What about interaction between ICT and mobility?
by Barbara Lenz, Institute for Research on Traffic and Transport, Berlin, Germany

Facing growing amounts of traffic and transportation in particular in the cities much hope has been developed for problem solving effects coming along with the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) by larger parts of the population. ICT is supposed to increase personal mobility through “virtual mobility” while reducing at the same time needs for physical transportation: Central activities of the every day life like working, learning or shopping, are no longer inevitably bound to a movement from home to particular places but can be done at home. Expectations about potential effects were high. They have changed, however, with regard to both quantity and quality. Still in the 1990s researchers stated “that the use of ICT can lead to considerable effects of reduction and substitution”. The potential of substitution of „virtual mobility“ for physical transport – in particular through telework, e-commerce, e-learning and videoconferencing – was estimated to range from 8 to 33 %. Today modifications are made concerning the range and the characteristic of effects as well. Particular doubts have come up if “substitution” is the main effect of ICT use, as some empirical analyses have given hints about add-on and induction effects leading not to a re-duction but to an increase in transport in total. These modifications of former expectations, however, have never put in question the general assumption that ICT use and individual mobility are interactive.

Based on this interaction thesis contemporary research is following two main strands: On the one hand it tries to find out if and how the use of ICT alters individual mobility practice and how increasing mobility raises the demand for more communication. The very few empirical studies already existing give a first insight into intrapersonal aspects of communication and transport behaviour. A basic finding is that people with high frequencies in the use of transportation means do also have high frequencies in the use of ICT. This has led some authors to the guess about lifestyle dependent correlation of mobility and transport behaviour. Highly active in both the field of transport and communication are again the male, young, with superior education and qualification who represent a group that – at least in Western societies - appears quite regularly as “peer group” for testing and introducing innovations in the broad field of private consumption.

The other strand of research concerns effects of ICT based services and applications on transport demand. Although these services and applications have not known until now the broad diffusion that originally was expected, several studies on telework and e-commerce show that their use could indeed go along with a reduction of traffic. Taken these reductions as a sum they would not be negligible as to their effects on physical transport compared to other directly transport related [and mostly costly] measures. So for example the reduction of traffic by telework was estimated for Germany to be about 1.4 Bill. person kilometres in 1999 which is equivalent to almost 1 % of commuter traffic. Additional in-depth studies about changes in transport behaviour of teleworkers reveal that effects do not only concern transport reduction but also a change in spatial behaviour. What seems to happen when people are teleworking is a contraction of their everyday activity space while activities during leisure time cover longer distances than before. The net outcome is less passenger transport. A low but nevertheless tangible potential for substitution can also be attributed to e-commerce. Empirically based scenarios on the alteration of consumer traffic by electronic commerce say the amount of individual transport for shopping could be reduced by some 2-3% in terms of kilometres travelled for shopping purposes.

Beneath this directly transport related research another strand should not be neglected which deals with the dynamics of spatial structures induced in economy as well as in society by ICT. Effects, here, become particularly obvious in urban areas (cf. BISER Newsletter No. 4, Keynote).

To obtain a better understanding of the dynamic interaction between ICT and mobility and in particular to learn about mid- and long-term effects, latest research approaches suggest to focus on the re-organisation of time budgets which is done through the use modern communication and transportation means. Answers are required to questions like “Which activities do people accomplish within their time budget and how are these activities linked together by communication and transport?”, “Does the linkage reshape the activities?”, “What about communication and mobility as an activity in itself?”. Starting point for these approaches is the observation that activities become “fragmented” both in time and space by the use of ICT and transportation means. Fragmentation means that the idea (which is typical namely for traditional transport research) of any activity being assigned to a specific place is no longer right. Instead, each activity can be carried out at several places – at several physical places, at several virtual places and at both physical and virtual places. An everyday example – at least for a part of the population - is work that can be carried out in the office as well as at home or in the train or reading a book as a leisure activity on the sofa at home or during a flight. The basic message is: “It is not distance that is dead, it is action that is disintegrated”. Although ideas and concepts to grasp the problematic develop, there is still a lack of empirical research. First studies which use a fragmentation approach are just under way.

