CZECH REPUBLIC: A KNOWLEDGE-BASED ECONOMY AND SOCIETY AND THE STATE INFORMATION POLICY

1. CZECH REPUBLIC:A KNOWLEDGE-BASEDECONOMY AND SOCIETY AND THE STATEINFORMATION POLICY Karel Březina, Minister of the Czech Government, Head of the Czech Government Office, Chairman of the Government Council for the State Information Policy

2. Agenda Knowledge-based Economy and Society (KBES) in the Czech Republic today • Basic economic framework • Towards the information society • Educated and skilled population • Information and communication infrastructure Challenge of the KBES and the State Information and Communication Policy - next steps

3. Czech Republic - Several Facts • Stable political situation • All major political parties united behind the priority of EU accession • After three years of recession the Czech economy has clearly recovered • GDP rose by 3.1% in 2001 and is expected to rise at the same pace in 2002 • Growth has been fuelled by rebounding foreign direct investment, with USD 6.3 billion invested in 1999 and 4.6 billion in 2000

4. Legal Environment for Investments NON-DISCRIMINATION 100% FOREIGN OWNERSHIP POSSIBLE FREE ENTRY AND EXIT SUPPORT AND PROTECTION OF INVESTMENTS DOUBLE TAXATION PREVENTION TREATIES FULL CONVERTIBILITY OF CZECH CURRENCY POSSIBILITY TO ACQUIRE REAL ESTATE * INVESTMENT INCENTIVES YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! * THROUGHA LOCALSUBSIDIARY

5. Towards the Information Society • 1990-1998: Extensive Growth • No general nationwide policy, lack of coordination • Departmental dependency • Heterogeneous information systems without integration • Extensive growth, many separate projects • No “citizen focus“ • Architectural approach, less process orientation • No modern legal framework

6. Towards the Information Society • 1998-2002: First Steps towards Coordination of Information and Communication Policy • October 98 - Government Council for State Information Policy • 1999 - National Telecommunications Policy (NTP), State Information Policy (SIP) • May 2000 - SIP Action Plan (AP SIP) • June 2001 - eEurope+ adopted • New institutions established (e.g. ÚVIS) • Private Public Partnerships developed

7. SIP - Eight Priority Areas I. Information/Digital Literacy II. IT-based Democracy III. Development of Public Administration Information Systems IV. Communications Infrastructure V. Trustworthiness and Security of Information Systems and Personal Data Protection VI. Electronic Commerce VII. Transparent Economic Environment VIII. The Information Society: Stable and Safe

8. SIP Action Plan • E-literacy programme (e.g. Internet for Schools) • E-commerce programme • E-government programme Examples: - Public Libraries on-line (1100 l./2001, 6500/2005) - Internet for Schools (2002- 3620 least equipped schools will be connected to the School Intranet and to the Internet during the first period )

9. SIP - Legal Framework • Personal Data Protection Act • Free Access to Information Act • Telecommunications Act • Electronic Signature Act • Public Administration Information Systems Act “The Czech Republic has made good legislative progress in the field of the Information Society. Acts onTechnical Products Requirements, Public Administration Information Systems and Electronic Signatures have been in force since 2000, with further alignment to be completed upon accession. Future efforts should concentrate on the effective implementation of the adopted laws and on the transposition of the electronic commerce directive. Certain elements of the electronic signatures law will have to be reviewed. The Office for Personal Data Protection will be in charge of the accreditation and supervision of certification authorities”. EU Commission 2001 Report

10. Educated and skilled population • High quality "knowledge pipeline" • OECD: Czech Republic has extremely high secondary level completion rate, second only to the USA (88% of Czech labour force completed their higher secondary education - OECD average is 65% • Even better in younger age groups • Language-skilled and IT literate • Internet making its way to households

11. Information policy in education Strategy of the State Information Policy in Education: STAGE I • Achieve information literacy by all school-leavers from basic and secondary, integrated and vocational schools by 2005 • Establish at least one special classroom equipped with quality multimedia computers at each school • Integrate ICT among the standard tools of work used by teachers

12. Information policy in education Strategy of the State Information Policy in Education: STAGE II • Create the conditions for the effective integration of schools into the system of lifelong education, in particular for people in the ICT sphere, public and state employees • Lifelong education available via public information services of libraries. • Education for the disadvantaged regions, the handicapped and unemployed. • Access to the information of the Ministry of Education and close cooperation among all ministries.

13. Project I - Information literacy Education of teachers to increase computer literacy Education of teachers to administer computer networks Using the modern ICT for teaching Project III - Infrastructure Connection to the Internet and provision of Multimedia computer equipment LAN networks at schools Creating a nationwide School Intranet Project II - Education software and Information Sources Multimedia tools and programs Launching the ICT and programs Information sources in education Project IV - Coordination Centre Managing and coordinating individual projects Drafting the methodology Collecting and evaluating the information Information policy in education

14. Information policy in education Current goals and achievements in stage I: Infrastructure: • Implementation finished at 850 schools • Goal for 2002 = 3620 schools • 482 training centres for teachers established • 48 000 teachers will be trained during 2002

15. KBES-related strategy documents • State Information Policy (1999) • State Information Policy in Education (2000) • Action Plan of SIP (2000) • National Telecommunication Policy (1999) • eEurope + Action Plan (2001) • Vision of the CR in 2015 (2001) • National Educational Program (White Paper) • National Plan for Accession to the EU • National Development Plan (2001) etc.

16. Czech Republic – Right Time for the KBES StrategyAction plan? Basic milestones - timeframe for KBES Action plan: JUNE 2002 – parliamentary election JULY 2002 – new government AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2002 – newgovernment programme statement • Closing all chapters of the EU accession process 2003 – 2004 period: • Central government reform (ministries, central offices, other government agencies and bodies…) • Regulatory reform

17. Challenge for KBES strategy Response to this challenge: Draft GREEN PAPER on the KBES in the Czech Republic = the nearest concrete step with regard to the knowledge-based economy

18. Green Paper on the Czech KBES Timeframe for preparation – before JULY 2002 • Responsible: e-minister Goals of the Green Paper: • Position document - kind of SWOT analysis • Basic benchmarking document • Summary document • Propose draft of the KBES Action plan • Specify role of all actors participating in the KBES development • Including anticipated EU Sevilla conclusions

19. Thank you for your attention.