E-government as a component of the e-Europe program
As noted in the 1999 declaration of the European Union, "a truly democratic information society based on the fundamental values of the Council of Europe can be built with the foundations of a policy that encourages access and participation, competence and preparedness, creativity and diversity and provides reliable protection."
The tasks of the e-government. So, States should access and participate in new information technologies:
promote the widest possible access for all to new information and communication services, for example, by creating a wide network of access points in public places;
To enable all individuals to play a more active role in society at the national, regional and local levels through the use of new information technologies to ensure unhindered access to information from local, regional and national administrative and legal services and direct links with them;
to encourage the free exchange of information, thoughts and ideas using new information technologies; to encourage the development and production of cultural and educational materials and their wide dissemination;
To encourage effective international cooperation in order to realize the benefits of expanding access and increasing transparency, and to promote the creation of equal opportunities for the use of new information technologies by all European countries.
The e-Europe Action Plan. Let's focus in more detail on the main aspects of the specified e-Europe Action Plan. The purpose of this Plan was to identify the necessary measures for the implementation of the e-Europe Program, including 11 areas where appropriate changes and additions should be made at the European level. As a result, actions should focus on three main objects.
1. Cheap, Fast, secure Internet:
Cheap and fast Internet;
fast Internet for researchers and students;
secure networks and smart cards.
2. Investing in people and skills:
European youth in the digital age;
working in a knowledge-based economy;
- Participation for all in a knowledge-based economy.
3. Stimulating the use of the Internet:
developed e-commerce;
Government online: electronic access to public services;
medicine on the Internet;
European digital content (content) for global networks;
smart transportation systems Thus, the Action Plan focused on solving and focusing efforts on what should be, thanks to whom and when.
Three main methods have been identified by which the e-Europe program should be implemented: Accelerated regulation of the relevant legal environment. At the European level, a number of legislative proposals have been developed and approved, but the process does not stand still. The goal of e-Europe is to accelerate their adaptation in a short time for all Member States.
Support for new infrastructure and services throughout Europe.
Preferential development of private sector enterprises. The deployment of subsidies mainly to the private sector. Such activities are supported both by European funding and through the actions of Member States. These actions should have an uncompromising budgetary character.
The use of an open method of coordination and evaluation studies (control measurements). This goal ensures that actions will be marked by effectiveness, have a planned (expected) impact and will necessarily reach a high level in all Member States. These processes are fully consistent with the general assessment study (control measurement), which is conducted every spring by the Council of Europe.
The priority areas of the e-Europe program are European youth in the Digital Age. An extremely important factor determining the economic and social progress of a society is the level of education of the population. In the digital age, education is becoming even more important: it is necessary to organize the process of training a new generation of technologists, researchers and providers, as well as provide every citizen with the opportunity to actively influence the development of the information society.
In the countries of the European Union, attention is focused on the orientation of school education and the preparation of citizens for activities in the information age, and the purpose of this initiative is to accelerate this process and transform digital literature into the main information base for teaching young people. The European Initiative includes three main areas:
improving the Internet and multimedia resources;
using these resources to master new professions;
the development of basic skills of teamwork, adaptation, creative approach to business, the desire to expand knowledge and intercultural communication Cheap Internet access. The policy of liberalization of the telecommunications and telecommunication services market in the European Union, which began on January 1, 1998, caused a decrease in prices and an increase in consumer demand in this area, which confirmed the correctness of the chosen course. However, the conditions for realizing the advantages of competition in different countries of the European Union are not the same. The pan-European service has certain problems due to significant differences in the licensing legislation of the states. Therefore, the Council of Europe and the European Parliament encourage the participating countries to accelerate legislative processes so that the EU states should influence market liberalization with their decisions.
Accelerating the implementation of e-commerce. Despite the increase in the volume of e-commerce, i.e. the sale/purchase of goods using the Internet, the countries of the European Union as a whole lag behind the United States, China and a number of countries in Southeast Asia. Europe has a strong position in a number of priority areas, for example, in security technologies and data encryption, as well as in the field of electronic banking. The massive use of the euro for electronic transactions should significantly contribute to the development of the pan-European electronic market.
