Web entrepreneurs represent a specific category of entrepreneurs who create new digital services and products that use the web as an indispensable component. They have specific characteristics, and thus particular needs, which require tailored support measures, aimed at strengthening, structurally, the web startup ecosystem.

This study realized an analysis of the current state-of-play on trustmarks in Europe and gave an insight into the international situation. In the same time, it stimulated the stakeholders' engagement via a survey, workshops, desk research, helping in understanding how trustmarks respond to the question of confidence in e-commerce, favouring cross-border e-commerce. Cross-border eCommerce is one of the economic activities which policy makers regard as very important in generating a EU-wide economic growth and creating new job opportunities. The Digital Agenda for Europe clearly pursues the creation of an online internal market, putting in place policies fostering cross-border eCommerce in the EU. One of the key factors of eCommerce, be it cross-border or at national level, is trust between the parties: the purchaser and the merchant. Trustmarks can play a role in establishing trust relations: a trustmark is a sign displayed on an eCommerce website, it has the purpose to provide an independent guarantee of the trustworthiness and reliability of the webshop. Trustmarks are especially useful for smaller webshops that are not (yet) a strong online brand of their own. Four policy options are reviewed by the study and the final report addresses the pros and cons of these options. The Commission is currently considering the results of the study. It is assessing, more specifically, the possibility of taking the trustmark topic into a multi-stakeholders platform. We are looking at the effects of other similar initiatives like the recent Multi-stakeholder Dialogue on Comparison Tools (websites), conducted by DG SANCO. You will find below the study itself – with its 2 annexes.

This is a study on the Analysis of the Needs for Cross-Border Services and Assessment of the Organisational, Legal, Technical and Semantic Barriers. The Malmö Declaration on eGovernment, the European eGovernment Action Plan 2011-2015 and the Poznan Ministerial eGovernment Conference all emphasized the importance of cross-border services for achieving socio-economic prosperity and sustainable public services. According to the Digital Agenda for Europe, Member States would discuss and agree on a common list of key cross-border public services. The Study on the Analysis of the Needs for Cross-Border Services and Assessment of the Organisational, Legal, Technical and Semantic Barriers supports the European Commission and the Member States in validating the key cross-border public services with the highest impact that should be deployed; identify the barriers that need to be overcome; point to the potential benefits of the cross-border public services implementation; and provide scenarios for a discussion on if and how these services could be implemented by 2015. Prior to the completion of the entire study, the European Commission decided to publish some interim results on the inventory as well as analysis of existing and future needs and demand for cross-border eGovernment services. The documents available below include 1. a short introduction to the Study on the Analysis of the Needs for Cross-Border Services and Assessment of the Organisational, Legal, Technical and Semantic Barriers SMART 2011/0074; 2. an inventory of cross-border eGovernment services as well as an analysis of existing and future needs and demand for cross-border eGovernment services and 3. the related annexes.

Effective interaction between public administrations, citizens and businesses is essential to build the digital society. Online delivery of basic services to citizens and businesses (for instance personal documents, income taxes, company registration or VAT) help public authorities provide better services. Today, many public services are available online but this is not always the case across borders. Key in the strategy to improve such interaction is the development of Large Scale Pilot projects (LSPs) engaging stakeholders such as public authorities, service providers and research centres across the EU in the implementation of common solutions to deliver online public services and make them accessible throughout Europe. Five LSPs work on this: E-CODEX, EPSOS, STORK 2.0, PEPPOL and SPOCS... Discover them!

This study covers market developments in the electronic communications and information society sectors in the nine enlargement countries of the EU: Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia, Iceland, Kosovo, Montenegro, FYROM, Serbia and Turkey. It furthermore assesses the progress of each country in adopting the EU regulatory framework and aligning national ICT/information society policies with the goals and priorities of the DAE.

Beyond their economic impact, digital technologies also play a vital role in improving people’s daily lives. They provide better access to information, enhance efficiencies and facilitate links between citizens, businesses and governments. Governments and businesses are looking for increasingly clever ways to encourage economic growth and save money for both themselves and citizens. The Large-Scale Pilots (LSPs) have been developed by the European Commission in close cooperation with EU Member States, industry, national administrations and local communities. This collaborative process ensures that all Europeans benefit from Europe’s commitment to developing ICT and the Digital Single Market. The second edition of the "Build Connect Grow" webzine, looking at the accomplishments of LSPs, is now available.

This year the eHealth Week offers several optional sessions with a wide range of topics that impact many aspects of healthcare information technology. Read the newsletter to find out more!