More information and telecommunication technologies – more mobility? If mobility is defined as moving in physical and virtual spaces the answer can be a simple “yes, there is more mobility” as the overall use of ICT constantly increases. However, being linked to both costs and basic skills an increase in mobility by ICT is not a general or “global” phenomenon but is subjected to socio-economic factors. This is why we should not forget to pay particular attention to the social dimension of ICT use and mobility in an age where mobility sometimes is estimated to have even the level of a basic human right.

Further reading:

Giannopoulos, G.; Gillespie, A. (eds.)(1993): Transport and communications in Europe. London.

Janelle, D.G.; Hodge, D.C. (eds.)(2000): Information, Place and Cyberspace. Issues in Accessibility. Berlin/Heidelberg/New York.

Nobis, C.; Lenz, B. (2004): Changes in Transport Behaviour by the Fragmentation of Activities. Paper presented at the 83rd TRB Conference, Washington 2004.

Salomon, I. (1986): Telecommunications and travel relationships: a review. In: Transportation Research A, Vol. 20A, No. 3, p.223-238.

Zumkeller, D. (2001): The impact of telecommunication and transport on spatial behaviour. In: Henscher, D. (ed.): Travel Behaviour Research – The Leading Edge. 9th Meeting of the IABTR 2000.

The BISER RPS/DMS Database Tools 2003
by Alexander Mentrup

In the framework of the BISER project, the Regional Population Survey (RPS) and Establishment Decision Maker Survey (DMS) Database Tools 2003 were developed. They are now available for download in Excel spreadsheet format from the BISER website at www.biser-eu.com/db_tools.htm. The main objective of the Database Tools is to give quick access to BISER indicator data which has been collected via telephone surveys in 2003. The Tools should be of particular interest for all groups involved in regional decision making and Information Society benchmarking, as well as other data producers and the research community.

The Database Tools contain eight different display formats (charts and tables) with which the results from the BISER pilot surveys can quickly and easily be retrieved, analysed and interpreted. The several sheets or sets of data (indicator values, indicator rankings and sample sizess) are linked together directly to each display format – this results in an interactive and graphical presentation of BISER indicator data. All 28 BISER NUTS 2 regions, 145 BISER key indicators as well as dozens of background variables (from secondary sources) are included. Furthermore, users who have access to comparable data about one additional region not yet included are able to enter it via a special “data input form”. This allows them to apply all display formats to the region they have added, and compare it with the 28 BISER regions.

The Tools contain ten different sections:

• Home: Here you will find some information about the Database Tool and a short description of how to use it. The navigation panel on the right brings you to the other sections.
• Table: This gives a complete overview about the selected indicator in tabular format. Figures for all BISER regions, the BISER-28 average and optionally one additional region are accessible. After selecting an indicator the value, ranking, size of the sample (N) and confidence interval (on a 95% level of probability) are listed for each region.
• Bar Chart: The bar chart applications enables you to create bar charts for all regions and indicators. The Database Tool automatically displays each bar chart in a ranking order (with the lowest value on the left and the highest value on the right).
• Column Chart I: Similar to the Bar Chart, the Column Chart I displays ranked values for the selected indicator per region.
• Column Chart II: In this display format, the regions are ranked not according to the value of the indicator selected, but by regional income (GDP per head given in purchasing power standards, 1999).
• Scatterplot by GDP/Head: This is another display to relate indicator values with regional income (GDP per head in PPS, 1999). Moreover a regression line and the stability index R2 are displayed.
• Typology Plotter: The typology plotter graphically illustrates the regional performance for each indicator according to a basic regional typology. This enables you to observe the spread of regions across each type (more information about the typology used is available in the Database Tools Manual).
• Country Plotter: The country plotter graphically illustrates the spread across each country for the respective indicator. You can observe the spread across individual countries and then compare country spreads against other EU countries.
• Correlation Diagram: If you want to explore the correlation between any two indicators you can do this by using this display format. The correlation displayed is based on the indicator value, not to ranks. Values will be displayed in a coordinate system. Similar to the scatterplot by GDP/Head, the line of best fit and the stability index R² are given.
• Data Input Form: In this form you can enter data for one additional region. For this, you have to first select a region from the drop-down menu (which contains every European NUTS 2 region of the 15 EU Member States, excluding BISER regions). It is also possible to enter non-European regions which are not included in the drop-down menu. Afterwards you are asked to enter the data for the indicators. Note that comparability will be the higher the more the new data inserted has been collected according to the definitions and methodology used in BISER. For reference please see the BISER Indicator Handbook which will be available from this website by end January 2004.

