“SEEREN Inauguration Event” Thessaloniki, January 9, 2004

1. Information Society as a prerequisite for development and economic growth, taking advantage of EU structural funds - The Greek strategy & the role of GRNET Yannis Caloghirou Secretary for the Information Society Ministry of Economy and Finance secinfosoc@mnec.gr www.infosociety.gr “SEEREN Inauguration Event” Thessaloniki, January 9, 2004

2. An Information Society for all.. • From the first phase of the World Summit on the Information Society, Geneva, 10-12 December: http://www.itu.int/wsis • “Declaration of Principles - Building the Information Society: a global challenge in the new Millennium” • A. Our Common Vision of the Information Society • “7. ... sciencehas a central role in the development of the Information Society” • 9. “… ICTs should be regarded as tools and not as an end in themselves” • 10. ..the benefits of the information technology revolution are today unevenly distributed between the developed and developing countries and within societies. We are fully committed to turning this digital divide into a digital opportunity for all, particularly for those who risk being left behind and being further marginalized • B. An Information Society for All: Key Principles • …the role of governments and all stakeholders in the promotion of ICTs for development • ..information and communication infrastructure: an essential foundation for an inclusive information society • The Information Society is intrinsically global in nature and national efforts need to be supported by effective international and regional cooperation

3. Information Society strategic objectives • IS development is a prerequisite for the convergence of the Greek economy and society with EU average in terms of competitiveness, standard of living, and quality of life • Strategic choices: diffusion and better use of Information & Communications Technologies (ICTs) in Greek Economy and Society • Create an educational and research system adapted to the “digital age” • Increasing the quantity and quality of electronic Government (eGovernment) services for the citizens and the business community • Increasing productivity in the Public Administration • Increasing growth, innovation and competitiveness of the business sector • Upgrading skills and the creation of new jobs • Promoting the Greek cultural heritage and development of digital content • Developing of high quality and affordable to all broadband infrastructure and services • Narrowing down the digital divides and promoting regional development • The main tools to build the IS in Greece are the IS National Strategy and the Operational Programme for Information Society (OPIS) • part of EU structural funds • Total budget: ~ 2.8 B€

4. Broadband Networking as a keystone • Broadband is for the Information Society and the knowledge economy what electricity, the rail and high-ways were for the Industrial Age • Broadband deployment is at the heart of the eEurope 2002 & 2005 Action Plans: • “Fast, cheap, reliable, secure”broadband is a prerequisite for • the promotion of advanced research & eScience • eBusiness at local, national, regional and international level • advanced eGovernment services for the citizen • the development of higher skills through lifelong education & eLearning • the promotion of cultural heritage, tourism and new forms of entertainment, eHealth and social security services • Secure broadband for the public administration, schools, universities, museums, libraries, health centers and broadband for the remote & underdeveloped regions to be achieved by 2005  European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA) appointed to Greece • Broadband is also a prerequisite for increased competitiveness and economic growth through the full development of eBusiness and distance working Broadband is a prerequisite for development of the Information Society and the knowledge economy

5. Broadband Policy measures for Greece • The Secretariat for Information Society in collaboration with the Ministry of Transport and Communications has established a Broadband Task Force that already produced a National strategy for broadband access www.broad-band.gr • Erkki Liikanen : “it is pleasing to see MS acting on their commitment to draw comprehensive strategies as the deployment and take-up of broadband” • OPIS call for proposals to develop broadband infrastructures and services: • Total budget 350 M€ • Creation of a “broadband culture” • Promotion of broadband access for enterprises and the citizens • ADSL, WiFi HotSpots, LMDS • Low prices play a significant role for market penetration • Need to consider some regulatory issues in particular regarding wholesale prices (backbone access) in order to ensure competition on broadband services  Objective: Convergence of Quality of service and prices with the rest of Europe before the Athens 2004 Olympics

6. GRNET promoting broadband in SEE & beyond • GRNET www.grnet.gr through the OPIS-funded GRNET2 projectprovides national gigabit connectivity in Greece for 75 research and education institutions • GN1 and GRNET provide international connectivity to the panEuropean research & education network – GEANT • GRNET is leading the 5th FP IST project South East European Research & Education Networking project - SEEREN www.seeren.orgas the first tangible measure to ease the SEE digital divide and make steps towards broadband • GRNET actively participates in the Eumedconnect project, which aims at establishing a research network in the Mediterranean basin and linking it to GEANT

