http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/newsroom/Latest newsen-gbInformation Society Newsroom23 Nov 2009 03:30:25 +0100Newsroom application v1.4infso-webdev@ec.europa.eu (Newsroom Editor)infso-webdev@ec.europa.eu (Newsroom Webmaster)30 Today, the Council of EU Ministers unanimously approved the EU's telecoms reform package, first proposed by the European Commission in 2007. Today's Council decision comes after a political agreement on the package was reached in a breakthrough meeting between the European Parliament and Council on 5 November. The new rules will enhance competition and investment in Europe's telecoms market, by giving more certainty to companies investing in high-speed optical fibre and wireless networks. It will also open up airwaves for new mobile services. The European Parliament will vote next week, in its Strasbourg plenary session, to formally endorse the telecoms package. The reformed telecoms rules will become EU law once they are published in the EU's Official Journal in December 2009.20 Nov 2009 16:06:00 +0100http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/newsroom/cf/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=5424&utm_campaign=isp&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=newsroom&utm_content=type-newshttp://ec.europa.eu/information_society/newsroom/cf/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=5424&utm_campaign=isp&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=newsroom&utm_content=type-news The European Commission today stepped up legal action against Italy because Italian emergency services still do not receive information about the location of people who dial 112 – Europe's single emergency number – from mobile phones despite a previous judgement of the European Court of Justice. The Commission has decided to send Italy a reasoned opinion, which is the final stage before the case is referred again to the European Court of Justice, who would then have to decide to impose financial penalties on Italy for lack of respect of a previous judgement. At the same time, the Commission also ended legal action taken against Lithuania as caller location details are now available for 112 calls from mobile phones.20 Nov 2009 12:03:00 +0100http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/newsroom/cf/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=5423&utm_campaign=isp&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=newsroom&utm_content=type-newshttp://ec.europa.eu/information_society/newsroom/cf/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=5423&utm_campaign=isp&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=newsroom&utm_content=type-news The winners of the 2009 European eGovernment Awards have been announced today at the eGovernment Ministerial Conference in Malmö (Sweden). The awarded projects were selected for their innovative contribution to increasing the efficiency of public services through the use of digital technologies. In their respective categories the winners are: the European Order for Payment Application (Austria and Germany), Genvej (Denmark), the Italian Public Administration eMarketplace (Italy) and Licensing of Hunters via the “Multibanco” ATM Network (Portugal).19 Nov 2009 18:30:00 +0100http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/newsroom/cf/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=5411&utm_campaign=isp&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=newsroom&utm_content=type-newshttp://ec.europa.eu/information_society/newsroom/cf/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=5411&utm_campaign=isp&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=newsroom&utm_content=type-news EU ministers have committed to developing smarter online public services for citizens and businesses by 2015. The Commission has welcomed this step forward in making eGovernment more accessible, interactive and customised. At the fifth Ministerial eGovernment Conference in Malmö (Sweden) today, EU ministers outlined a joint vision and policy priorities on how this should be delivered. eGovernment is a key step towards boosting Europe's competitiveness, benefiting from time and cost savings for citizens and businesses across Europe.19 Nov 2009 12:02:00 +0100http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/newsroom/cf/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=5421&utm_campaign=isp&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=newsroom&utm_content=type-newshttp://ec.europa.eu/information_society/newsroom/cf/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=5421&utm_campaign=isp&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=newsroom&utm_content=type-news An EU-US Joint Declaration on Research Cooperation in Cooperative Systems has been signed in Washington, D.C. It aims at identifying joint research areas for car-to-car and car-to-infrastructure communication, and to give strong support to the development of global open standards for cooperative systems. By means of their collaboration, both signatories strive to avoid duplication of research efforts and to preclude the adoption of redundant standards wherever possible.18 Nov 2009 18:05:00 +0100http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/newsroom/cf/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=5420&utm_campaign=isp&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=newsroom&utm_content=type-newshttp://ec.europa.eu/information_society/newsroom/cf/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=5420&utm_campaign=isp&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=newsroom&utm_content=type-news With more than 11 million new fixed lines laid in a year, the take up of broadband internet continues to grow in Europe. According to a report published today by the European Commission, 24% of the EU population had a broadband access line subscription in July 2009, up from 21.6% in July 2008. The report also shows that mobile broadband is gaining momentum in Europe, with a 54% increase since January and now at a penetration rate of 4.2% per 100 citizens. Last but not least, broadband internet connections in Europe are increasingly faster. 