Committente: European Committee of the Regions.
Periodo: 2015
URL: Towards a new update of the Digital Agenda and creation of the Digital Single Market: challenges and opportunities for Local and Regional Authorities in the European
Descrizione:
Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) innovation has transformed national, regional, and local economies at an unprecedented pace. The implementation of the Digital Agenda for Europe (DAE) and the completion of the Digital Single Market (DSM) imply the evolution of business models and the generation of both positive and negative externalities that need to be appropriately managed to maximise the benefits and minimise the unfavourable effects. The European Commission (EC) prioritises the development of Europe’s digital environment and the achievement of the DSM. Public administrations at all levels are directly concerned in setting appropriate policy priorities to effectively gain from the creation and consolidation of a digital society in terms of employment, growth and convergence.
A number of locally-led initiatives has contributed in recent years to build up the necessary commitment at the territorial level. These initiatives outline a common framework for public administrations across the EU for awareness creation, strategic planning and/or action. Among the significant examples are the Digital Local Agenda (DLA), the Citadel Statement, and ICT-focussed European networks for partnership development, such as ELANET and ERNACT. Indeed, collaboration and partnering across the EU have contributed significantly to the definition of common tools, architecture, and standards at the local and regional level which form the basis of cross-border interoperability. There are also initiatives by the EC which are directly addressed to the territorial level and add to the locally-led calls for action. These initiatives, intended to support regions in the implementation of the DAE and in better benefitting from the use of the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF), relate to tools or guidance documents for developing digital strategies, identifying investments, or tying innovation to ICT deployment.
Notwithstanding this important progress, the achievement of the DAE lags behind in some parts of Europe. For some targets, slow progress is evident throughout the EU. The scope of this report is to highlight the challenges, the trends, and the strategies most commonly undertaken by local and regional authorities (LRAs) to gain maximum benefits from the implementation of the DAE and the completion of the DSM (Part 1). On the basis of the evidence gathered through the review of empirical studies and of several initiatives by LRAs (illustrated throughout the report and in Part 2, in the form of selected case studies), a set of potential policy options is drawn in Part 3.
Approaches by LRAs vary greatly. In order to organise them coherently we have used a closed loop rationale which allows us to link the strategies and the recommended policy options to the different level of competencies or preparedness of regions. This level is determined on the basis of a few main indicators from the Information Society (IS) and ICT domains. Within this rationale, we have grouped the strategies implemented towards the objectives of the DAE under four broad thematic areas: ICT infrastructure; ICT take-up; ICT-enabled services, applications and products; and ICT sector development.
Strategies for the improvement of ICT infrastructures
Having achieved the DAE target of basic broadband infrastructure coverage across the EU in 2013, the current focus is on making fast and ultra-fast broadband connection available. The shift to next generation network (NGN) broadband connections is necessary to meet the emerging needs of speed, capacity, quality and reliability of the infrastructures. The situation in terms of Next Generation Access (NGA) coverage across the EU is very diverse. Regions with a total and rural Next Generation Access (NGA) coverage below 35% are in need of prioritising investments in ICT infrastructure deployment. As the deployment of passive infrastructure is capital-intensive, LRAs are called upon to play a crucial role in overcoming market failure and/or in balancing market bias. This involvement is driven by cost-benefit, commercial, or social considerations.
The opportunity for public investment in broadband development is underlined by the EC and facilitated by recent regulatory developments. Source of funding is, indeed, one of the major differentiators of municipal/regional broadband strategies. Different business models are available to public administrations, depending on the preferred modalities for designing, building, financing, operating and maintaining both the passive and active layers of the infrastructure. The type of involvement of the private sector will also depend on the capacities of the concerned public administration, for example in service management and operation.
Within any strategic approach, it is essential to reduce the cost of ICT infrastructures deployment as much as possible. Directive 2014/61/EU on the cost reduction of deploying high-speed electronic communications networks, due to be transposed by MS into national legislation within 1 January 2016, provides the referencing legal framework in this respect. Empirical evidence indicates that civil engineering works may account for up to 80% of the cost of the deployment. Since these works are under the regulatory control of local administrations, LRAs are in a position to pursue cost saving approaches in this area. These approaches imply, for example, the facilitation of access to existing physical infrastructure; the efficient coordination of civil engineering works; and the fast, simple and transparent handling of permit-granting procedures. Another critical aspect influencing the improvement of ICT infrastructures relates to their security and resilience. Infrastructural physical assets allowing communication and information transfer require the intervention of LRAs for their protection and for the effective management of breaches in case of disruptive events. Therefore, the protection of critical infrastructures would ideally refer to a regional administrative and operational scale as the most appropriate. Likewise, the extensive use of ICT as ‘network of networks’ within smart cities, makes the cities’ security and resilience of strategic importance for their public administrations. Among the strategies currently implemented by LRAs in this important area is to pursue membership with global networks or other available resource and knowledge pools, in order to access information and support; or the more articulated development of territorial strategies, programmes and/or roadmaps having specific or multiple scopes within the security and resilience fields, and therefore addressing aspects such as the coordinated management of critical events or the identification of a hierarchy of responsibilities to lead resilience efforts.
Committee of the Regions Report, 27 March 2015.