Panel 6 From R&D to competitiveness : the way forward Elly Plooij-van Gorsel, Senior Counsellor, Blueprint Partners ETSI workshop « Standards and interoperability in ICT ETPs » Sophia-Antipolis, October 2006

About Blueprint Brussels-based independent consultancy offering strategic advice and a broad range of services to blue chip companies, trade associations, NGOs, etc. Our specialty: EU public affairs – Team from broad backgrounds (corporate, NGOs, political parties, trade associations and public sectors) Combined fluency in 8 languages, with 13 nationalities, from four continents Elly Plooij-van Gorsel - Senior Counsellor – Blueprint Partners

European industrial interests v. technology neutrality ? Should the EU be more focused on small number of critical research projects ? Does the EU need more coordination between ETPs and standardisation ? Top down standards or de jure (defined by standardisation authorities) v bottom-up or de facto standards (market-led) in ICT Elly Plooij-van Gorsel - Senior Counsellor – Blueprint Partners

De facto standards De jure standards Advantages Efficiency in line with the pace of ICT markets Greater certainty for investments, interoperability prevents risks of anti-competitive abuses (GSM) Drawbacks Business uncertainty as to the right standard, possible anti-competitive abuses by dominant companies Lenghty process, practicle difficulties (UMTS) Elly Plooij-van Gorsel - Senior Counsellor – Blueprint Partners

Possible ways forward: More certainty as to licensing of IP rights in ETPs Economic approach as a way to adopt the right standardisation mechanism Economic impact assessment associating DG COMP and ETSI / fast track procedure Which role of ETPs mirror groups in this process ? Should the recently approved European Institute of Technology have an overall coordination role in this process? Elly Plooij-van Gorsel - Senior Counsellor – Blueprint Partners