1. European youth into the Digital Age
The Norwegian approach to
information- and communication technologies (ICT) is based on the
premise that all citizens should have the right to meaningful
participation in the Information Society. The need for students to
develop basic digital literacy is an important task and challenge
for every educational system and is important to ensure a
democratic development of the information society. The targets that
are stated can set a standard, which European countries can work
towards.
In our opinion, the overall goal
should be to give all pupils the possibility to know more than a
solid basis for practical use of ICT. Is important to focus on a
methodological and critical attitude to the information content
transported via ICT.
Therefore, the emphasis should also
be on methods, and teaching a critical approach in order to give
the youth good tools to handle the information flow, to select
trash from quality, and to handle improper material, according to
their moral and ethical values. One example of educational
multimedia resources is in the field of environmental protection
and sustainable development. A Norwegian Environmental Education
Network has been established which combines good environmental
education with the collecting and storing of data useful to others.
The network is organised as an electronic meeting place where
participating schools exchange experiences, store their results and
find relevant information.
The Internet offers extraordinary
opportunities for enhancing creativity and learning. In fact, the
opportunities for learning and sharing knowledge with others have
never been greater. The benefits and the opportunities of the ICT
society should be accessible to all citizens. However, although a
limited phenomenon, illegal and harmful content is too disturbing
to be ignored. Therefore, the Norwegian Government has decided to
take part in the EU Action plan on promoting safer use of the
Internet. The Norwegian Government also adheres to the EU
Recommendation on promoting competitiveness of the European
audio-visual and information services industry by developing
national frameworks seeking to ensure protection for minors and
human dignity.
We would like to stress the
importance of the development of high-quality internet-based
learning resources. The digital skills which students acquire are
important for every citizen of the information society. It must be
stressed that in an educational setting the development of these
skills are dependent on the availability of learning resources, so
that technology can be used in a fruitful way to facilitate
learning.
In the area of ICT in education,
Norway has recently launched an action plan for the period
2000-2003. The plan is divided into six areas:
- Educational facilitation
- ICT as a subject and ICT in subjects
- Teacher competence
- Research and development
- Organisational facilitation
- Infrastructure and co-operation
The plan contains several
initiatives that are relevant for the eEurope initiative, such as
the development of a Norwegian Learning Net, a common gateway to
Norwegian Education. The Norwegian Learning Net is supposed to
create a better co-ordination of digital learning resources at all
levels in Norwegian education and act as a catalyst for the
implementation of learning technologies and new forms of
learning.
2. Cheaper Internet access
The Government essentially supports
the Commission’s suggested objectives and believes they will help
bringing the benefits of the Information Society to all Europeans
faster.
In Norway, it is the access network
(local loop) where we find the capacity bottle necks. Concerning
capacity, the development within different access technologies is
rapid. This will probably lead to increased competition and reduced
prices for different access technologies that deliver higher
capacities.
It has been proposed that the
incumbent should offer unbundled local loops under non-
discriminatory terms and conditions in order to allow all operators
to provide innovative services. The incumbent has already started
offering unbundled local loops. The radio accesses will be an
alternative to the fixed access and will most likely promote
competition.
The Government is positive
regarding an increased use of general authorisations, and to the
proposal of reserving specific authorisations for assignment of
radio spectrum and numbers. In Norway only SMP (Significant Market
Power) providers need an individual license, others are only
subject to a registration procedure. The Government still requires
an opportunity to use specific authorisations to place obligations
on network operators to ensure scarce resources. Furthermore, the
Government requires the possibility to impose USO (Universal
Service Obligation) by using individual licenses.
3. Accelerating E-Commerce
The communication from the
Commission is a substantial and important contribution to the
development of an information society in balance with consumer
needs. We share the opinion of the Commission that building
consumer trust is essential in order to accelerate e-commerce.
Consumers have been reluctant to
make use of e-commerce, partly because of uncertainty about the
level of protection and the methods of payment in the electronic
marketplace. It is therefore important to secure, as far as
possible, consumers in the electronic marketplace on an equal level
of protection as to that in traditional commerce, and to create
awareness of applicable regulation.