80% of broadband lines in the EU now have download speeds of 2 megabits per second (Mbps) or greater (allowing the use of Web 2.0 and video streaming), which is 5% up from last year.18 Nov 2009 12:02:00 +0100http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/newsroom/cf/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=5417&utm_campaign=isp&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=newsroom&utm_content=type-newshttp://ec.europa.eu/information_society/newsroom/cf/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=5417&utm_campaign=isp&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=newsroom&utm_content=type-news Modern medicine can treat increasing numbers of illnesses but costs are rising rapidly. At the Medica 2009 exhibition in Dusseldorf, which runs until Friday, the focus is on eHealth - technologies which reduce hospital workloads and lower treatment costs. Deutsche Welle (DW) took the opportunity to report about innovative eHealth solutions from the MyHeart project. Today (18 November) at GMT 6pm and 10pm in English for Europe!18 Nov 2009 11:56:00 +0100http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/newsroom/cf/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=5416&utm_campaign=isp&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=newsroom&utm_content=type-newshttp://ec.europa.eu/information_society/newsroom/cf/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=5416&utm_campaign=isp&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=newsroom&utm_content=type-news At this Ministerial Conference, high-level speakers and 1000 delegates representing Member States, EFTA and candidate countries, the European Commission, international and regional organisations, leaders of the ICT industry, as well as academia will meet in more than 20 sessions to discuss topics of particular interest in the field of eGovernment. The plenary sessions and three of the parallel sessions will be webcast live and on demand.17 Nov 2009 10:07:00 +0100http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/newsroom/cf/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=5414&utm_campaign=isp&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=newsroom&utm_content=type-newshttp://ec.europa.eu/information_society/newsroom/cf/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=5414&utm_campaign=isp&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=newsroom&utm_content=type-news Telemedicine can help increase accessibility to healthcare for patients living in remote geographical areas, allow patients with chronic diseases to be monitored at home and involve patients in the management of their own healthcare. However, despite the potential benefits identified and the potential for growth of the market, the use of telemedicine applications in everyday medicine is still relatively low. One of the reasons identified is the lack of legal clarity. In view of enhancing legal clarity regarding telemedicine services, the Commission will publish in 2010 a Staff Working Paper on Community legal framework applicable to telemedicine.16 Nov 2009 20:57:00 +0100http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/newsroom/cf/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=5405&utm_campaign=isp&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=newsroom&utm_content=type-newshttp://ec.europa.eu/information_society/newsroom/cf/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=5405&utm_campaign=isp&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=newsroom&utm_content=type-news The Progress Study is a qualitative progress evaluation of the i2010 eGovernment Action Plan, 2006-2010. The objectives of the study were to undertake a qualitative analysis of progress towards achieving the goals of the Action Plan, and to evaluate its stimulus effect across the Member States.16 Nov 2009 19:01:00 +0100http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/newsroom/cf/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=5413&utm_campaign=isp&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=newsroom&utm_content=type-newshttp://ec.europa.eu/information_society/newsroom/cf/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=5413&utm_campaign=isp&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=newsroom&utm_content=type-news The conference addresses all issues related to universal access, including universal design of computing systems, the evaluation of such systems, guidelines, legislature, training programmes, research results and overall best practices and experiences.16 Nov 2009 14:45:00 +0100http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/newsroom/cf/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=5409&utm_campaign=isp&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=newsroom&utm_content=type-newshttp://ec.europa.eu/information_society/newsroom/cf/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=5409&utm_campaign=isp&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=newsroom&utm_content=type-news Opening speech at the Internet Governance Forum Sharm El Sheikh, 15 November 200916 Nov 2009 12:18:00 +0100http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/newsroom/cf/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=5407&utm_campaign=isp&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=newsroom&utm_content=type-newshttp://ec.europa.eu/information_society/newsroom/cf/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=5407&utm_campaign=isp&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=newsroom&utm_content=type-news