ICT for Competitiveness and Innovation

1. ICT for Competitiveness and Innovation Athens 20 January 2009 Costas Andropoulos Head of Unit - ICT for Competitiveness and Innovation

2. The Key Relevance of ICT Relevance of ICT ICT as General Purpose Technology EU ICT Sector • Impacts the competitiveness as an enabling technology. • Enables process and product innovations. • Improves business processes along the whole value chain. • According to a recent study* “Money spent on computing technology delivers gains in worker productivity that are three to five times those of other investments”. • Represents with 670 Billion Euro over 6 % of EU GDP and employment in 2007. • Software has a share of 11.3 % and IT services 20.9 % of the total ICT market value. • 50 % of the EU productivity growth, (1,1% between 2000-2004) comes from ICT. *Study by the IT and Innovation Foundation

3. THE COMPETITIVENESS & INNOVATION framework PROGRAMME - CIP Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme (EIP) Intelligent Energy Europe (IEE) Information Communication Technologies Policy support Programme (ICT PSP) • Better access to finance for SMEs through venture capital investment & loan guarantee instruments • Business & innovation support services delivered through a network of regional centres • Promotion of entrepreneurship & innovation • Support for eco-innovation • Support for policy-making that encourages entrepreneurship & innovation • Developing a single European information space • Strengthening the European internal market for ICT & ICT- based products & services • Encouraging innovation through the wider adoption of & investment in ICT • Developing an inclusive information society & more efficient and effective services in areas of public interest • Improving of quality of life • Fostering energy efficiency & the rational use of energy sources • Promoting new & renewable energy sources & energy diversification • Promoting energy efficiency & new energy sources in transport ~730 M€ ~2,170 M€ ~730 M€ Source for further information:http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/enterprise_policy/cip/index_en.htm

4. TheICT-relatedCIP programme at a glance The aim ICT PSP The ICT PSP runs from 2007 to 2013 and builds on the aims of the previous e-TEN, Modinis and e-Content programmes and will support the aims of the integrated strategy i2010 - European Information Society 2010. • Develop show cases of ICT based innovations. • Analyse current, and prepare for future developments. • Diffuse widely the results. Participants of the programme • The programme is open to legal entities established in the EU. • Legal entities established outside the EU may participate on equal terms. • Other third countries may participate on a case-by-case basis but will not receive any funding.

5. ICT PSP priorities and instrument Priorities MainInstruments • Building on interoperability initiatives in member states / associated countries. • Stimulating innovative use of ICT in public & private sector. • Thematic Network: Mobilisation/Exchanges between practitioners & policy makers. • Best practice network: Combining consensus building / awareness raising / large scale implementation only for supporting Digital library. • Those that support EU ICT policy objectives. • Those that support innovation policy objectives. • Focus on areas that need financial intervention at EU level. • Readiness of the stakeholders to mobilise financial and human resources to carry out the actions. Source for further information: http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/activities/ict_psp/index_en.htm

6. The e-Business Support NetworkEnhancing ICT and e-Business uptake for SMEs e-BSN • 200 national and regional ICT and e-Business policies for SMEs in 30 countries. • Policy shifts • from sponsoring ICT investment towards coaching SMEs to innovate through ICTs • towards sector specific policies. • e-BSN portal offers a “one-stop-shop”. • e-BSN shapes policy trends and supports policy coordination. • Sector specific policies help SMEs participate in global digital supply chains. • A wide range of e-Business policies at European, national and regional level are increasingly backing up this new trend. http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/e-bsn/index_en.html

7. The e-Business Guide for SMEs Intelligent application that helps SMEs self-diagnose e-Business needs, proposes solutions using local ICT service providers. • http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/e-bsn/ebusiness-solutions-guide/

8. Sector-specific pilot actions One large-scale pan-European pilot action in the textile/clothing and footwear sectors started January 2008 (http://www.ebiz-tcf.eu/) More sectors to be supported first half 2009 Streamline entire sectors by digitising whole supply chains helping companies use ICT-enabled solutions

9. The European e-Skills Agenda • Background • Growing e-skills shortages in Europe • Fragmented approach and cyclical problem (bubble burst) • European e-Skills Forum and ICT Task Force Report (2006) • Long term problem requiring a coherent and consistent agenda • ICT Industry led-initiative • e-Skills Industry Leadership Board (06/2007)www.e-skills-ilb.org • EU Policy Communications • COM(2007) 496: “e-Skills for the 21st Century: Fostering Competitiveness, Growth and Jobs” (07/09/2007) • e-Inclusion Initiative

10. Implementing the e-Skills Strategy • Good Progress in 2008: • EU e-Competence Framework, www.ecompetences.eu • European e-Skills and Careers Portal, htttp://eskills.eun.org • Successful Multi-stakeholder Partnerships • Report on the Impact of Global Sourcing • Future work (2009-2010) will concentrate on: • European ICT Curriculum guidelines • Relevant fiscal and financial incentives • Better and greater use of e-learning • EU e-Skills Week: awareness raising campaign (1Q2010)

11. BUSINESS LEGAL TECHNICAL BUSINESS e-Invoicing Obstacles to e-Invoicing Importance for SMEs Economic dimension of e-invoicing • DG MARKT-commissioned study • €238bn over 6 years • EACT - CAST project • Average processing cost of paper invoice €30 • 80% cost saving possible with e-invoicing • 10 billion invoices/year in EU • = €240bn per annum • Case study: Denmark • Danish Government G2B savings €100-134 million/yr • Case study: France • In 2001, B2B savings of €40bn • Reduce transaction processing time and costs. • Ensure ‘SME-friendly’ formats supported. • Legal certainty.

12. e-Invoicing Expert Group • The European Commission set up an Expert Group on e-Invoicing: • to identify shortcomings in the regulatory framework, business requirements and data elements. • to propose the European e-Invoicing Framework and responsibilities for standards. • Members: representatives of the public sector, financial service providers, standardisation organizations, SMEs... • January 09 • Mid-term report (including views on Equal Treatment) • Spring 09 • EEI Recommendation • Dec 09 – EEI Framework • Basis for common business rules and technical standards • Increase incentives for electronic trade • Remove barriers to e-invoicing Expected Deliverables http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/ict/policy/einvoicing/einvoicing_en.htm

13. Further Information • DG ENTR unit web site: http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/ict/index_en.htm • Contact European CommissionEnterprise Directorate-GeneralDirectorate:  Innovation Policy Unit D4: ICT for Competitiveness &  InnovationB-1049 Brusselsfax: +32 2 296 70 19E-mail: entr-ict-for-comp-and-innovation@ec.europa.eu