In a dynamic market, policy built
on self-regulation is an important supplement to the regulatory
framework. In Norway, the national Consumer Council and
representatives of businesses in 1999 established a voluntary and
independent label that guarantees consumers in the electronic
marketplace a certain standard of protection. Currently steps are
being taken to expand the net label on a Nordic basis.
Regarding the Commission’s
expressed objective concerning encouraging electronic public
procurement, the Government is in favour of a provision that gives
the contracting authorities possibility to require a contract to be
awarded exclusively by electronic means. The Norwegian public
administration endorses the plans to reform public procurement
legal framework in order to pave way for public administrations to
employ e-commerce in procurement. The government last year launched
a long-term programme to employ e-commerce in procurement. The aim
is to increase efficiency and reduce costs of the public purchasing
process. Adequate training and suitable e-commerce solutions are
important parts of the initiative.
In the Norwegian perspective,
standardised, supplier-independent trade nomenclatures with
sufficient level of detail is an important prerequisite for the
rapid uptake of e-commerce, in procurement in particular. We would
therefore recommend that development of pan-European nomenclatures
for various trade sectors be put on the agenda of accelerating
e-commerce. Such nomenclatures, in addition to saving money for
buyers, also contribute to making a level playing field for
competitive e-commerce companies, independent of their size.
The Public sector is co-operating
closely with the private sector as both have a common interest in
the accelerating e-commerce. Especially companies in the IT sector
participate actively, and such a model has given good results.
Norway already had a survey carried out, which gives us a good
indication of how consumers and companies utilise e- commerce. The
most interesting finding was that 10% of the enterprises, with the
minimum of ten employees and access to the Internet, had trade from
electronic commerce via Internet in 1999. In addition, 13% of them
did receive payment through the Internet.
In addition, the Government has
striven to adapt the Norwegian legislation for electronic
communication. A major project is underway, mapping all kinds of
hindrances against electronic communication. The next phase will be
to suggest changes in the legislation, which will remove obstacles
for enabling electronic communication. The project includes
communication in both private and public sector. Our experiences
from this project could be of interest for EU member countries. The
Government is currently following actively up the EU directive on
electronic commerce, which will become an important framework in
our own regulations.
4. Fast Internet for researchers and students
The targets that are stated in this
action are important steps in order to enable students and teachers
across Europe to take advantage of the teaching and learning
potential of the Internet. Transnational co-operation within
research and education can thus be ensured. To many countries, an
upgrade of Internet access will allow many schools to use learning
resources which otherwise would not be available to them.
In Norway, several projects and
actions have been undertaken. Within the new action plan for ICT in
Norwegian Education, the developments of new Internet applications
are one of the high-priority actions. The aim of this action is to
develop a strategy for Internet application for the entire
educational community in Norway. To ensure that Norway is at the
forefront of the technological development, the Government plans to
establish a high-capacity Research Network, which will radically
increase the capacity between research institutions.
In the university and college
sector, a very advanced and extensive high-capacity network has
already been set up, with Uninett A/S, a wholly owned company under
the Norwegian Ministry of Education, Research and Church Affairs.
The main task is the operation and maintenance of the
infrastructure for research and higher education. Uninett is also
responsible for the Research Network.
5. Smart cards for secure electronic access
Norway is in the process of
drafting a new legislation on electronic signatures. The draft
proposal is inter alia based on the EU Directive on a Common
framework for electronic signatures and is currently on public
inquiry. It will be presented to the Parliament later this
year.
The act regulates inter alia
certification services providers and does also give legal effect to
a certain type of electronic signature. The act is neutral as to
which technology can be used to generate such an electronic
signature. Hence, the present draft proposal of the act needs
additional regulation on what types of techniques can and shall be
accepted to fulfil these special requirements stated in the act.
Due to this need we welcome the work concerning smart cards for
secure electronic access.