At the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) in Sharm El Sheikh (Egypt), the European Commission today has welcomed a landmark step towards a truly global (and local) internet: the announcement that "Internationalised Domain Names" will be introduced at the top level. Until now, internet domain names were either fully or partly in the Latin "a to z" alphabet. ICANN (the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), which manages the internet's core directory, has announced that a fast track process would be launched today to open up country code top level domains (like ".eu" of europa.eu) to non Latin characters. This means that Europeans, especially in Greece, Bulgaria and Cyprus, will be able to see domain names in their own alphabets. Viviane Reding, the EU's telecoms and internet Commissioner, heralded this major multilingual development. She also called for the timeframe of the Internet Governance Forum – a unique multi-stakeholder dialogue platform for the global internet community – to be extended.16 Nov 2009 12:14:00 +0100http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/newsroom/cf/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=5406&utm_campaign=isp&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=newsroom&utm_content=type-newshttp://ec.europa.eu/information_society/newsroom/cf/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=5406&utm_campaign=isp&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=newsroom&utm_content=type-news The Communication of the Commission "Towards an accessible information society", stresses the need to make further progress on e-accessibility, in particular web accessibility, and announces additional efforts from the European institutions. The study "Accessibility of European Commission Websites - Analysis of current status and recommendations for improvement" checked the compliance of European Commission websites against relevant specifications, notably the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, and provided recommendations for improving the tested websites in particular and the Commission websites in general. This was done by testing selected pages and taking into account the different systems and processes used to generate them. The recommendations addressed current web content and the process of generating it, including suggestions for better addressing accessibility issues in the European Commission's Internet Publisher Guidelines.15 Nov 2009 08:25:00 +0100http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/newsroom/cf/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=5415&utm_campaign=isp&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=newsroom&utm_content=type-newshttp://ec.europa.eu/information_society/newsroom/cf/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=5415&utm_campaign=isp&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=newsroom&utm_content=type-news What is this case about? What has the Commission said in its letter sent today? What does the Latvian regulator have to do now?13 Nov 2009 16:24:00 +0100http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/newsroom/cf/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=5408&utm_campaign=isp&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=newsroom&utm_content=type-newshttp://ec.europa.eu/information_society/newsroom/cf/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=5408&utm_campaign=isp&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=newsroom&utm_content=type-news The European Commission is organising a workshop on codes of conduct on audiovisual commercial communications of foods high in fat, sugar and salt to children. The newly adopted Audiovisual Media Services Directive places an obligation on the Commission to encourage media service providers (both traditional and on-demand) (art. 3e (2) of the Audiovisual Media services – AVMS - Directive) to develop codes of conduct relating to audiovisual commercial communications for HFSS food to children.13 Nov 2009 16:06:00 +0100http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/newsroom/cf/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=5403&utm_campaign=isp&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=newsroom&utm_content=type-newshttp://ec.europa.eu/information_society/newsroom/cf/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=5403&utm_campaign=isp&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=newsroom&utm_content=type-news This report takes stock of the discussions during the ePractice workshop on public services 2.0. It brought together the best experiences from all over Europe with the aim to raise awareness and better understanding between governmental officials about why and how to promote web 2.0 in government and share the knowledge on web 2.0 initiatives.12 Nov 2009 16:19:00 +0100http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/newsroom/cf/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=5402&utm_campaign=isp&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=newsroom&utm_content=type-newshttp://ec.europa.eu/information_society/newsroom/cf/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=5402&utm_campaign=isp&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=newsroom&utm_content=type-news BEUC multi-stakeholder forum on "Consumer Privacy and Online Marketing: Market Trends and Policy Perspectives", Brussels, 12 November 200912 Nov 2009 12:10:00 +0100http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/newsroom/cf/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=5400&utm_campaign=isp&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=newsroom&utm_content=type-newshttp://ec.europa.eu/information_society/newsroom/cf/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=5400&utm_campaign=isp&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=newsroom&utm_content=type-news