CoR to consider PSI
The EU Committee of Regions (CoR) Commission for Culture, education and research (EDUC) has drafted a response to the European Commission review of the PSI Directive that was published on 7th May 2009. The EDUC report will be considered at the 83rd plenary of the CoR that will be held on 10th & 11th February 2010.
EDUC-IV-044: CdR 247/2009
Opinion on Internet of things – An action plan for Europe; and Re-use of Public Sector Information – Review of Directive 2003/98/EC
Rapporteur: Dumitru ENACHE (RO/EPP)
Adoption: February 2010 CoR Plenary Session
The EDUC work program 2009 states:
“The competences of the Education, Culture and Research Commission are the following:
- Lifelong learning, education and training
- Culture and cultural diversity, promotion of minority languages
- Research and technology, including ethical questions
- Information Society and trans-European telecommunication networks
- Communications, audiovisual industry and media technologies and markets
- Youth, sport and active citizenship”
“Information society
For EDUC it is vital that all citizens have access to the benefits of information and communication technologies. It therefore attaches much importance to the future Communication on accessible information society which will address the usability of information and communication technologies by persons with disabilities with specific attention to rapidly improving the e-accessibility of websites.
EDUC also looks forward to the Second Communication on ICT and energy efficiency. The Communication follows up that of 2008 and will help quantify the potential of ICTs to contribute to improving energy efficiency across the economy. The EDUC commission will closely follow how much of its recommendations in its opinion on the first ICT and energy efficiency communication have been taken up in this new initiative.
The EDUC Commission is anticipating in particular the Communication on ICT R&D and Innovation. It has always called for investment in research in order to ensure the growth and new businesses and believes that the use of ICT in innovation can address key socio-economic challenges. In this respect it also welcomes the Commission's initiative to issue a Communication on ICT infrastructures for science as e-infrastructures already contribute to the development of world class science in Europe. The support of the local and regional level would be crucial in this field.
As a follow-up to its work in 2008 through the opinion on the Communication on Universal Service in Electronic Communications and the Communication on future networks and the internet, it will follow the Communication on the results of the public consultation on the scope of the universal service obligation, as well as the Communication on the internet of things with interest.
Communication in the digital age imposes substantial challenges to ensure security and privacy, to avoid misuse in our society, including banning illegal content and content unwanted by the end-user. The EDUC Commission will continue to ensure that the regional and local dimension is given focus in this increasingly important field of the information society, and looks forward in this regard to the Commission's Communication presenting a Guide on rights and obligations of users in the information society that will present a Charter of user rights in relation with digital content.
EDUC has stressed the importance of local and regional authorities in facilitating the use of ICT for all including in the provision of services. The Communication on the reuse of Public Sector Information will also be followed with interest by the EDUC Commission due to the responsibilities local and regional authorities have in this field.”
The draft response to the EC Communication on the PSI Directive states (English & ):
EUROPEAN UNION
COR EDUC-IV-044 83rd plenary session
10 and 11 February 2010
DRAFT NOTICE – Committee of Regions (CoR) – on the theme
"INTERNET OF OBJECTS AND REUSE OVERVIEW OF PUBLIC SECTOR "
Rapporteur: Enache Dumitru (RO / EPP) Mayor Stejaru
Deadline for tabling amendments:
Monday, January 26, 2010 (email: educ@cor.europa.eu)
Number of signatures required: 32
Reference texts
Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of Regions - The Internet of Things: An Action Plan for Europe COM (2009) 278 final
Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of Regions - Reuse of public sector information: a review of Directive 2003/98/EC COM (2009) 212 final
I. POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS
COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS
1. welcomes the Commission initiative to review the implementation of the Directive on the reuse of public sector information (PSI) and promotion of the Action Plan for Internet objects (IDO), insofar they can become valuable assets to citizens, businesses and government and could help create jobs and improve the quality of public services;
2. stresses the importance of reusing public sector information for commercial or non commercial and invest in research to support specific activities and the development of future applications to enhance the value of the field of Internet of Things ;
3. stresses the importance of local and regional authorities, as recognized in the i2010 Strategy for Information Society European as they are the engine of economic growth locally and generate, use and have many products and services digital information, the local and regional authorities should therefore contribute fully and effectively in the governance of the Internet of Things;
4. noted that local and regional Internet objects can enhance the quality of life and socio-economic activity of citizens, stimulate regional development and local businesses and citizens to provide public services more tailored and effective. The regions and cities can contribute in several ways to ensure that this potential is fully exploited, the local and regional authorities are among the main beneficiaries of the governance of the Internet of objects and are key drivers of its development and its implementation;
5. request that appropriate solutions are defined for the collection and management of public sector information, given the administrative and cultural diversity found among the Member States and regional and local organizations;
6. emphasizes the role of the logistics required to handle the large volume of data to be used by applications developed and managed by the government;
7. welcomes the Directive on the reuse of public sector information is to minimize the administrative burden to be borne by public agencies because of the availability of such information;
8. emphasizes the importance and necessity of rules and common practices for reuse and the exploitation of public sector information, to ensure that the same basic conditions are applied to the sets of market European information, the conditions for reuse of this information more transparent and the internal market distortions are eliminated;
9. argued the need to promote e-inclusion or participation of all in an information society inclusive, equitable a regional perspective and social, which uses information technology and communication ( ICT) in the broader context of the Internet of Things, to enhance competitiveness and improve public services;
10. encourage advocates, Europe, the establishment of laboratories funded jointly by universities and private companies, to amplify the impact of research in the field of information technology in Europe;
11. Stresses that access to public sector information and the reuse of these can contribute to enhancing the applications of Internet objects. Cities and regions that are the primary repositories of this information can significantly contribute to facilitate the development of the Internet of Things;
Directive on the reuse of public sector information (PSI)
12. draws attention to the fact that to develop a market for the reuse of PSI, it is necessary to abandon the exclusive deals between public sector agencies and private companies and implement policies providing for the application of licensing models and pricing in order to facilitate and maximize the reuse of ISP (including the application of marginal cost) it is also important to consider and clearly define the types of mechanisms used for the production and management public data;
13. regarding the principle of a competitive market for ISP says it is imperative to ensure that private service providers are subject to the same conditions as the public, giving users access to private data public and clear conditions under which these data can be used for commercial purposes;
14. noted that it is essential to determine an objective method of measuring the economic value of information because of its public nature and its relationship with government institutions;
15. proposes to distinguish between access to public information and reuse, while fully respecting the rules of data protection, to increase benefits for producers of information, which may not fully recover its costs when generates this information, and minimize the number of cases where access to public information is limited;
The local and regional authorities - the main drivers and beneficiaries in the use of PSI
16. asked to give more importance to the awareness of regional and local levels, given the lack of knowledge and / or mechanisms for identifying information that can be reused, and help government agencies to show more transparency and to promote the reuse of PSI.
17. stresses that to take full advantage of the reuse of PSI, it is necessary to further involve local communities, which could contribute significantly to promoting the reuse to increase competitiveness and create jobs;
18. argues that it is essential that public institutions of regional and local levels have appropriate internal capacities and sustainable financial resources for scanning. Partnerships between public and private sectors and market development of online learning (e-learning) are solutions to the funding of digitization. The public sector information can generate revenue streams independent contributing to the creation of data and digitization efforts. Moreover, networks and interactive communities are also important because they reduce costs, eg in the case of development of software solutions for open source;
The Internet of Things
19. highlights that the development of information technology is a critical issue for our societies and the European single market, which requires that the EU allocates sufficient economic resources to innovation, basic research and R & D and political resources to the governance of the Internet's future.
20. noted that the development of interactive platforms, such as Web 2.0, is more useful nowadays, because of their complex functions of information sharing and improved interoperability between many systems, and their potential in creating or providing content, whether by individuals or forms cooperative and collaborative, in this context, the rapid development of technologies for mass storage is essential for databases government, which will contain the description of objects identified by their Internet addresses;
21. suggests that special attention be given to the future of the Internet, which could make a synthesis between the objects and Internet content / services of high quality by using Web 2.0 platforms. This new structure will redefine the place and role of networks ubiquitous in the lives of citizens and economic growth, which could cause a major societal change;
The governance of the Internet of Things, respect for privacy and data security
22. insists that the development of the Internet of Things can not be entrusted to the private sector alone, given the significant changes that lead to society. Only the involvement of policy makers in the EU and governments, including local authorities can ensure that the use of ICT enables, among other things, stimulate economic growth, to meet the challenges of an aging society and increase energy efficiency;
23. highlights that it is necessary to develop and exercise governance of the Internet of objects in a manner consistent with all public policies, as indicated by the COR in its White Paper on governance multiniveaux1, which aims to strengthen the effectiveness of community action through coordinated activities of EU Member States and local authorities on the basis of partnership, to develop and implement policies of the EU;
24. draws attention to the need to address successfully the major strategic challenge posed by the Internet of objects by applying the principles and mechanisms of multilevel governance, both vertically, between local authorities, national governments and EU European horizontally between local authorities and civil society, or by implementing some innovations in local and regional levels;
25. argues that in developing the infrastructure of the Internet of objects and the development of services it offers, it will be essential to ensure that all safety requirements are met at all levels, to ensure an optimal degree of confidentiality and protection of personal data and prevent unauthorized surveillance of all kinds of personal information and profiling on such purchase preferences, the 'state of health, medical records, etc..;
