Liberal Democrat Member of the European
Parliament for Yorkshire and the Humber
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Diana Wallis Liberal Democrat Member of the European Parliament for Yorkshire and the Humber |
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| Speech delivered by Diana Wallis MEP at a seminar in the Euroepean Parliament on the The Regional Implications of Broadband Policy, 3rd of April 2003 04/04/2003 |
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Thank you for inviting me here today to speak about the Regional Implications of Broadband Policy.
I want to make preliminary remarks about the information society in which we now live and about regions and regionalism in general. We live in remarkable and challenging times. You will all know the story about how many Internet connections there were when Clinton came into the White House, they numbered hundreds and when he left - well! Every invention changes the human environment but non-so fundamentally as those that change the way we read and transmit information. We only have to think of the way in which Guttenberg's invention of the printing press changed our continent and world. The availability of books, the increase in literacy, growth in science and technology, displacement of Latin as main language, collapse of the heirachichal society, as new sense of time with the printing of daily date bearing news-sheets. The implications were immense - we cannot yet see the implications of the information society that we are living through and its ramifications for society may not even be clear in our life times. Against this amazing backdrop we are also witnessing fundamental changes in the way we organise our governance in Europe, although it might upset some people the nation state no longer occupies the main position, much now happens here at European level - and in terms of a technology that crosses national boundaries that is of course even more the case. At the other end of the scale we see a rise in the importance of regions, an importance likely to be further recognised by the Convention on the Future of Europe, in my own country suddenly regionalism is fashionable, my own region Yorkshire may soon be given the chance to have its own devolved assembly. I make these points because I think it is important to recognise the big picture in which we as policy makers, and politicians work. It is clear to me, in my own region from lobbying, visits and letters I have received that the extension of the information society through the availability of broadband infrastructure is one of the key factors in increasing, not only the economic performance of my region but also many others of our citizens' lives, in education, health, culture, involvement in decision-making, the list is endless. In fact, I would go so far as to say that the development of broadband infrastructure is one of a number of important elements moving our whole society forward. And I feel certain that those of you present here today would all agree with me that what I have just said would be true not just for my constituency, but also true for all the regions of Europe. The first question for me, however, as a European Parliamentarian, is two-fold. Namely, what from a European Parliament perspective is being done, and can be done, to develop broadband policy? Secondly, how does this benefit my constituency? And, furthermore, as a Liberal Democrat I am interested to see how broadband technology can empower our citizens and provide direct democracy initiatives such as a e-governance. Concerning legislative developments relating to broadband, the Commission recently submitted to Parliament a proposal for a Decision to adopt a multi-annual programme, from 2003-2005, for the monitoring of the eEurope 2005 Action Plan. The Commission's proposal is that a financial support programme be adopted to accompany national efforts for the transformation of Europe into a knowledge-based economy. The duration of the programme is 3 years (2003-2005) with a budget of €25m. This programme will contribute substantially to the Lisbon strategy and has a number of objectives, the most salient features being: (i) to support efforts made by Member States in the framework of eEurope at national or regional level by analysis of eEurope specific good practices, ii) to analyse the economic and societal consequences of the Information Society with a view to appropriate policy responses, particularly in terms of industrial competitiveness and cohesion, iii) to enhance national and European efforts for improving network and information security and to foster the development of broadband rollout. The European Parliament supported this Commission Proposal through committee stage and in Plenary, where the report was adopted subject to a number of amendments, which were tabled by Parliament. Amendments to ensure that the proposal specified that the economic and societal consequences of the Information Society must be analysed not only in terms of industrial competitiveness and cohesion but also in terms of social inclusion, in order to eliminate the risks of digital divide. This is something, which I believe, as a Liberal Democrat, must always be an essential and integral feature of broadband policy and legislation. Indeed the Liberals voted in favour of this policy at the plenary part-session in Strasbourg. Furthermore, and particularly with reference to future legislation, it is vital that we, parliamentarians, guarantee, as best as we can that legislation that is passed is sufficiently durable to keep up with the tremendous pace of technology, and also practical and far-reaching enough to facilitate broadband development in our regions of the EU. I want to return to the regional dimension, it is clear that most of the projects and innovation that are occurring are at a regional level. At national levels we are sometimes dogged by the un-competitativeness of national telecoms providers. Yet at regional level we have the dynamic of a local administration closer to the people it has to serve and needs to provide services for and too. It is often geographical factors in a region that make it prime for certain innovative ideas - I have seen telemedincines projects in the far north of Europe or even the Aosta Vally scheme described in one of your own publications, that has again to deal with a sparsely populated region. Public administration are often at the forefront of using technological change but this of course needs to be combined with private, business sector funding as well : it is getting the mix and the circumstances right for development that will be right. What I would like to do now, is to turn to examples in my constituency to see how, judging from project examples, EU initiatives in broadband policy have successfully facilitated the development and sustainability of broadband to the benefit of citizens and business. A good example of how citizen empowerment and business development has been facilitated through access to broadband, is a Sheffield-based project called Pathfinder. I also believe that it is a good example of why more should be done to make broadband more widely available. The Pathfinder project, which I visited last month, is a Sheffield based project. Its mission is to show how all communities, urban and rural, can have digital access. The project addresses the underlying problems associated with the digital divide, by enabling all of a community to easily use emerging digital services, resulting in e-inclusion. Pathfinder uses kiosk networks with user access technologies already proven in reaching the citizen; it is seeking to facilitate e-inclusion in democratic nations, by way of installing several public access systems, initially in the UK, and thereafter in other EU locations and Latin America. Moving in the direction of education, and how broadband can advance education and learning in my constituency, in York, there is a move to integrate courses between academic institutions, facilitated through the use of broadband technology. One such project is between the University of York and number of other colleges in York to collaborate in the area of media studies, as well as linking with local media companies. The use of broadband technology is an integral part of the study programme, which makes it possible to work interactively at the creative stage in both a research and development scenario. However, whilst seeing a number of success stories in the region, and noting that there is a significant demand for broadband across the region, there is still a majority of businesses that have not yet understood the clear business benefits that can be achieved through the use of technology. This is, in part, due to the cost of accessing broadband. And this takes me to my next project example, which is a Yorkshire based UK Government Award winning telecommunications business, which has attracted investment from the electronics, aerospace and utility industries, offering unprecedented connection speeds. A service which would provide Yorkshire coverage for 200,000 SME’s, offering true high-speed access, telephony and data services, whilst reducing the average monthly telecommunications expenditure. The product has been tried and tested, the business case well accepted and the company identified as having exceptional status. Yet despite the company’s success, it now requires support from the Yorkshire Regional Development Agency & European Union due to a downturn in the investment marketplace still nervous after the losses of the dot-com era. With regional and EU support, businesses can lead the way in ensuring that all regions of the European Union have access to broadband, and thus make Europe the most high-tech and competitive economy by 2010. |
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