More information about the Database Tools, as well as definition of indicators and a description of survey design can be found in the BISER Database Tools Manual which is available for download at www.biser-eu.com/db_tools.htm.

• structure and practical meaning of the NUTS nomenclature in the Member State to which the region belongs;
• some basic facts about the region such as core indicators on population and economic strength;
• the spatial structure of the country as well as the region;
• key features in the areas of infrastructure and demography;
• economic structure and dynamics, with a focus on key sectors;
• soft factors such as culture, housing and the regional image.

BISER Key Indicators for Benchmarking Regions in the Information Society
by Karsten Gareis

Because technology and society are constantly evolving, successfully benchmarking the Information Society presents a huge challenge. In the context of BISER, benchmarking is understood as a means to evaluate the progression of the European Union toward its stated goal of becoming a global leader in the Information Society developments. BISER understands benchmarking not as simply ranking regions according to "performance" along ICT indicators (also one must be aware that to some extent this will always be taken as one of the results of such an exercise). Rather, benchmarking – if rooted in a proper understanding of the relevance of ICT phenomena for the greater whole of socio-political objectives (here: regional development) – is just one component of a more general process of policy-making which also takes into account the overall social and economic context for development in a given region.

As the result of 24 months of indicator development, piloting and analysis, BISER has published a list of 20 key indicators which are suggested as the core of a Regional Information Society Indicator System to be set up at the EU level. BISER key indicators have been selected using quality criteria for benchmarking, namely political relevance, completeness, validity (which includes the reliability of statistical concepts and methods to be applied in different cultural contexts), cost and low correlation between indicators.

In line with the basic focus of the BISER project, according to which the demand side is of special importance in determining the success of regions in the Information Society, most of BISER key indicators are demand-side measures. A comparison with the eEurope 2005 benchmarking indicators points out a number of supply-side measures which appear to be of high value for regions. These are:

• cost of Internet access,
• number of basic public services fully available online,
• number of available basic public on-line services with integrated digital back offices processes,
• public procurement processes that are fully carried out online (electronically integrated) in % (by value) of overall public procurement,
• percentage of public administrations with broadband access,
• number of pupils per computer with Internet connection (broadband/non-broadband).

In general, most other eEurope indicators (as far as they are not identical or similar with BISER indicators) seem to be of limited value for the purpose of regional benchmarking for one of two reasons: firstly, because differences are more likely to occur at the Member State than at the regional level (maybe because national regulation as well as cultural issues play a key role); or secondly, because indicators correlate strongly among each other.
BISER recommendations related to the continuation of data collection (on Information Society indicators) at the regional level are discussed in more depth in the Benchmarking Report which will be available from the BISER website in February 2004. See the results section.

The BISER Indicator Handbook: A Valuable Tool for Data Producers
by Ivica Milicevic and Karsten Gareis

A key result of the BISER project, the BISER Indicator Handbook is to be made available on the BISER website. It contains the collected experiences from indicator piloting carried out by the BISER project. The Handbook has been compiled with a view to making public this information in a manner that will be operationally useful for others who are working in the field of Information Society benchmarking, especially those who are involved of data collection themselves. The focus is particularly on benchmarking at the regional level, but the results are likely to be equally useful for benchmarking at national level, in specific sectoral studies or at other relevant levels of enquiry.
The BISER work on indicator development and testing had a broad scope in terms of the range of topics that were covered. Ten different Information Society domains were addressed in depth in the project, for each of which indicators have been piloted and are now listed and discussed in the Indicator Handbook: ICT Infrastructure, Business Enterprise, Innovation and R&D, Government and Public Administration, Work and Labour Market, Education, Training and Skills, Transport, Healthcare, Regional Identity, Social Cohesion and Inclusion.
A total of more than 100 indicators (plus supplementary measures) are included in the document. The description and commentary on each indicator is presented according to a common tabular format addressing each of the following aspects:

• Definition – precise definition, how the indicator is calculated, what data source is being used (for sources other than the BISER surveys, where applicable) and how the data is collected.
• Added value – why was each indicator chosen and why it is important (that is to say, its benchmarking value and policy relevance).
• Indicator interpretation – what does the indicator measure/tell us (including disclaimers and possible limitations, that is to say, what it does not tell us, or what it should not be used for)
• Indicator assessment – experience from fieldwork/results in relation to discrimination between regions, correlation with other indicators, implication of using NUTS2 as the reference unit, also commentary on general validity and reliability.
• Recommendations for further development of indicators – what could be improved, research needed to generate better indicators, alternative measures that could be used for comparing/benchmarking regions
• Supplementary indicators – a complementary indicators either being piloted within BISER or relatively easily derived from the BISER database, such as for example variations of the fully described indicator, the indicators that are complementary to the indicator fully described but also the indicators not piloted but recommended for further development.

The BISER Indicator Handbook will be available presumably in late February 2004 from the BISER website. See the results section.

Penetration of ICT infrastructure in European regions
by Isabella Mingo

Analysis of the level of penetration of ICT in the population and in businesses has been achieved by means of statistical indicators for benchmarking of the Information Society produced in previous BISER workpackages, and by using data from two different surveys.

The aim of this analysis, undertaken as part of the work on BISER domain report "ICT Infrastructure", was to identify the level of diffusion of ICT within the population and local productive systems, and to examine the nature of barriers to take-up which are perceived in BISER pilot regions. The analysis was focused on: 1) use of computer, Internet, e-mail, mobile phone, and – for companies – website presence and Intranet; 2) assessment of the perceived effects of such use; 3) perceived barriers as factors that prevent Internet take-up.

The following results are worth pointing out here:

1. ICT penetration in the general population:

• An analysis of the data has revealed difference between Northern and Southern regions of Europe as regards ICT diffusion in the population;
• Among the general public, ICT penetration at the NUTS2 level is strongly influenced by a national effect: Southern European regions (in Italy, Greece, Spain, Portugal and France) form a model characterised by a less intensive use of new technology, predominately for communication and social participation purpose, whilst in Central and Northern European regions there is a more intensive use, in particular, for commercial transactions (e-banking and e-commerce). A national effect, probably due to different policy approaches towards the telecommunications sector, seems evident also regarding broadband connection, used on average by 13% of the population aged 15 and older, with strong differences between pilot regions (Central Macedonia: 0%, Liege: 29% ).
• Among barriers which are perceived to prevent or restrain Internet use, cost is mentioned by the largest share of non-users. If barriers are grouped into mainly economic and mainly cultural/mental barriers, it appears that economic barriers are more important within all pilot regions except for the Danish region Fyn (see chart below).

 

Economic and cultural barriers to Internet take-up (in % of population)

Source: BISER Regional Population Survey 2003

 

2. ICT penetration in establishments:

• If Internet use seems common practice in almost all businesses today (83%), on average just about a half of them have their own website. Strong regional differences can be identified: a minimum of 33% in Nord/Pas de Calais (France) compare to a maximum of 74% in the Austrian region of Salzburg.
• Businesses prefer fast connections via DSL or cable: on average 43% of all establishments have broadband access to the Internet, but there are again strong regional differences (Central Macedonia 10%, Fyn 73%).
• The most important barriers preventing take-up of Internet usage by businesses appear not to be economic, but rather cultural/mental: many company managers do not see any benefits of implementing ICT in their establishment. As opposed to the result for the population, it emerges that reasons which lead to non-use are not high costs or lack of computer skills, but rather a general scepticism towards new technologies. The opinion that the Internet is of insufficient usefulness for the production process or for the marketing of products and services is still widespread, especially among SMEs.

 

Barriers for use of the Internet in every region
(Percentage of establishments not using the WWW because of…)

Source: BISER Regional Decision Maker Survey

The Three Roses Project
by Sonja Müller

The Three Roses Projects ("Three Regional Operating Networks working on Strategic Electronic Scenarios") is a so-called "Network of Networks" including ELANET, Eris@ and Telecities, three main European networks supporting the modernisation of the public sector and the Information Society at local and regional level, lasting from 1st January 2003 till December 2003 . It is an IST funded project and will evaluate the current situation with regard to the development and adoption of Open Source Software (OSS) solutions to modernise public administration at local and regional level, and to support the economic development of the territory.
The focus of the Three Roses Project is on e-government services and e-business solutions that could be promoted by public administrations in their local context. Furthermore, special attention will be paid on the development of e-tools to support and enhance a learning process around open source solutions for the public sector. The benefits and disadvantages of adopting Open Source Software technology are also being examined.
The main objective of the project is to develop a relevant roadmap for future research work under the 6th Framework Programme of Research and Technological Development of the European Commission by concentrating on the state of the art of research and the use of Open Source Software in e government and related e-business and learning processes. To achieve this objective, the project will become an open platform in which participants in potential future research work will be able to debate and exchange views during two workshop sessions (one in April and another in September 2003) and through a virtual forum. Three Roses aims at becoming an open platform on future research work for debate and exchange views. Consultation involve OSS researchers, local/regional users and stakeholders, as well as experts in managing large European projects.
The Three Roses Roadmap: The development of a roadmap will provide adequate input for future research work:

• user needs representing the interests of citizens and local resp. regional authorities,
• a possible strategy to develop open source technology and to set relevant priorities in the fields of e-government and e-business,
• a relevant model to build and manage a large European project involving key actors, dealing with innovation, research and technology development in the territory of the European Union. (Source: Three Roses official leaflet, online available at: http://www.prelude-portal.org/3roses/uploads/3r.brochure.def.pdf)

More information on the Three Roses Project is available at: http://www.prelude-portal.org/3roses/ and a list of reports available online can be found at http://www.prelude-portal.org/3roses/uploads/3r.brochure.def.pdf.

The SEAMATE-Project
by Sonja Müller

At a special workshop on October 16th 2003 in Luxemburg, coinciding with the latest meeting of the European Information Society Statistics Working Group, BISER was presented together with three other projects to Eurostat and representatives of the National Statistical Institutes. One of the projects presented was SEAMATE (Socio-Economic Analysis and Macro-modelling of Adapting to information Technologies in Europe), a now finished project also funded by the IST programme of the European Commission. SEAMATE has analysed the overall economic impact of Information Society Technologies (IST) within the context of the EU and national policies. It is introduced here briefly.
The objective of the project was to make estimates of socio-economic of IST on the EU member states, Norway and Switzerland, founded on a dynamic macroeconomic analysis. This analysis has assessed impacts on consumers/households, government and industry, with special consideration of the access of individuals to IST, the issue of ‘info-exclusion’. Based on the state of the art knowledge in the fields of technology, economy and society, an estimation of Information Society Technologies impacts and possible strategies of adapting new technologies has been elaborated. Furthermore, expected trends in the development of fields related with IST development have been estimated and used as a basis for developing alternative macro-economic scenarios for European economies (Source: http://www.seamate.net).

