The EC View: Content as the Driving Force Adapted from a presentation by Gunther Steven, DG XIII/E By Yale Braunstein [ Updated September 2003]

The Changing Environment  The Technology  Compression  Broadband  The Information Industry  Digitization  Multimedia  The Information Market  Internationalization  Deregulation  The User  Interactivity  Segmentation Abundance Convergence Competition Choice

Information Superhighways: The Key Questions  Who controls the delivery?  Who controls the content?  Who will pay the bill? …and, particularly for Europe,  How can we exploit Europe’s richness of content?

Political Response: Key Policy Documents  United States  NII (September 1993)  GII (March 1994) –“An information revolution that will change forever the way people live, work and interact with each other”  Japan  OFL-21 (Optical fiber loop for the 21 st century) –Fiber to ever home by 2010  Europe  White paper on “Growth, Competitiveness and Employment” (December 1993) –Create major European infrastructure networks –Establish foundations for an information society

European Initiatives  EU Council Decision of July 26, 1988, concerning the establishment of a Plan of Action for Setting Up an Information Services Market ( Comm. ACM, Apr. '90)  Bangemann report: “Europe and the Global Information Society” (June 1994)  Liberalization of telecoms sector (more to come!)  New legal and regulatory measures  Private sector initiatives  “Europe’s Way to the Information Society” (action plan, July 1994)  Combined Industry/Telecoms Council resolution (Sept. 1994)  G-7 Conference on the Global Information Society (Feb. 1995)

Europe’s Way to the Information Society: An Action Plan  Changes are needed in four areas: 1. Regulatory and legal framework 2. Networks, basic services, applications and content 3. Social, societal and cultural aspects 4. Promotion of the information society “The availability of high quality information resources will be a key element of the European infrastructure.”

Action Plan (1)  Applications & Content  Get on learning curve early  New markets and new job opportunities  Public/private partnerships  User involvement

Action Plan (2)  Social, Societal & Cultural Aspects  Changing work patterns  More freedom for the worker  Social solidarity  Europe’s linguistic & cultural diversity  European citizen’s support for information society

The European Challenge –Content sector employs 2+ million people (1995) –Sales of € 137 billion –High value added –Substantial growth potential But –Mainly SMEs –Nationally/regionally oriented –Different regulatory regimes –Different languages –Increasing competition, especially from US Build on Europe’s linguistic and cultural diversity

Changes in the Value Chain ContentDistribution User equipment %38%14% 2000 (forecast) IncreaseDecreaseNo change Content will be at a premium

Trade Positions in Information Content (1992)  Print publishing:EU/US +2.3 BECU  Audio-visual:EU/US -2.9 BECU  Movies:US market share = 80%  Video games:Japan had 77 million units of players worldwide  Electronic information content markets US revenues & export = 250% of EU levels

Content is the Key  Will Europe end up building information superhighways for: Entertainment & business servicesUS cars GamesJapanese cars  The need for European content  Environment characterized by change  Blurring of boundaries between sectors

Selected EC Roles  Strategic information initiatives (market oriented)  Facilitate development of European information content industry  Address demand side and supply side Maximize the contribution of advanced information services to the professional, social and cultural development of the citizens of Europe

Do You Agree with These Conclusions?  Europe is on the way to the information society  Private sector initiatives will be the driving force  Government will act in a supporting role  European content sector will play a crucial role