The Norwegian public administration
is at present engaged in the effort of building a secure PKI
(Public Key Infrastructure) for secure communications within the
government, and especially for secure communications with citizens
and companies that would like to access electronic public services
offered via the Internet. We see smart cards as an important part
of this infrastructure, because they offer a secure, ubiquitous
token that can be used to access services, authenticate devices and
applications as well as store applications for local use. We would
therefore endorse the initiative on smart cards, especially the
idea of common specifications. Such specifications, must not,
however, depart from emerging market standards in a significant
way.
We would also point out that timing
of the initiative could be reviewed again, as we believe that PKI
will be a driving force for smart card deployment in the future.
Use of smart card to support trust infrastructures for e-commerce
should be given attention at an earlier stage than the Commission
foresees.
As an example of electronic payment
initiatives, the Norwegian banking industry will jointly launch an
electronic identification – "Electronic BankID" within year 2000.
The initiative is believed to ensure safe commerce and secure
payment over the Internet. The usage of Internet as a distribution
channel for payment services is increasing. The development in
Norway is expected to be strengthened as a new legislation of
finance agreement, which equalises agreements that is entered into
electronically with traditional written agreements, will become
operative as of 1
st> of July this year. "Electronic BankID" is
produced to secure financial services in the open net, but can also
be used for other types of electronic identification. Responsible
for the establishment of a common "Electronic BankID" and a
PKI-structure for the bank industry is the Norwegian Financial
Services Association and the Norwegian Savings Banks
Association.
We would also point at the useful
work done on PKI-related smart card specifications in the Nordic
countries and especially in Sweden, where the interest group SEIS
(Secure Electronic Information in Society) produced a number of
standards that had been used in procurement of PKI-services for the
public sector in the three Nordic countries Sweden, Finland and
Norway. The results of this work could constitute some of the basis
for the work to be done in the eEurope initiative.
The Government would like to point
at the necessity of protecting the individual in introducing smart
cards. We are however, positive to the initiative of developing
smart cards, and would like to participate actively in this
process, especially in the upcoming EU Summit in April.
6. Risk capital for high tech SME’s
When it comes to financing
development of new technologies connected to e-commerce in Norway,
it is not obvious that there is a lack of capital. On the contrary,
it seems to be a large interest of such projects in the venture
capital marked, which could indicate that capital is not a
barrier.
In Norway we have different kinds
of schemes to promote supply of capital to high-tech SME's, for
instance grant-, loan-, guarantee- and equity schemes. The latest
initiative from the Government is a seed capital scheme. The seed
capital scheme is a public private partnership where each part
contributes with half of the capital stock in five seed capital
funds. The funds, which are privately owned, invests equity capital
in start up business with high potential of value added and are
supposed to have a long-term perspective on the investments and to
supply the enterprises with competence. Another important aspect of
this scheme is to create a more visible market arena where the
supply and demand side could meet. Norway is currently taking part
in the SME’s program in the EU. We are looking forward to receive
the action lines for the program in 2001, which we expect to
participate in.
7. eParticipation for the disabled
The Norwegian Government supports
the challenges, principles and strategies which is outlined in this
chapter, especially the focus on a universal design. It must be
taken account of the very differing needs disabled have so
standards must be developed, preferably internationally, with an
optimal Universal design.
Several processes have already been
initiated in Norway on the targeted challenges in the document. One
important area is the recent establishment of a centre of
Competence for Speech, Artificial Intelligence and Language in
Voss. Especially development of technology within the area of
speech and language will simplify the use of computers, and be of
vital importance for people with special needs. Another important
aspect in the English driven World Wide Web is to protect our own
culture through making software in Norwegian.
It is important also how
legislation can ensure sufficiently accessibility for all. A
committee has been established which will review the rights of the
disabled in a greater context. The mandate includes an assessment
of how new technology can effect the life of the disabled.
Of increasing interest in Norway
has been the usage of ICT by the elderly. The process of ageing
also involves decreased functions which is in relation to the
adjustments needed for disabled. The Government would therefore
like to recommend that also aspects referring to the elderly are
included within this headline to emphasise stronger the objective
of an ‘information society for all’.
A concrete suggestion is to add in
the first paragraph 2 - 3. sentence:
"…..for people with disabilities
of all ages."