26. finds that the guarantee of protection of privacy depends on factors such as the structure of public sector bodies (local level, mostly), the harmonization of European legislation, promoting a culture of 'innovation among officials, including the implementation of a common code of ethics, and management of applications based on ICT;
27. therefore considers it appropriate to focus on developing guidelines and recommendations to develop strategies, regulations, standards and formats common in the field of ICT to enhance safety data and enhance the protection of privacy;
28. calls to organize extensive training for all employees, particularly skilled technical staff (in areas such as networks, systems, security, privacy, etc..) staff directly involved in security procedures using different methodologies, and finally one that is concerned with general or indirectly through the process of innovation and modernization (teaching skills for consumers, for example);
Socioeconomic consequences of the Internet of Things
29. believes, as stated in the opinion précédents2, that local and regional authorities should undertake a comprehensive collaboration to improve interoperability in government and the effective delivery of public services;
30. noted that local authorities can lead the way, they are also in effect when it comes to boosting Europe's competitiveness and increase trade opportunities to use ICT for improve energy efficiency by sharing best practices in terms of technology, identify project partners and grant funding;
31. underlines that strategies designed to support ICT will not lead to improved economic performance without the active support and participation of local and regional authorities, civil society, local authorities and national authorities should work together to initiate a virtuous circle of human resources modernization, reorganization, use of ICT and productivity;
32. argued that actions in the field of ICT and on improving the basic knowledge, skills high, learning throughout life and strengthening management capacity and networking requirements for effective use of ICT is particularly relevant and are core competencies of local and regional authorities;
Research, Development and Innovation
33. Welcomes the Commission have committed to continue to support research and technological development in the field of Internet objects through the 7th Framework Program (FP7), beyond the remarkable results achieved to date and approve the using the CIP represents an excellent platform to promote the deployment of future applications of the Internet of Things. In this regard, it could be very beneficial to use local and regional implementation of pilot projects, both in terms of ease of implementation than the cost / benefits.
34. is in favor of a more important role of stakeholders in national and regional development of new European initiatives such as ERA-NET or conjointes3 technology initiatives in this regard, the process of increasing the research potential and innovation designed to give Europe a sustainable competitive advantage and thereby achieve faster the goals of Internet objects, can be completed with the participation of cities and regional authorities that make research and innovation a priority for public funding;
35. calls for greater complementarity between policies and existing instruments of cooperation and a coordinated action in FP7, Structural Funds and the Framework Program for the Competitiveness and Innovation (CIP), which offer possibilities of investment consistent with the characteristics of various research projects;
36. highlights the need to attract top academics from countries outside Europe and underlines the importance of regions as key providers of education and the increasing need to strengthen regional investment in human resources and the focus must be placed on local policy innovation, technology centers, incubators, science parks and venture capital funds venture;
International dialogue
37. notes the particular importance of regions in the field of international cooperation, because of structural framework conditions, legislative and programmatic support in the context of their research policies;
38. notes that even small institutions to regional and local level can produce knowledge of worldwide interest in areas of expertise very sharp, especially when they are part of global networks and cooperate with companies based on knowledge;
39. recalls in this respect, that relations and cooperation between regions within countries and between countries, are increasingly important, especially for policies to support clusters of systems, networks and innovation knowing that support is currently moving more towards the creation of "nodes" of international scope for connection to the global innovation chains that clusters related to a geographic location.
Brussels, ...
II. PROCEDURE Notices under the Global
Communications from the Commission entitled:
"Internet of Things - An action plan for Europe"
and
"The reuse of information Public Sector - Review of Directive 2003/98/EC "
References COM (2009) 278 final
COM (2009) 212 final Legal Basis Title VI Common rules on competition, taxation and approximation of laws "(Article 95), title XV" Trans "and title XVIII for Research and Technological Development of the EC Treaty Regulatory basis -- Date of Council referral / Date of Commission letter 19/06/2009, 08/05/2009 Date of decision of the President / Office Committee responsible Committee on Culture, Education and Research (EDUC) Rapporteur Enache Dumitru (RO / EPP) The Analysis 13/10/2009 The Review Committee in December 11, 2009 Date adopted by commission On December 11, 2009 Following the committee vote Adopted unanimously Date adopted in plenary session -- Previous Committee opinions initiative opinion on
White Paper of the Committee of Regions on multilevel governance; Rapporteur: Luc Van den Brande (BE / EPP), Michel Delebarre (FR / PES), CdR 89/20094
Notice the
Green Paper "The European Research Area: New Perspectives", COM (2007) 161 final, Rapporteur: Mr. Schroeren CdR 83/2007 FIN5.
Notice the
Interoperability solutions for European public administrations (ISA), COM (2008) 583 final, Rapporteur: Veronica Ionita (RO / EPP), CdR 10/2009 fin6
Ministerial Declaration on 21st century Europe
Commission publishes Communication
PSI Communication disseminated!
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