SEAMATE business impacts- some interesting results: The overall objective of investigating business impacts of IST within SEAMATE was the qualitative assessment of changes in business organisation and the structure of production. In most cases of investigated sectors, e-commerce was implemented as a response to a problem, rather than a strategic tool on its own right. To some extent, this is understandable as most sectors are basically committed to responding to customer requirements (as for example the logistics, the travel or the financial sector). An very important motor for the adoption of Information Society Technologies is the competition between actors in one sector on the market. The higher the competition is, the larger the efforts to optimise logistical processes within the supply chain. Another interesting result was that the degree of the impact of IST on enterprises is also dependent on the product area in which the new technology is integrated (Source: http://www.seamate.net). Furthermore, IST impacts on productivity and investment as well as on employment have been investigated.

SEAMATE social impacts: The pioneer countries in IST use and qualification for both professional and other purposes are Denmark and Sweden. Those EU member states with the lowest IST adoption and utilisation rates are, in general, Greece and Portugal. Concerning the three analysed technologies the most significant gap in IST use can be found between different age groups. The disparities between different income groups are lower.

Trends and some conclusions:

• The most important factor for staying competitive within the next few years seems to be the enhancement of customer care. In this respect, the usage of CRM software is the most integrated system.
• Many companies pursue a rather defensive strategy in IST implementation because they have learned from their previous e-business hype.
• Especially small and medium sized enterprises appear to prioritise the establishment of simple solutions rather than none at all. The implementation of more advanced solutions, providing on-line interaction with customers, is improving very slowly.
• The highest general user rates for computers are to be found in Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden. At the other end of the spectrum are Greece and Portugal.
• The mobile phone is the technology with the highest adoption and utilisation rates in general.
• The disparities between different income groups are very marked: Austria, France and the Netherlands are the three countries with the smallest differences between PC use by persons with low and high incomes. On the contrary, the greatest disparities could be found within Great Britain and Portugal.

The results of the SEAMATE Project have been considered alongside European policies. Furthermore, implications for future policies have been identified and suggestions for new statistical classifications and data collections have been presented in order to provide policy makers with relevant information on which to base their future decisions.
More information on the SEAMATE Project is available at: http://www.seamate.net/.

The eBusiness Session at EISCO Conference 2003
by Karsten Gareis

From 19 till 21 November 2003 the fourth EISCO conference took place in Aalborg, Denmark. The title of the conference was "Integrated Public Services in the Networking Society at Local and Regional Level" and its ambition was to draw attention to some of the most challenging aspects in establishing a coherent ICT-enabled public service. The BISER project has been presented at an information stand and as part of a session on eBusiness and the region. Within this session, four key challenges for EU regions that want to support eBusiness were highlighted:

The first challenge is a technical one, as reflected in the current priorities of the European Commission's support for research activities. Enrica Chiozza, from the eBusiness unit of the European Commission’s DG Information Society, presented activities and priorities of the EC in the area of eBusiness. She made clear that the ambitious target agreed at the Barcelona summit of reaching a share of 3% of EU GDP to be invested in RTD by the year 2010 requires a huge effort. As a consequence, the 6th Framework Programme has a strong focus on RTD. Smart & virtual organisations will be of increasing importance in the future. The state of the art in eBusiness research is moving further in the direction of increasing organisational change and sophistication.

There was discussion to what extent technological research in this area must be accompanied by socio-economic research, as the most important barriers for diffusion of smart & virtual organisations are sometimes supposed to come from this direction.

Successful eBusiness applications usually mean that transaction costs are decreased via ICTs, without increasing social costs. A good example is Denmark’s eBoks which is basically a digital personal document archive based on the social security number, and which can considerably reduce the costs of typical transactions between citizen and the public administration. Henrik Anderson, Managing Director of eBoks, pointed out that eBoks is nowadays in use by almost all Danish municipalities and has been met with much enthusiasm. The case shows that there is a strong need for technological products which are tailored to the real-world needs of potential users.

