Euro-Med Net 98 Conference which took
place in Cyprus on the 4-7th of March 1998 it was decided to
"support the participation of Mediterranean
countries in the European Survey of Information Society (ESIS) through the extension of
the project to the Mediterranean countries".
Encouraged by the experience of ESIS I and within the
efforts to strengthen the co-operation and the links of the European Union with its
neighbours, it has been decided to extend the ESIS survey to a number of Central and East
European (CEEC) and Mediterranean countries. This project is called ESIS II and has been
launched in March 1999 for an initial duration of two years.
The following CEEC and Mediterranean countries are covered
with ESIS II:
