NATIONAL POLICIES AND INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION IN SOUTH EASTERN EUROPE ON THE WAY TO INFORMATION SOCIETY

1. NATIONAL POLICIES AND INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION IN SOUTH EASTERN EUROPE ON THE WAY TO INFORMATION SOCIETY UNCTAD-UNECE High-Level Regional Conference for Transition Economies “ICT & E-Commerce Strategies for Development” Palais des Nations, Geneva, 20-21 Oct. 2003 Prof. Marius GURAN - Romania

2. The South Eastern Europe (SEE) area represents a high potential for growth in information and communication technologies (ICT). Discrepancies in the progress on the way to information society (IS) can turn into advantages through right national policies and international cooperation, by coordinating the different initiatives, programs, and projects, promoted by EU, UN, SP, NGOs etc. In the Bucharest Declaration (Nov. 2002), the Pan European Regional Ministerial Conference, in preparation of the WSIS, have been expressed the vision on an IS beneficial for all (E-Inclusion), under the seven principles and four priority themes.

3. The principles of IS for all: • Securing access to information and knowledge • Promoting universal access at affordable cost • Developing human capacity through education and training • Setting up an enabling environment, including legal, regulatory and policy frameworks • Building confidence and security in the use of ICTs • Addressing global issues Priority themes for e-strategies: • E-Government: more efficient and accountable • E-Business: more competitiveness and better jobs • E-Society: broader local content and applications • E-Learning and E-Education: empowering people

4. E-COMMERCE PARADIGM SHIFT ICTs as technological drivers for: • A new thinking and new organizational forms • New economic perspectives and growth of new jobs • New socio-cultural settings (new values, knowledge workers, empowered customers etc.)

5. NEW ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVES Past + Present • Complex organization and simple jobs • Tangible assets • Efficient organization as a vision • Simple products and processes on the mass market Future • Complex jobs and simple organization • Tangible + Intangible assets • Learning organization as a vision • Value-added product and processes, customer focused on highly dynamic and global market

6. E-COMMERCE ORGANIZATIONS The intra-organizational view • Change from the hierarchical structures to networked structures: • chain of command  knowledge networking • authority of position  authority of competence • sequential processes  concurrent processes • vertical communication  horizontal communication The inter-organizational view • Open universe of organizations • Clusters of internet worked organizations • e-business communities • economic webs • value networks • Virtual organizations: • core activities • outsourcing • subcontractors

7. E-COMMERCE IN SEE E-commerce as a driver in SEE • Building a competitive local infrastructure • Building transactional systems, not only informational sites • ICT and e-Commerce as a driver in policy development, institutional reform, socio-economic development Needed initiatives in e-Business and e-Commerce • Telecommunication and IT markets liberalization • Interoperability: common projects, open-access concept and global standards adopted • RDT as basis for innovation and competition • International industrial cooperation, in the complex projects (hardware and software), based on national initiatives and projects

8. DIGITAL DIVIDE FOR SEE • Per capita ICT expense range in 2000 between 567 USD  25 USD in SEE and  1215 USD for EU countries • SEE has 2.4 times less PCs, 2.9 less Internet users, and 5 times less domain names, compared to Europe’s average • SEE has problems with connectivity, information security, e-business climate, laws and regulations • Digital Divide exists because ICT readiness is correlated with general level of the economic development (expressed by GDP/capita): • A cost of PC in equivalent cost of labors hours ( 64 in EU and  950 or  1140 in SEE); • Internet access cost is still high, reaching up to 60% of a monthly wage; • Digital illiteracy or other priorities.

9. GENERAL DIGITAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR SEE SEE is an area able to participate to the New/Digital Economy, offering several favorable conditions: • Human resources are abundant and education system enough performant • Performance/cost capability may be turned in a competitive advantage • Software and ICT services outsourcing capabilities are in a better position on the global ICT markets • Chance to leapfrog in implementing e-business and e-commerce under the presence of multinationals or strategic partners, by promoting domestic policies aimed to encourage ICT development • Possibility to promote larger regional projects for ICT infrastructures, education, and applications, within Stability Pact or other international organizations.

10. NEED TO DISSEMINATE GOOD PRACTICES AND GOOD POLICIES THROUGH SEE The good experience accumulated in every country of SEE area must be disseminated as “good practices” and “good policies”, promoting a regional project for this purpose, in the next fields: • Legislative and regulatory framework for development of the IS services (e-commerce, e-signature, e-payment for taxes, e-procurement etc.) • Education and training (e-learning, new skills for IS, LLL etc.) • E-Government (G2C, G2B, G2E, G2G) and Public Administration • Statistical indicators to measure and monitor the progress of IS • The support for SMEs in using new ICT The project can be promoted under the joint effort of different international organizations and every country of SEE area