Broadband Gap 2007 :: Programme

Programme

Broadband Gap 2007 tackles a core challenge to European competitiveness today: how to make strategic use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to support regional and local development, to overcome infrastructure and geographical handicaps, and to make less-developed regions and rural areas more attractive to business and individuals alike. At present, with thinning populations, these areas have less market appeal than urban regions. Policy and support at all levels of government is sought to extend broadband’s reach and to encourage further its take-up. The event programme and leading speakers will explore the main legal, political, technical, social and practical issues.

Day 1: Monday, 14 May 2007

Welcoming delegates, Commissioner Viviane Reding will outline the challenge for the two-day event: how does broadband and ICT contribute to European competitiveness and innovation? The second plenary in the morning will explore the challenges ahead from the perspective of territorial cohesion and rural development. After lunch, the policy response will be developed further, and delegates will be taken through the global developments in broadband. The day concludes with a tour of the exhibits and a cocktail drink, before the dinner and evening speeches by high-level representatives of the European institutions.

Venue	Charlemagne building: rue de la Loi 170, 1040 Bruxelles.
8.15	Registration
10.00 – 10.45 Plenary 1 2nd floor, room Alcide de Gasperi (S3)	Broadband and ICT: increasing European competitiveness, productivity and innovation in the economy Keynote speeches Welcome/Opening speech : V. Reding, Commissioner for Information Society and Media Key Note Speech : P. Hintze, Parliamentary State Secretary at the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology Watch a webstream of the conference (EN, part 1) Watch a webstream of the conference (EN, part 2)
10.45 – 11.15	Coffee break
11.15 – 13.00 Plenary 2 2nd floor, room Alcide de Gasperi (S3) 11.15 – 11.45 11:45-13:00	Connecting Europe: challenges ahead for territorial cohesion and rural development Setting the scene Benchmarking the broadband gap : R. Montagne, Head of Broadband Practice, IDATE A radical vision of the European advantage: villages and small towns : F. Nahrada, Director Globally Integrated Village Environment, GIVE Project Issues at stake Finland's Broadband Strategy 2004-2007 - lessons learned : L. Ero, Director General of Communication, Finnish Ministry of Transport and Communication ICT as a challenge for the new Member States : G. Bliźniuk, Undersecretary of State in Ministry of Interior and Administration, Poland Bridging the broadband gap at regional level : Dr. W. Krüger, State Secretary, Ministry of Economic Affairs, State Brandenburg, Germany Connecting rural economies - Projet Dorsal : B. Bourzai, MEP Q&A Watch a webstream of the conference (EN, part 3)
13.00 – 15.00	Buffet lunch
15.00 – 16.30 Plenary 3 2nd floor, room Alcide de Gasperi (S3)	Creating synergies among policies and instruments to close the gap Mainstreaming for the Information Society development in cohesion policy: D. Ahner, Director General, DG REGIO The Rural Development Policy 2007-2013 and the role of ICTs: N. Sivenas, Director, DG AGRI Technological options for remote and rural areas : O. Baujard, Chief Technology officer, Alcatel-Lucent Regulatory implications and competition issues at stake : G. Gauthey, member of ARCEP Q&A Watch a webstream of the conference (EN, part 4)
16.30 – 17.45 Plenary 4 2nd floor, room Alcide de Gasperi (S3)	The global dimension of the broadband gap The global dimension of the broadband gap : M. Kirk, Director of External Relationships at Vodafone Group Services Ltd. The Winning Strategy for Emerging Economies, Rural and Remote Areas : M. D. Kennedy, Senior Vice President and Global Regulatory Director, Motorola Canada's broadband experience : Dr V. Rawat, President of the Communications Research Centre (CRC) Canada. The experience from Taiwan : Dr Wang, Science and Technology Advisory Group (STAG)
17.45 – 19.00	Visit of the exhibition and cocktail
19:30 – 23.00 Dinner: Rue d'Arlon 82, 1040 Bruxelles	Dinner for the participants at the Concert Noble Interventions by: J. M. R. Kneuer, Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information (NTIA), US Speech G. Hökmark, MEP

Day 2: Tuesday, 15 May 2007

A full day of presentations and heated debates will be kicked off by European Commissioners Mariann Fischer Boel (Agriculture and Rural Development) and Neelie Kroes (Competition). This will be immediately followed by four parallel sessions delving into relevant policy perspectives. After a coffee break, the policy will be put to the test on the ground with presentations of projects and examples of ‘good practice’ in the four areas under study. After lunch, Commissioner for Regional Policy Danuta Hübner will highlight the role of regional policy in the development of the Information Society and in providing affordable broadband infrastructure and services to support the social and economic development of Europe’s less-favoured regions. This will be followed by presentations from the four rapporteurs who will sum up the morning’s sessions, ahead of a roundtable debate leading up to the conference conclusions and Broadband Award Ceremony.

