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Europe Trails United States On IT Front
by William New
The European commissioner for enterprise and information society on Monday detailed the shortcomings of European Union nations in productivity and employment when compared with the United States.
The key to the difference and to closing the gap, Erkki Liikanen said, lies in information and communication technologies, noting that strong economic growth in the United States in the second half of the 1990s left Europe behind.
Liikanen said the 2001 European Commission Competitiveness Report shows that all of the larger EU nations are below or at best level with the EU average on productivity and employment. Meanwhile, several smaller nations performed much better. Five EU countries -- Ireland, Luxembourg, Portugal, Finland and Greece -- had labor productivity growth higher than the United States. And five members -- Ireland, Spain, Luxembourg, Netherlands and Finland -- had higher employment growth than the United States.
Liikanen said catching the United States will require more research and development, innovation, greater use of technology, including organizational changes to exploit the technologies, and training. He called for more research in security-enhancing technologies, among other areas.
To encourage innovation, he said, governments should guarantee access to other markets for new products, adequately protect intellectual property rights, foster entrepreneurial spirit, improve networking of innovators, and increase collaboration among government-financed researchers and the private sector.
At their March summit in Barcelona, Spain, EU leaders agreed on a target to raise R&D spending to 3 percent of gross domestic product by 2010, two-thirds of which should come from the private sector.
In other EU news, member countries must implement a new value-added tax (VAT) on digitally delivered products by July 2003, following Tuesday's adoption of the VAT rules by the European Council. U.S. firms will have to get ready as well because they will be responsible for collecting and paying the taxes when selling anything online to consumers in Europe. The law covers computer services, software and information, among other things.
The European Union now will tax information that is sold physically, such as books or newspapers, differently from that sold electronically. Physical information sources generally are not taxed. U.S. officials previously have threatened to challenge the EU law at the World Trade Organization on the grounds that it will treat non-EU companies worse.
In another European development, the European Commission on Tuesday proposed measures for the integrated management of the EU's external borders. The plan includes the long-term objective to create a European corps of border guards, trained in and equipped with technologies such as mobile equipment and telecommunications services.
In a release, the commission cited a surveillance tool called Galileo as an example of technology "that can give a new dimension to the common policy on checks and surveillance at external borders."
Commerce Announces IT Partnerships With Egypt
The Commerce Department on Tuesday announced a "Sister Cities Information Technology Partnership Conference" with Egypt, a program that aims to match U.S. technological expertise from the Washington area with an experienced, well-educated Egyptian workforce. Commerce's Technology Administration is coordinating the conference through sister-cities organizations in Baltimore, Md., and Alexandria, Egypt.
The May 8-12 conference in Alexandria seeks to give small and medium-sized IT companies and academic institutions in the United States access to new markets through Egypt. Conversely, it seeks to give Egyptian companies the opportunity to develop new technological capacities. Baltimore and Washington-based firms specializing in telemedicine and distance education are expected to sign three agreements for collaboration.
Other tech-related developments with Egypt include the renewal through 2006 of a science and technology agreement between the National Institute of Standards and Technology and Egypt's National Institute of Standards. Also, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is hosting intellectual property officials from nine countries, including Egypt, from May 6-17 for a series of seminars and discussions on the U.S. intellectual property system.
Online Voting A Hit In U.K. Borough
A recent trial of early online voting in the United Kingdom that tested a technology by the U.S. company VoteHere was successful, the company said in a release.
The election in Swindon Borough was part of government-sanctioned voting trials conducted in late April and culminating in elections May 2. Voters conducted the tests from home, libraries and voting kiosks run by the local government.
The success of the pilot programs will lead to an online poll at the next general election and an online general election in 2006. A local Swindon official observed the "fantastic" response by voters to online voting and predicted, "If they continue to [vote online], it should make a significant contribution to reversing the trend of declining voter participation in elections."
Also in the United Kingdom, officials have circulated draft regulations that would increase rights for U.K. consumers when they buy faulty goods, whether online or offline. The draft states that during the first six months of ownership, fault will lie with sellers and any guarantees made by manufacturers or retailers are legally binding. Under the law, consumers could get damaged goods repaired or replaced.
Indian Court Rules In Mobile Telecom Case
The Supreme Court of India on Monday rejected an appeal by mobile-phone companies to prevent the entry of new low-cost mobile services that they argue could cost millions of dollars of lost investments.
According to Yahoo news, the new competition is coming from fixed-line operators that mobile operators argue do not have rights to use the "wireless on local loop" technology for offering mobile services in cities and towns. The court upheld a March ruling that found it is impossible to stop new technology from entering the market.
Separately, the United States again has called on India to drop tariffs and reduce bureaucratic hurdles to attract more investment, according to the Economic Times of India.
Chinese Shutter More Internet Cafes
Police in Shanghai, China, have cracked down on nearly 200 Internet cafes that were operating without licenses that require them to block Web sites seen as subversive or pornographic, Reuters reported Monday.
The police sweep beginning on April 26 confiscated almost 1,000 computers. In its attempt to minimize use of the Internet for political purposes, the federal government requires Internet bars to install software to block restricted sites and record user activity.
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