Are we witnessing an EU awakening to the role ICT plays in creating a flourishing and sustainable European society? Looking at the recently published proposal for ‘A Green Knowledge Society: An ICT policy agenda to 2015 for Europe’s future knowledge society’ by the Swedish EU presidency one would think so. More so, the European Commission has also recently adopted the recommendation of mobilising ICT to facilitate the transition to an energy-efficient, low-carbon economy. It looks good on paper if nothing else.

However, more precisely it is the holistic approach to ICT by the Swedes that fascinates me because it recognises the critical part ICT plays in shaping a modern, sustainable society through and through. In many aspects the proposal mirrors several proposals put forth in the UK like the Low Carbon Industrial Strategy (although with heavier focus on ICT) the Digital Britain report and the Transformational Government strategy (but citizen driven instead of citizen centric). However this proposal does something that is lacking in the UK, it combines all aspects where ICT plays a vital role for change and improvement in the economy and society into one policy; from the foundation of a flourishing knowledge society to green ICT and energy efficiency to next generation infrastructure and digital inclusion to SMEs and innovation to eGovernment and finally the security and assurance agenda.

Now even though the Swedish proposal has lists of actions to take in implementing the policy it can be argued that the agenda is too big to deliver in one piece. Even so, it is encouraging to see that there is thinking amongst politicians that ICT plays a key role in our future acorss the various agendas and that we must take action now to reap the benefits of ICT as a catalyst for economic recovery, in reducing carbon emissions in other sectors (potential of 15% reductions of total emissions), and in enhancing Europe’s competitiveness and social development.

I for one believe it is time for ICT to be recognised as the key ingredient in meeting UK’s agenda for the future. By spelling out what ICT can bring to the various policy agendas moving forward we can more effectively deliver on the idea that ICT is ‘inextricably linked with our desire for a prosperous and competitive economy, a sustainable environment, and a more democratic, open, healthy society.’

Tags: EU ICT Policy, holistic ICT approach

This entry was posted on Monday, October 12th, 2009 at 2:36 pm and is filed under Energy and Environment, Private Sector, Transformational Government, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.