This page is for discussing the content of the paragraph 1: Importance of Information Society

Go to Newropeans' initial working paper: FrontPage 

1. Importance of the information society

Moving towards information handling as the basis for the economy is crucial for prosperity and quality of life in the European Union. ICT is indeed the single most important source of productivity growth, accounting for 40% of its total.

High-speed Internet is the passport to the Information Society and an essential condition for economic growth. Europe should ensure high-speed broadband access from all the EU territory and for all EU citizens providing a widespread and affordable access. Moreover a fully recognized universal access right represents in fact the prerequisite for a diffused commons-based critical knowledge.

This can be most easily done by setting minimum standards for services, in the same way there are minimum standards set for the automobile industry. Such standards should move upwards as better technologies become cheaper.

The Single Market requires promoting the free movement of knowledge and innovation thus encouraging open access to knowledge and open innovation by removing the barriers which prevent the EU from further developing and exploiting ICT on a trans-European scale.

We want to contribute in the building of the Single European Information Space defining legal and economic instruments to achieve the goals of the i2010 strategy and go beyond them.