Romanian Journal of European Affairs (Jun 2009)
BEYOND CONNECTIVITY. FUTURE CHALLENGES FOR E-INCLUSION POLICIES
Abstract
The information society stays at the core of the Lisbon Strategy, despite the dot-com crisis and the still hidden macroeconomic impact of information and communication technology (ICT). Thus, i2010 has been the first concrete initiative of the revised Lisbon Strategy in 2005, while ICT represents by far the field with the largest budget in the 7th Framework Programme (FP7). On the industry side, the stakes are still high in the global competition, where Europe hopes for a place at least for communication technologies and services. However, the extreme dynamics of technology with its sometimes breathtaking promises, poses new challenges for e-inclusion. Firstly, the accelerating pace of innovation maintains a generation type of digital divide between countries with different level of development. Secondly, the changing nature of the network (e.g. web 2.0 with virtual communities; web 3.0 with location based interaction; semantic web; ambient intelligence and “the internet of things”) blurs the very distinction between inside and outside the information space. The paper explores these challenges and the associated policy options.