Learn how to safely and easily work, travel, face problems and get cured abroad in the EU thanks to the large scale pilots (epSOS, STORK, eCODEX, SPOCS and PEPPOL).

eHealth Week 2012 in Copenhagen, Denmark 7 – 9 May, promises to be particularly memorable, as delegates from across Europe are invited to attend the High Level eHealth Conference, which together with The World of Health IT Conference & Exhibition are the cornerstones of the event. In addition to these events - new this year: an SME eHealth competition and an SME village, a EU-US cooperation on eHealth workshop, a CIO track, a mHealth symposium, an Active and Healthy Ageing track and many more. Register to take part!

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In parallel with the legal analysis (SMART 2007/0037), the Commission published an Economic Analysis of the Single Market for an Information Society (SMART 2007/0030) carried out by the external consultant DIW Econ. The study found that ICT, e-Business and e-Commerce are all tools that can help accelerate economic growth as well as improve European economic integration. For example, ICT infrastructure, skills and usage have resulted in a statistically significant increase in cross-border trade flows among European countries. Additionally, the variation in prices was much lower for countries that have implemented the Euro, signalling that the idea of the Single Market can be found in an electronic internet form as well. However, EU Member States are not at the same level of ICT infrastructure and e-Business and e-Commerce usage. While many countries can compete on the world stage, other countries lag far behind which leaves room for further government support. Moreover, even in countries with high levels of infrastructure and usage, much government work can be done to further foster the climate needed for a more comprehensive information society. This work requires policy initiatives to create the correct institutional and legal frame conditions that allow ICT and e-Business to thrive. The study proposes a new policy outlook for the information society.

eCall, an electronic safety system that automatically calls emergency services in the case of a serious car accident, is ready to be deployed across Europe. Even if you are unconscious, the system will inform rescue workers of the crash site's exact location, and the ambulance will be on its way within minutes. eCall will save lives and reduce the severity of injuries. The technical development of eCall is completed. The Commission is reinforcing efforts to speed up the deployment of this life-saving technology, with the aim of having a fully functional EU-wide service in place by 2015. Parallel action of Member States, car manufacturers, telecom operators and emergency centres is now needed to ensure that this system will seamlessly function throughout Europe by this time.

The present report contains the final results for the study SMART 2009/0021 on “Enterprise 2.0 in Europe”, produced by Tech4i2, IDC and Headshift for the European Commission. The report is addresses 4 main issues: What is Enterprise 2.0? Why it matters? How is it implemented? So what should the European Commission do? The key novelty lies not so much in technological developments, but in the values of web 2.0: emergent approach, open innovation, no hierarchy, many-to-many, rapid development. In particular, we consider E20 as a key enabler of open innovation and innovative working practices (results driven, employee centered, based on open communication).

This publication allows a short insight into the 2010 results of the Community survey on ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) usage in enterprises in EU-27 with a special focus on ICT security.

Vice President and EU Commissioner for the European Digital Agenda Neelie Kroes kicked off this two day conference in Brussels. .... She stated that the Internet of Things, the next wave of internet enabled connectivity, is not simply a technical innovation but a broad process in the heart of our society...

The report features a comprehensive empirical analysis of Social Computing that is intended to inform policy makers. Social Computing has both direct and indirect effects on the implementation of the European Lisbon strategy, especially on the post-i2010 agenda currently being drafted. The research has been conducted by the Information Society Unit at JRC-IPTS over the last three years.

eTEN was supporting the deployment of trans-European e-services in the public interest. The programme aimed to accelerate the take-up of services to sustain the European social model of an inclusive, cohesive society. eTEN’s six themes included eGovernment, eHealth, eInclusion, eLearning, Services for SMEs and Trust & Security. The eTEN European Community programme finished at the end of 2006 as the funding cycles of the programme were completed. As some projects will continue through 2009 and a few even in 2010, support for enhancing the visibility of the ongoing eTEN projects is currently still provided through this newsletter. In future however, it will no longer be published on a regular basis. We therefore, invite you to explore the other newsletters indicated at the back of this newsletter, focusing on the different themes eTEN projects have covered.

According to the new OECD Information Technology Outlook, the IT industry is likely to have grown by 4% at most in 2008 compared to the previous year. But with the outlook for the global economy worsening and business and consumer confidence plummeting, growth will remain flat or decline in 2009. The publication mainly focuses on how ICT and broadband are being mainstreamed in trade, investment, household uptake, influencing digital content, and policies. A read-only version of the Report is available here .

The EU Roaming Regulation, in force as of July 2007, has lowered charges by up to 60% for consumers using their mobile phones abroad. The Regulation applies for roaming voice calls only - ensuring that those prices are not unjustifiably more expensive than at home. Although consumers today are paying significantly less for roaming voice calls, prices for SMS and data roaming services still continue to cost too much. The Commission is therefore working on proposals to ensure that consumers also benefit from a single market for text messages and data roaming services.