16 October 2003 Romania, ICT and FP5,6 1 Romanian Experiences Related to ICT and the Fifth Framework Program of the EU and Expectations From the Sixth Framework Program Dr. Vasile Baltac President ATIC IT STAR Meeting Budapest, 16 October 2003

16 October 2003 Romania, ICT and FP5,6 2 Where do we stand? u "Lisbon Strategy" « a digital, knowledge-based economy, prompted by new goods and services, will be a powerful engine for growth, competitiveness and jobs. In addition, it will be capable of improving citizens’ quality of life and the environment“ u What are the best Information Society (IS) policy strategies? u Are both welfare and growth issues are possible? u Digital Divide? u Leapfrogging is feasible? u The role of research and international co-operation?

16 October 2003 Romania, ICT and FP5,6 3 Romania: ICT Facts and Findings u ICT /Total Industrial Output 2.04% u ICT Expenditures/GDP 2.2 % u PC/1000 inhabitants 4.4 u Computer users / % u Cards issued5 Millions « Penetration 22.4% u PC/household6% u Households with mobile phone 13.6% u Mobile phone users~25% « Sources INS RO, Eurostat, Gallup, eWeek

16 October 2003 Romania, ICT and FP5,6 4 Romania: Internet Facts and Findings u Internet users 13.9% u Internet connections0.13% u Home access4.5% u Companies connected6.1% « PCs connected 28.9% u Public administration 4.4% « PCs connected 36.9 % u CATV Subscribers -millions3.3 « Urban penetration78.5% « Rural penetration17.5% u Sources INS RO, Eurostat, Gallup, eWeek

16 October 2003 Romania, ICT and FP5,6 5 Digital Divide in Romania and CEE u Low Availability and affordability of IT&C « PCs/100 inhabitants u CEE 6.3 u EU 25 « Low telecom density u Growing Digital Divide « Rural vs. urban distribution « Rich vs. poor distribution « Regional disparities « Demographic trends: the aging of the population

16 October 2003 Romania, ICT and FP5,6 6 Good News: Dynamics of Growth u High IT&C market growth rates u Rapid growth in numbers of domestic Web sites and Web portals u CATV is well developed « Opportunity for future network services u Education needed for the digital age at higher level Source: Digital Planet 2002

16 October 2003 Romania, ICT and FP5,6 7 Romania: R&D Some Facts and Findings u A country in transition: « 44 researcher per 10,000 inhabitants in 2001 u down from 66 in 1996 u An aging workforce u Sector structure « 85% technological research « 10% research in Romanian Academy « 5% university research u An under-financed R&D sector « public expenditures 0.1% of GDP « business expenditures (mostly from state sector) 0.30% of GDP Source: European Innovation Scoreboard 2002 u International funding: most welcomed « Quality of Life, IST, Growth, EESD, INCO2, Innovation - SMEs, etc.

16 October 2003 Romania, ICT and FP5,6 8 Romania and FP5 IST u A good opportunity for R&D sector – 51 projects

16 October 2003 Romania, ICT and FP5,6 9 Romania and FP5 IST u A biased participation

16 October 2003 Romania, ICT and FP5,6 10 Romania and FP5 IST u A comparatively reduced participation

16 October 2003 Romania, ICT and FP5,6 11 Romania and FP5 IST u No project coordination

16 October 2003 Romania, ICT and FP5,6 12 Romania and FP5 IST u Participation considered satisfactory as number of projects in the actual R&D situation u IST events – a useful impact on participants u Triggered other national IS projects « eGovernment « INFOSOC u Involvement of a large private and state ICT sector at very low level u Selection of participants – rather by the chance of “being there” « In some cases regional requirements lead to partner search and inclusion « Ideal-Ist project active but not significant impact u No project coordination « Greece, France, Germany, Belgium got the “cake” share

16 October 2003 Romania, ICT and FP5,6 13 Romania and FP6 IST u Generous thematic areas: « Applied IST research addressing major societal and economic challenges « Communication, computing and software technologies « Components and microsystems « Knowledge and interface technologies « IST future and emerging technologies u Expectations « Significant participation of Romanian R&D companies compared to FP5 « Promotion programs within candidate countries with incentives to attract participants « Focus on technologies and projects specific to these countries u Access for all u Help to leapfrogging and DD combat u Information security u Dissemination of IT skills u IT experts certification u Local content development and regional cooperation

16 October 2003 Romania, ICT and FP5,6 14 ATIC - A Bridge to Romania u The Association for Information Technology and Communications of Romania (ATIC) « a non-governmental, independent organization aiming to consolidate an appropriate framework for the development of IT&C in Romania « maintains a database for co-operation projects available to members « disseminates information to non-members u Member of WITSA (World Information Technology Software Alliance) u Member of CEPIS (Council of European Professional Informatics Societies) u u President Dr. Vasile Baltac u Contact:

16 October 2003 Romania, ICT and FP5,6 15 IT Literacy Dissemination Project u ECDL « A globally accepted IT skills certification program that prepares all people for participation in the Information Society « in promoting core IT knowledge and providing an essential certification that is becoming the defacto global IT skills standard. « in promoting core IT knowledge and providing an essential certification that is becoming the defacto global IT skills standard u Targets « Universities « High Schools « Public Administration « Small companies u Funding « … searching  ATIC targets:  ECDL-type ICT skills certification dissemination  Web ECDL-type courses  More than 50% of accesses free, e.g.  Underdeveloped areas  Trainers for SMEs  Schools in Rural areas  Old People Institutions  Cooperation with other professional associations in the region

16 October 2003 Romania, ICT and FP5,6 16 Thank You!!