Venue

Charlemagne building: rue de la Loi 170, 1040 Bruxelles.

9.00 – 09.45

Plenary 5
2nd floor, room Alcide de Gasperi (S3)

Commissioner keynote speeches

Speakers

Speech M. Fischer Boel, European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development
Watch a webstream of the conference (EN, part 5)
Speech N. Kroes, European Commissioner for Competition
Watch a webstream of the conference (EN, part 6)

09.45 – 11.15

Parallel Session 1:
Ground floor, room Sicco Mansholt (S1)

Policy Perspectives

Parallel Session 1: Connecting rural areas to the regional economy

Chairman: L. Caveri, Val d’Aosta Region, Presentation

Rapporteur: A. Bucher, Head of Unit, DG INFSO

Integrated and balanced information society strategies for regional development : G. Hughes, CEO, eris@
ICT and development in outermost regions : G. Jarnac, Vice President for ICT and Audiovisual, Reunion Region, France
Regions for economic change : E. Hartog, Head of Unit, DG REGIO

Listen an audiostream of the conference (EN, part 1)

11.15 – 11.45

Coffee break

11.45 – 13.00

Parallel Session 1:

Examples of good practice

Parallel Session 1: Examples of good practice connecting rural areas to the regional economy

Chairman: J. Myllyvirta, COR EDUC Committee President

Rapporteur: A. Bucher, Head of Unit, European Commission

National Programme of Extension of Broadband in Rural and Isolated Areas (PEBA) : D. Cierco, Director General Information Society. Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Trade, Spain
Trentino in Rete (T.Net) : S. Longano, Trentino Network, Italy
The connected communities of the Outer Hebrides of Scotland , D. Morrison, HIE Innse Gall (Highlands & Islands Enterprise), Isle of Lewis. United Kingdom

Q&A: questions drawn from web-based public consultation and live from the audience

Listen an audiostream of the conference (EN, part 2)

09.45–11.15:

Parallel Session 2:
Ground floor, room Lord Jenkins (S2)

Policy Perspectives

Parallel Session 2: Promoting the economic diversification of rural areas through ICT

Chairman: L. Goepel, MEP

Rapporteur: J. O'Flaherty, MAC, National Microelectronics Application Centre, Ireland

Use of ICT for diversification through the Leader approach : M.I. Sola Brea, Director of Cabinet, Department of Agriculture, Fishery and Food, Basque Country, Spain
Broadband applications in agriculture : I. Houseman, Secretary General of EFITA, European Federation for Information technology in agriculture, food and the environment
Access and use of broadband in Baden-Wurttemberg: H. Scheffold, Ministry of Agriculture Land Baden Wurttemberg, Germany

Listen an audiostream of the conference (EN, part 1)

11.15 – 11.45

Coffee break

11.45 – 13.00

Parallel Session 2

Examples of good practice

Parallel Session 2: Examples of good practice promoting the economic diversification of rural areas through ICT

Chairman: L. Goepel, MEP

Rapporteur: J. O'Flaherty, MAC, National Microelectronics Application Centre, Ireland

Access to broadband in remote rural areas (eRegio, Broadband for All) : Mrs. Karjalainen, Min. of Agriculture and Forestry - Mr. Karppinen, Kainuu Region, Finland
Connecting Somerset - Helping Rural SMEs to innovate using ICT: K. Redpath, Connecting Somerset, United Kingdom
FAD: a comprehensive lifelong e-learning offer for Catalan farmers and advisors : L. Lorenzo, Government of Catalonia, Spain.