The second challenge highlighted is how to organise support for eBusiness at the local and regional level in an effective and self-sustaining way. Christophe Pannetier, president of IRISI and vice-president of ERIS@, reported on the DigiPort Lille, a Technopole development for the Lille metropolitan region. DigiPort acts as a major disseminator of IT expertise for the region, through information & stimulation activities as well as coaching, intermediation and incubation. Main lessons learned are that

• a technopole needs to be integrated in a holistic IT strategy for the region.
• public-private partnership has proven to provide added value for the target audience.
• the continuing evolvement of eBusiness means that a technopole today needs to have a deep knowledge of technology which needs to be updated continuously. It also means that business know-how is required, because the key to success is integration of ICT into the daily operations of an SME (not take-up of the technology itself).

The third challenge mentioned is how to deal with the special needs of “minority” groups. Lindsay Ould reported on a project she has led in the London Borough of Camden. This part of London is characterised by a very large number of micro-firms (less than 5 employees), many of them are from the immigrant community since more than a quarter of the Boroughs population is non-white. The project set out to implement an Internet-based platform for information provision and exchange specifically targeted at micro-firms, the Micro Business Gateway. The gateway is in seven different languages and provides information which has been found to be of high value for micro firms or persons about to set up a business, and which face typical barriers. The project is targeting the parts of the business community which are in danger of being left behind, mainly because they are very small, but also because of language barriers, lack of technological know-how, inertia.

There was discussion to what extent it will be possible to sustain the offer after public financing has finished, since maintaining a multi-lingual website can be extremely costly. There are now attempt underway to make local communities to contribute work (e.g. translation)., as a sort of “payment”.

The fourth challenge discussed in the session is posed by the upcoming enlargement round of the European Union. Irina Zalisova, from BMI, a non-profit association for the advancement of the Information Society in the Czech Republic, presented how the Information Society has evolved in the Czech Republic. She stressed that Czech businesses seem to have limited know-how and willingness to utilize the well developed ICT infrastructure in order to improve business processes and increase productivity. Integration of technology into day-to-day business operations is lagging behind, especially in SMEs. Mental barriers can be made responsible for this.

It was discussed whether SMEs in the Candidate Countries face different challenges than those in the current EU. This does not seem to be the case in general, but there is a severe lack of state support for companies that want to introduce eBusiness.

More information about the outcomes of the EISCO conference are available at http://www.eisco2003.org/en/proceedings.

Forthcoming Key Events on Regions and the Information Society
by Sonja Müller

These are important forthcoming events which have a focus on regional development in the Information Society:

• PRELUDE Policy Forums on eLearning and eCommunities/eInclusion in Brussels, organised by PRELUDE/eris@ (12 February 2004)
  http://www.ianis.net/default.php?page=event

• E-learn International Summit 2004 in Edinburgh (18-19 February 2004) http://www.elearninternational.co.uk/2004/bulletin/

• Creating the European Knowledge Society: Innovation, RTD and Regional Development - The Role of Regional Universities in Albacete, Spain, organised by IANIS and Junta de Comunidades de Castilla-La Mancha (19-20 February 2004)
  http://erisa.uclm.es/

• CORP 2004 "IT-Regions: Innovation and Technology as driving forces for sustainable regional development" in Vienna, organised by CORP (25- 27 February 2004)
  http://www.corp.at/html/corp2004__e_.html

• eTransport – Improving Urban Mobility! Workshop & Policy Forum in Brussels, organised by ETTC – European Transport Telematics Cluster, eris@ and FAV Berlin (26 February 2004)
  http://www.prelude-portal.org/ettc/uploads/ws_guide_ettc.htm

• Telecities and MUTEIS Conference "Urban Impacts of the Information Society: Facts, Fiction and Policies" in The Hague, organised by MUTEIS and Telecities (17-19 March 2004)
  http://muteis.infonomics.nl

• Europe at the Margins: EU Regional Policy, Peripherality and Rurality in Angers (Loire Valley), France, organised by the Regional Studies Association (15-16 April 2004)
  http://www.regional-studies-assoc.ac.uk/