Europe needs to accelerate the process of practical implementation of e-commerce by attracting small and medium-sized enterprises to this area, as well as creating conditions for them to perceive the territory of Europe as their own market segment. This task, in turn, requires the implementation of the legal regulations of the internal market, which should provide a legal basis for this type of commerce and eliminate existing interstate barriers. Europe also needs a public administration to manage electronic bidding for the supply of goods and services in order to meet government needs.
Fast Internet for researchers and students. The Internet provides exceptionally wide opportunities for research and allows for the implementation of completely new approaches to learning in the form of organizing an e-education system, when students are provided online access to academic and scientific materials.
Communication via e-mail and the transmission of information through the network have become basic aspects of academic and professional life.
The fast Internet is especially active as a means of organizing and implementing joint interactive research when its participants are geographically distant from each other. In this case, they get the opportunity to collectively use data or tools to generate new knowledge; this technology marks the emergence of a new form of scientific work - e-research. To support this type of research, it is necessary to provide end-users with multimedia communications of guaranteed quality, ensure the development of innovative content, as well as methods and means to demonstrate the achievements of virtual public institutions.
Smart cards for electronic access. Smart cards are a convenient and profitable tool for making electronic payments for medical services, mobile Internet, public transport, paid television programs and many other information and communication services.
Every citizen should have such a card, and the main requirement for it is related to ensuring the reliability and security of data storage and transmission. These cards can be customized, multifunctional, or integrated into various devices.
However, in order to achieve success in this direction, it is necessary to create a new infrastructure to support these technologies in the EU countries. To successfully solve this problem, it is necessary to establish cooperation between European providers and government authorities in order to develop common principles for organizing mobile communications, ensuring security, establishing property rights and organizing consumer control.
Risk capital for high-tech medium and small enterprises. Often promising ideas offered by European entrepreneurs and content providers, university students and company employees do not receive adequate financial support and therefore cannot be implemented. In the USA, where the entrepreneurial culture promotes risky investments, where the initial capital of innovative companies is three to four times larger than in the European Union, the situation is somewhat different, and this experience shows that the commercial implementation of advanced ideas contributes to the creation of thousands of additional jobs.
Involvement of disabled citizens in the electronic society.
The development of digital technologies helps to overcome various barriers (socio-economic, geographical, cultural, temporary, etc.) that hinder the social adaptation of the disabled. Thanks to the development of modern technologies, such people have the opportunity to fully participate in public and professional life. However, it turned out that the European industry is not able to provide disabled people with products and services instantly.
This situation may change somewhat due to drastic measures, in particular, within the framework of the introduction of new design principles for all ("Design-for-All"). According to this approach, even at the stage of conceptual product development, the special needs of disabled people and citizens belonging to the category of the disabled are taken into account. The EU states have already made specific commitments to meet the special needs of this part of the population in the Declaration of the Amsterdam Treaty.
Now it is necessary to support efforts to implement these commitments in the field of the information society.
Special attention should be paid to education, retraining of this category of citizens, as well as ensuring their full participation in society. Medical networks should provide a special multilingual online service, and digital technologies in general should simplify the formalities associated with the use of private and public social service systems.
Online medicine. Providing effective and high-quality medical services to citizens is one of the biggest concerns of European governments. The need for health technology is growing rapidly. Governments have faced challenges such as the general aging of the population and increased health care costs.
The growing contradiction between the need to improve the quality of medical services and the increase in their cost cannot be overcome without the modernization of medical systems and the widespread use of digital technologies.
However, this potential is not being fully exploited.
In this regard, the European Union has already taken important steps to protect and improve public health.
However, full harmonization of this area at the European level has not been achieved, and therefore it is necessary to continue the joint work of the health authorities of European countries to support scientific research, harmonize standards and product specifications and create pan-European medical libraries.
Intellectualization of transport. The volume of transportation of people and goods in Europe by various modes of transport is constantly growing, and at the same time transport problems (road accidents, deaths and injuries of passengers) are growing. Economic losses from road congestion are increasing, a significant number of flights are operated with a deviation from the schedule, and the negative impact of transport on the environment is increasing. Digital technologies make it possible to make transport safer and dramatically improve the quality of public transport management.