Q&A: questions drawn from web-based public consultation and live from the audience

Listen an audiostream of the conference (EN, part 2)

09:45 – 11.15

Parallel session 3:
1st floor, room Jean Durieux (S4)

Policy Perspectives

Parallel Session 3: Delivering local on-line services and improving the quality of life in rural and remote areas

Chairman: J. Chatzimarkakis, MEP

Rapporteur: G. Hall, Chairman of the IANIS+ eInfrastructure Worg Group & Member of the UK Broadband Stakeholders group

EU policy on inclusive public services : F. De Bruine, Director DG INFSO
Broadband for healthcare : B. Ginman, EMEA Corporate Affairs, Intel
Broadband services for local communities: R. Versteegh, Business Development Manager, Cisco Systems

Listen an audiostream of the conference (EN, part 1)

11.15 – 11.45

Coffee break

11.45 – 13.00

Parallel session 3:

Examples of good practice

Parallel Session 3: Examples of good practice delivering local on-line services and improving the quality of life in rural and remote areas

Chairman: J. Chatzimarkakis, MEP

Rapporteur: G. Hall, Chairman of the IANIS+ eInfrastructure Worg Group & Member of the UK Broadband Stakeholders group

Demand aggregation and community initiatives: UK North and South Yorkshire : A. Lister, Director, NYnet
Broadband in Rural Tuscany areas (BaRT) , A. Marcotulli, Tuscany Region, Italy
Fiber Optic Valley - An innovation system for regional growth ; K. Nygård Skalman, Fiber Optic Valley, Sweden

Q&A: questions drawn from web-based public consultation and live from the audience

Listen an audiostream of the conference (EN, part 2)

09.45 – 11.15

Parallel session 4:
2nd floor, room Alcide de Gasperi (S3)

Policy Perspectives

Parallel Session 4: Facilitating investment in broadband infrastructure and provision of affordable services

Chairman: G. Reichle, DG German Federal Ministry of Economy and Technology

Rapporteur: P. Defraigne, Director, Cullen International

The telecom view : J. de la Pinta, Director Regulatory Affairs SA, Telefonica
The satellite view : C. Protopapas, Vice-Chairman of the Board, European Satellite Operators' Association, ESOA
The wireless view: K. Kohrt, Head of Government and Industry Relations, Siemens

Watch a webstream of the conference (EN, part 7)

11.15 – 11.45

Coffee break

11.45 – 13.00

Parallel session 4:

Examples of good practice

Parallel Session 4: Examples of good practice in facilitating investment in broadband infrastructure and provision of affordable services

Chairman: G. Reichle, DG, German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology

Rapporteur: P. Defraigne, Director, Cullen International

Public funding for broadband networks and State aid rules - an overview : E. Van Ginderachter Head of Unit DG COMP

Broadband Action Plan to 2008: Enhancing broadband by spurring competition : Dr Yannis Larios, Senior Advisor for Digital Planning, Ministry of Economy and Finance, Greece.
Delivery and use of broadband infrastructure in departement 64 (Réseau IRIS 64) : E. Lassalle, General Council of Pyrénées-Atlantique, France

Q&A: questions drawn from web-based public consultation and live from the audience

Watch a webstream of the conference (EN, part 8)

13.00 – 15.00

Lunch

15.00 – 15.20

2nd floor, room Alcide de Gasperi (S3)

Commissioner keynote speech

Speech Danuta Hübner, European Commissioner for Regional Policy

Watch a webstream of the conference (EN, part 9)

15.20 – 16.00

2nd floor, room Alcide de Gasperi (S3)

16.00 – 16.45

Open debate

Rapporteurs will present the main conclusions from the four parallel sessions.

Roundtable on conclusions

Once the rapporteurs have given their expert reviews in their respective sessions, they will be given a chance to comment, together with the chairs, on each others’ sessions and to field questions from the audience about the key issues and hot topics. This will provide a platform for well-balanced conclusions to be drawn from both days of the Bridging the Broadband Gap conference.

Q&A among participants

Watch a webstream of the conference (EN, part 10)

16.45 – 17.15

Closing session

2nd floor, room Alcide de Gasperi (S3)

Conference conclusions and Broadband Award Ceremony

With the previous roundtable digested, the final word will go to MEP M. Harbour and Director General for Information Society and Media F. Colasanti who will conclude the two-day event with presentations of the Broadband Awards for the best exhibits .

Watch a webstream of the conference (EN, part 11)