• Baltic Palette II Final Conference in Stockholm, organised by the Baltic Palette II project (27-28 April 2004)
  http://www.balticpalette.com/

• IANIS 2004 Conference in Budapest, organised by IANIS (9-11 June 2004)
  http://www.ianis.net/

• ICICTE- 5^th International Conference on Information Communication Technologies in Education on Samos Island, organised by ICICTE (1-3 July 2004)
  http://www.ineag.gr/ICICTE/

• IADIS International Conference e-Society 2004 in Spain, organised by IADIS (16-19 July 2004)
  http://www.iadis.org/es2004/

• ERSA 2004 in Porto, organised by the University of Porto (25-29 August 2004)
  http://www.ersa2002.org

• eChallenges 2004 Conference in Vienna, organised in co-operation with the European Commission (27-29 October 2004)
  http://www.echallenges.org

• IRS International Conference on issues pertaining to knowledge-based urban and regional development, organised by IRS, University of Jena and University of Darmstadt (October 2004)
  http://www.irs-net.de/anzeigen.php?choice1=profile&choice2=events

empirica Gesellschaft für Kommunikations- und Technologieforschung mbH prime contractor, private research and consulting organisation specialised in telematics, telework and new ways of work, e-commerce, telecare and telehealth.

Werner B. Korte: werner.korte@empirica.com
Karsten Gareis: karsten.gareis@empirica.com
Address: Oxfordstrasse 2, 53111 Bonn - Germany
Phone: ++49.228.985300
Fax: ++49.228.9853012
Web: www.empirica.com

Dansk Teknologisk, an independent, non-profit institution approved as technological service agency by the Danish Ministry of Business and Industry.

Jeremy Millard: jeremy.millard@teknologisk.dk
Address: Teknologiparken, 800 Aarhus C - Denmark
Phone: ++45.72.201417
Fax: ++45.72.201414
Web: www.teknologisk.dk

Dipartimento di Sociologia e Comunicazione, is a research body of the University of Rome "La Sapienza", focusing on advanced studies in sociology and communication in the framework of the Information Society.

Patrizio Di Nicola: patrizio.dinicola@uniroma1.it
Renato Fontana: renato.fontana@uniroma1.it
Address: Via Salaria 113, 00198 Rome - Italy
Phone: ++39 06 4991 8404
Fax: ++39 06 8419505
Web: www.comunicazione.uniroma1.it

The Local Futures Group is a research and strategy consultancy that provides a geographical perspective on economic and social change. We introduce this perspective into public policy and corporate strategies, both in the UK and internationally.

Mark Hepworth: mark.hepworth@localfutures.com
Lee Pickavance: lee.pickavance@localfutures.com
Address: 3 Queen Square, WC1N 3AU, London - England
Phone: ++44 020 7520 8120
Fax : ++44 020 7520 8150
Web: www.localfutures.com

Salzburg Research Forschungsgesellschaft m.b.H., a non-profit research organisation focusing on the study and the support of the development of the information and knowledge based society.

Markus Lassnig: markus.lassnig@salzburgresearch.at
Guntram Geser: guntram.geser@salzburgresearch.at
Mark Markus: mark.markus@salzburgresearch.at
Address: Jakob-Haringer-Strasse 5/III, 5020 Salzburg - Austria
Phone: ++43-662-2288-0
Fax: ++43-662-2288-222
Web: www.salzburgresearch.at

Work Research Centre, an independent research, consultancy and training company (IRL).

Richard Wynne: r.wynne@wrc-research.ie
Ivica Milicevic: i.milicevic@wrc-research.ie
Address: 1 Greenlea Drive, Terenure, Dublin 6W -Ireland
Phone: ++353.1.4927042
Fax: ++353.1.4927046
Web: www.wrc-research.ie

Newsletter n°1

Newsletter n°2

Newsletter n°3

Newsletter n°4

BISER Home page