Presentation
Digital Divide and Social Dimension in the E-Europe Strategy

Prof. Jose Dias Coelho
National E-Envoy, Inter-Ministerial Commission for the Information Society, Portugal

Information society is creating many expectations in knowledge dissemination, it is creating more jobs, creating conditions for new enterprises and creating wealth. We are moving to a network society with e-commerce, telebanking, etc., showing evidence of movement to a network society. Fortunately, the development of the information society is a political priority for the European Commission as well as for the Portuguese Government. There are a number of milestones that should be mentioned, some related to Portugal and others to the European movement toward the information society. I will start by referring to the Portuguese Initiative for Information Society of 1996. This was followed by the Green Paper on the Information Society in Portugal, published in 1997, an Action Plan was put forward in October 1997, the National Initiative for the Electronic Government was approved in 1998, the National Initiative for the Citizens with Special Needs in 1999, and the Legislative Package for the Information Society, including legal recognition of electronic documents and the digital signature law adopted in 1999.

With respect to Europe, we compiled the document "e-Europe: An Information Society for All" at the Lisbon Summit in January 2000. In the special European Council of Lisbon the "Employment, Economic Reforms and Social Cohesion--Towards a Europe based on Innovation and Knowledge" was approved. The Action Plan "Europe 2002--An Information Society for All" was approved in June 2000. The e-Europe Benchmarking Indicators were agreed on in December 2000, with the Benchmarking "Strategies for Jobs in the Information Society" decided in February 2001.

The digital divide arises from three different origins, one due to socio-economic factors, another due to barriers for citizens with special needs and also in relation to poor and developing countries. All these factors can be divided into the "haves" and the "have-nots." With respect to the digital divide and the social dimension, let me refer you to the National Initiative for Citizens with Special Needs, approved nearly two years ago in Portugal. The underlying principles behind this initiative are that IT should be for the benefit of all, and priority should be given to developing products and services for people with special needs. There is also a need to promote universal design concepts and to ensure that research and development (R&D) is carried out to extend existing knowledge and competence in connection to the integration of people with special needs into the information society. There is a need to enhance cooperation between users and the public and private sectors in developing technologically advanced products for people with special needs.

The social dimension of the digital divide topic is also present in the e-Europe: An Information Society for All initiative. The initiative has a number of key objectives, first being to bring everyone--citizen, home and school, every business and administration--into the digital age. A second aim is to create a digitally literate Europe, supported by an entrepreneurial culture, ready to finance and develop new ideas; and third, to ensure the whole process is socially inclusive, building consumer trust and strengthening social cohesion.

This initiative has a number of objectives related to the digital divide in a social dimension. One objective is to provide all schools and students with access to the Internet and multimedia resources and to provide training to all teachers and adapt school curricula to facilitate new ways of learning. A second objective in the knowledge-based economy is to give all workers the chance to become digitally literate through life-long learning. Another objective is to ensure that standards for user-friendly equipment are applied to improve the employability of people with disabilities, and the adoption of the WAI guidelines for public websites. The digital divide exists even in Europe, and it can be seen from statistics: there are different levels of Internet access in schools, among the countries of Europe; there are also differences at the pan-European level in terms of the use of computers at work. Of course, the digital divide exists in other terms, between the developing and developed countries and also where insufficient action is taken to cater for those citizens with special needs, such as the elderly, the disabled, and so on.

In the movement to create and explore the digital opportunity, an effort needs to be made to create an information and knowledge society. That effort requires the right balance between wealth generation, associated with market forces, and social welfare, which is related to community goals. It is not easy to find a balance, but it is important to do so. In working toward this goal it is important to identify objectives in order to be efficient and successful: this is one of the most complex tasks we face. This effort is based on three pillars: government, business and citizens. To be successful in attaining the goal of an information society, and to take full benefit of the opportunities that are created from the explosive innovation of the IT society, none of these three pillars can be disregarded.