7. Grids: the Driver for the future development of the Information society and knowledge economy • Relying on the availability of fast networks and high-speed broadband access for all, the concept of Grids builds on the idea of sharing resources such as computing power and storage capacity, across frontiers • Grid hides the heterogeneity and complexity of the underlying infrastructure providing a uniform way of accessing, processing and storing data • The integration of distributed resources allows for synergies and economies of scale • Culture of sharing beneficial to all • Sharing know-how • Sharing information • Sharing resources  path to development and growth • Grids will give a new meaning to the ERA, boosting research activity through a collaborative e-Infrastructure (i.e. network+grids) all over Europe, combining existing research networks (GEANT-SEEREN) with distributed resources sharing capabilities  Thus Grids can become the driver for the future development of the Information Society and knowledge economy

8. Grid policy measures for Greece • The Secretariat for Information Society - Ministry of Economy and Finance has established the Hellasgrid Task Force that already produced a National strategy for Grid development in Greece www.hellasgrid.gr • Hellasgrid is driving the Greek Grid efforts towards eInfrastructure development – initial focus on advanced eScience & research applications: • Meteorology, Earthquake prediction, Bioinformatics, virtual eLearning and Training environments, Chemical process simulations, Disaster prevention • OPIS has published a call for pilot projects for the in-field trial & development of Grid and Open Source technologies • Multiple 2,1 M€ pilot projects to support national infrastructures, surveys and application development • Further projects will support human networking activities i.e. dissemination, training, transfer of technology know-how • Hellasgrid and the Greek Academic community participate through GRNET to panEuropean efforts -The EGEE proposed for funding project “Enabling Grids for Escience in Europe” aiming at integrating and operating a panEuropean Grid infrastructure • OPIS further promotes the encouragement & familiarisation toopen source technologies & Grid middleware www.open-source.gr

9. GRNET promoting Grids in SEE & beyond • GRNET coordinates the OPIS-funded Hellasgrid Task Force • GRNET participates in the EGEE proposed for funding panEuropean Grid project coordinating South East Europe (Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Israel and Romania) • GRNET is leading the 6th FP RI proposed for funding project South East European GRid eInfrastructure Development – SEEGRID www.seegrid.org as a further step to ease the SEE digital divide bringing closer the research & science communities to Europe • GRNET under the auspices of the Greek EU presidency in collaboration with EU launched the EU eInfrastructure initiative – www.einfrastructure.org aiming at establishing a policy framework for resource access & sharing across Europe and beyond

10. Strategy beyond research:The “Go on-line” project • Go on-line: an Initiative of the Greek Ministry of Development - http://www.go-online.gr • Objective:To support Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs) toconnect to the Internet and inform them of the benefits that will be obtained through its usage • Beneficiaries of the programme are all Greek enterprises with up to ten employees and less than 587,000 €, annual turnover except for joint stock companies (S.A.'s) and self-employed professionals • GRNET through OPIS-funded projects has undertaken the training support for the go on-line project (educate tutors in order to train the SME staff all over the country) • Awarded as a best-practice project in the framework of the Go Digital initiative – DG Regio benchmarking for ICT adoption

11. Strategy beyond research:eBusiness Forum & other • E-business forum http://www.ebusinessforum.gris a permanent state mechanism for open, broad and continuous consultation with main stakeholders from business, academia and government that aims to: • Recommend and generate policy measures for the digital economy in Greece • Progress report on ICT and e-business penetration in Greece via statistical data • Sensitizeand support SMEs on e-business issues • Link national initiatives to relative international ones • Duration: 2001-2006 • Awarded out of 200 candidates as one of the 5 best-practice projects at European level • DG Enterprise benchmarking study in cooperation with OECD • Other important efforts funded by OPIS under the structural funds are • The Greek School Network – www.sch.gr • The National administration network Syzefxis www.syzefxis.gov

12. The role of GRNET • In all the above-mentioned efforts GRNET plays a key role transferring technology know-how inside and beyond the national boundaries to the whole region • In addition a network of networks is build enabling cooperation and interplay resulting in mutual influences • A critical mass of infrastructures, skills and services is promoted • Use of Internet: • Ages 15-24  50% (1 out of 2) • Ages > 65  negligible Source: GRNET/eBusiness Forum National Survey on the adoption of new technologies (2001-2002)

13. Conclusions • The information society is a prerequisite for economic growth and development in the “digital era” • Information society is key for the convergence of the SEE economies and societies with EU average • State intervention is essential in order to undertake national strategies & guidance along with funding resources for infrastructures • The Information Society is above all about society and human networks • Coordination at national, regional and international level is vital – including national and European funded-projects • GRNET has played a significant role promoting ICT in the region – for research and beyond • The SEEREN project is a best practise project easing the digital divide in SEE and in parallel promoting the upgrade of local networks and advanced services Excerpt from the Hellasgrid strategy document: “…the procurement of computer clusters and storage area networks will not be sufficient. The Hellasgrid success depends upon the long-standing funding of specialized staff and the establishment of human structures, that will guarantee the uninterrupted systems operation and plan the infrastructures upgrade and applications usage at local, national and regional level.”