This study, launched by the European Commission, analyses the state of the art of multichannel delivery of public services throughout Europe, and the progress made towards achieving the goal to ensure that 'no citizen is left behind'. It provides useful recommendations and identifies further actions which will be needed over the next few years.11 Nov 2009 14:45:00 +0100http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/newsroom/cf/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=5399&utm_campaign=isp&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=newsroom&utm_content=type-newshttp://ec.europa.eu/information_society/newsroom/cf/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=5399&utm_campaign=isp&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=newsroom&utm_content=type-news The European Commission is preparing a new EU Disability Strategy for 2010 to 2020. In this context, the Commission is seeking the opinion of the public on problems of people with disabilities and on ways of solving them. The questionnaire can be completed in about 20 minutes. The results will be used in the preparation of the new Disability Strategy. The questionnaire will remain active until 4 January 2010 and is accessible by clicking on the headline of this news item.11 Nov 2009 11:30:00 +0100http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/newsroom/cf/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=5384&utm_campaign=isp&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=newsroom&utm_content=type-newshttp://ec.europa.eu/information_society/newsroom/cf/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=5384&utm_campaign=isp&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=newsroom&utm_content=type-news This event will cover the European Commission's FP7 ICT Work Programmes for 2009-10 and 2011-12 with a focus on Call 6. The rules for participation and the way to write a proposal will be explained. Slovenian stakeholders' experiences and the role of the Slovenian National Contact Point will be highlighted. Useful advice on how to find partners will also be offered.11 Nov 2009 10:44:00 +0100http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/newsroom/cf/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=5396&utm_campaign=isp&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=newsroom&utm_content=type-newshttp://ec.europa.eu/information_society/newsroom/cf/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=5396&utm_campaign=isp&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=newsroom&utm_content=type-news This FP7 Consultation meeting organised by the European Commission will bring together experts from all over Europe. The objective of the workshop is to review current trends in research and applications and provide strategic guidance for drafting the ICT Work Programme 2011/2012. The workshop is focused on the topic of service and social robotics for Ageing Well and should result in possible future orientations for application driven research in this field, in particular with a view to practical deployment in real-life situations and industrial exploitation.11 Nov 2009 10:02:00 +0100http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/newsroom/cf/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=5395&utm_campaign=isp&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=newsroom&utm_content=type-newshttp://ec.europa.eu/information_society/newsroom/cf/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=5395&utm_campaign=isp&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=newsroom&utm_content=type-news 'Visby Agenda: Creating impact for an eUnion 2015, Visby/Gotland, Sweden, 9 November 200910 Nov 2009 11:40:00 +0100http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/newsroom/cf/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=5393&utm_campaign=isp&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=newsroom&utm_content=type-newshttp://ec.europa.eu/information_society/newsroom/cf/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=5393&utm_campaign=isp&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=newsroom&utm_content=type-news Following last week's agreement on the EU telecoms reform, nothing stands in the way for the ePrivacy Directive to enter into force. The formalities required for formal adoption will be undertaken in the coming weeks. The revised ePrivacy Directive, as amended by the European Parliament and adopted by the Council must be implemented by the Member States within 18 months.09 Nov 2009 12:06:00 +0100http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/newsroom/cf/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=5394&utm_campaign=isp&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=newsroom&utm_content=type-newshttp://ec.europa.eu/information_society/newsroom/cf/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=5394&utm_campaign=isp&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=newsroom&utm_content=type-news The annual ETSI Security Workshop brings together international Standards Developing Organisations (SDOs) and security experts to discuss recent developments, share knowledge and co-ordinate on future actions and work areas. There will be presentations from major organisations involved in security initiatives, such as ETSI, ENISA, ITU and the European Commission. Participation is free upon registration.06 Nov 2009 11:10:00 +0100http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/newsroom/cf/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=5391&utm_campaign=isp&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=newsroom&utm_content=type-newshttp://ec.europa.eu/information_society/newsroom/cf/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=5391&utm_campaign=isp&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=newsroom&utm_content=type-news