The European Commission unveiled its 'Digital Agenda' for the EU, aimed at using ICT to boost economic growth and social benefits. The agenda outlines seven priority areas for action: creating a digital Single Market, greater interoperability, boosting internet trust and security, much faster internet access, more investment in research and development, enhancing digital literacy skills and inclusion, and applying information and communications technologies to address challenges such as climate change and the ageing population. In these seven areas, the Digital Agenda foresees some 100 follow-up actions, of which 31 would be legislative. The Digital Agenda is the first of seven flagship initiatives under the Europe 2020 economic growth strategy unveiled in early March. Some of the proposals included in the digital agenda include simplifying European copyright law and cross-border licensing to encourage legal online content, making electronic payments and invoicing easier, simplifying online dispute resolution, better coordination of the European response to cyber-attacks and reinforced rules on personal data protection, including potentially obliging website operators to inform their users about security breaches affecting their personal data. The 2020 agenda also set the goal of internet access at 30Mbps or higher for all European residents by 2020, including at least half of European households taking over 100Mbps by then. The commission said it will explore how to attract investment in broadband through credit enhancement mechanisms and give guidance on how to encourage investments in fibre-based networks. The agenda also proposes an increase in public-private research funding, including the use of European regional funding and increased EU research funding. This should help the EU bridge the gap with the US, which spends more than twice as Europe on ICT research.
