European Union Financing Mechanisms for ICT in Latin American context Paulo Lopes Information Society Directorate General European Commission Latin American and Caribbean Ministerial Regional Preparatory Conference for the UN WSIS Rio de Janeiro, 8-108 June 2005 P. Lopes June 2005 1
European Union Development Policy and ICTs Overall objective of European Union s Development Policy is to help reducing poverty as much as possible, notably as part of the Millennium Development Goals European Union attaches great importance to bridging the digital divide and to harnessing potential of ICTs as development policy goal Importance of comprehensive strategies for Information Society development (such as elac), including regulatory frameworks aimed at encouraging investment and innovation, and the development of creative content and applications Public funds can be used when market forces themselves are not sufficient to launch a ICT growth process that is both sustainable and that covers the whole territory (e.g. covering capacities building, priority applications, research, etc.) P. Lopes June 2005 2
WSIS & Financial Mechanisms The European Union welcomes the report of the WSIS Task Force on Financial Mechanisms issued in December 2004 The report points up the great diversity of needs and the significant financing already available for ICTs It demonstrates that the digital divide cannot be overcome by a single instrument It also notes that a more holistic approach is required to mobilise human, financial and technological resources an approach which should be fully integrated in the development policies of the beneficiary countries P. Lopes June 2005 3
ICT Cooperation Programmes financed by European Union (I) @LIS (ALliance( for Information Society) Programme for Latin America 63.5 million fund Supports 19 ICT applications in 4 priority fields: local e-government, e- education and cultural diversity, public e-health, e-inclusion. Sets up 3 bi-regional networks: regulators (REGULATEL), researchers (redclara) and stakeholders. Establishes two bi-regional dialogues: a policy and regulatory dialogue (elac) and a standardisation dialogue. Caribbean countries to be incorporated in these activities. Asi@ICT Programme for Asia 35 million fund covering 6 areas: agriculture, education, e-governance, environment, health, transport. Euro-Mediterranean Partnership (EuroMED( EuroMED) 65 million fund covering pilot projects in 4 areas: health, innovation and education, e-commerce, tourism and culture. Also sets up 2 networks: bi-regional network of researchers and network of Mediterranean universities and research centres. P. Lopes June 2005 4
@LIS Programme - ALliance for the Information Society @LIS - launched by European Commission in 2002 - aims to promote the Information Society and to reduce the digital divide in Latin America by: stimulating co-operation between EU and LA partners; facilitating the integration of LA countries in a global Information Society; promoting dialogue between all actors and users of the Information Society; increasing interconnection between R&D communities of both regions; meeting the needs of local communities and citizens by favouring a sustainable development and by implementing innovative applications. P. Lopes June 2005 5
@LIS Activities @LIS supports two dialogues Political and regulatory dialogue - 4M Dialogue on the standards - 3 M @LIS sets up three networks Network of regulators - 1 M Network of researchers - 10 M Network of stakeholders - 3 M @LIS funds 19 demonstration projects on egovernment, elearning, ehealth, einclusion - 40 M P. Lopes June 2005 6
@LIS Policy and Regulatory Dialogue Objective: To stimulate the political and regulatory dialogue between the two regions and support the definition of regional (elac)) and sub-regional e-strategies e aimed at fostering the development of Information Society in Latin America. Expected results: Help integrate LA countries in a global Information Society; Reinforce regional and sub-regional integration in LA; Stimulate cooperation between EU and LA through common projects: policy fora, workshops, networks, information exchange, training programs and specific studies. Promote the dialogue between all actors and users of the Information Society.! Implemented by the UN ECLAC/CEPAL P. Lopes June 2005 7
ICT Cooperation Programmes financed by European Union (II) European Development Fund for African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries 110 million fund devoted to broad selection of activities (e-commerce project in Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, continental programme on African Monitoring of the Environment for Sustainable Development, etc.). About 8 million is in the pipeline for the Caribbean. EU-ACP Partnership Programme Pro Invest 110 million fund to promote investment and technology flows to small and medium enterprises operating in key sectors, including ICTs, in the framework of the EU-ACP Cotonou Agreement. Investment Facility for private sector development 2.2 billion fund managed by the European Investment Bank (EIB) providing financial resources, including risk capital, to assist in promoting growth in the private sector and to help mobilise domestic and foreign capital for this purpose (complemented by 1.7 billion from EIB s own resources). European Union Information Society Technologies Research European Union Information Society Technologies Research Programme 90 million fund for international cooperation on Information Society Technologies (IST) under 6th European Union Framework Research Programme (2002-2006). Substantial reinforcement envisaged for this fund under 7th Framework Research Programme (2007-2013). P. Lopes June 2005 8
European Union Position on ICT Financing Mechanisms The European Union is supporting international solidarity in ICT The EU supports the text agreed on during the last WSIS Prepcom in Geneva, held in February 2005 The EU favours a clear commitment to using existing mechanisms for ICT development The EU welcomes the Digital solidarity Fund which is a non governmental, multi-stakeholders voluntary initiative P. Lopes June 2005 9
Information on EU policies eeurope: http://europa.eu.int/eeurope @LIS Co-operation Programme with Latin Am erica: http://europa.eu.int/alis Developm ent: http://europa.eu.int/com m /dgs/developm ent/index_en.htm P. Lopes June 2005 10