In the report "Accessibility in ICT
procurement" financed by the EU project ACCENT the barriers which
disabled encounters in the use of ICT is discussed, and actions of
how to ensure improved accessibility are outlined. In relation to
this we would like to suggest the following addition after the
third paragraph:
"To promote the inclusion of
accessibility it is necessary for governments to put special
emphasis on procurement of ICT in public sector. Attention must be
given to how ICT accessibility can be an appropriate goal in public
procurement policy."
8. Healthcare online
Norway has recently adopted an
action plan where some of the main objectives are standardising,
developing standards for messages (EDI), testing of security
solutions guidance for IT-security, creating mechanisms of coding
and classifications, in addition to initiatives for the
establishment of a national health centre.
The Government doesn’t have any
specific plan in initiating an electronic health smart card to the
population. We are awaiting the development of infrastructure for
smart cards in other sectors of the society. However, we are
considering the need for access cards (smart cards) for the health
personnel with digital signatures and as a key to information.
The main strategy in Norway is to
prepare for electronic communication (EDI, telemedicine etc.)
between the different actors in the health sector, and to make
information available through networks. ICT is in extensive use in
the health sector in Norway. About 90% of general practitioners
have an electronical journal of their patients, and about 700
medical offices (out of 1700) has an EDI system that for the time
being is mainly used to receive responses from laboratories. A
considerable amount of electronic interaction is taking place in
all the five health regions. In addition, a common electronic post
box is established, for the entire health and social security
sector.
Some years back a National Centre
of telemedicine was established in Tromsø which have built up
strong competence in the field of telemedicine. Telemedicine has
been established on a project basis in all the health regions, and
many of the hospitals has one or another telemedical service
available. They have received international recognition for their
work.
The aim of a national health net is
that all actors in the health sector are enabled to communicate
electronically. In year 2000 work will be carried out to specify
requirements for technical and secure concepts for solutions The
same network can be utilised for several services as telemedicine,
EDI, e-mail, access to Internet among others.
9. Intelligent transport
Norway acknowledges EU’s effort to
integrate IT within the different transport sectors, and have taken
notice of EU’s timetable for implementing measures in this
area.
Primary objectives concerning road
transport telematics are as follows:
- Deliver data and information about the roads, traffic and
vehicles to drivers, public and private organisations, to research
and for commercial usage
- Participate in the establishment of road-based
IT-infrastructure
- Contribute nationally and internationally for the establishment
and keeping of standards, regulations and international
co-operation within the transport telesystems.
- Research
Norway participates in a Nordic
co-operation on IT and transport. In connection with this
co-operation the following projects have started:
- Develop an electronic travel planner
- Surveillance of transport carrying dangerous goods
10.Government online
This area is also in accordance
with the Government’s objective. The Internet is an important tool
to advance the access to public information for both individuals
and industry. In addition it can improve and increase the
efficiency of the administration. We would encourage the Commission
to put forward initiatives and actions, which will remove barriers
like public information that has to be paid for.
One of the aims put forward in the
paper is that the countries within the year 2000 should secure
access to at the minimum four types of Information. In Norway,
among others, an initiative has been taken to ensure access to
environmental information on the Internet. The English version of a
web page that aims to keep interest groups updated on environmental
issues is available on
<http://mistin.dep.no/default-e.htm>
Of increased importance is to take
use of interactive services in the future, not only providing
information.
Additional remarks
For the Nordic countries, it will
be of importance in the development of IT, to capitalise on our
strong points. We will take advantage of the high penetration of IT
in the Norwegian society. In Norway we have an interesting division
of responsibility, which we will continue to pursue, where the
public sector has a big responsibility in acting as a role model in
taking use of new technology. The public sector is in this way both
promoting new technology and is a demanding customer. This gives
synergy effects in the market in addition to creating an impetus
for SME’s.
We have also in the last year
decided upon a reform for competence building, covering the needs
of the workplace, the society and the individual. The reform
includes all adults, and aims to ensure a right to take after- and
further education. The reform is in line with the EU initiative for
Life Long Learning. IT plays a crucial role in this matter, in both
gaining digital literacy as well as being a tool for education.
