Lessons from the Conference. Regional cooperation: the success formula for digitalization of the region

Conclusions  Broadband and superfast broadband connectivity for ALL by 2020  As mentioned by Mr. Giancarlo Di Bernardo the doubling of broadband speed could lead to a 0.3% increase in GDP  Broadband – eGovernment enabler – Romania, Albania already have 100% eProcurement. Romanian Health Ministry saved USD 200 mln in 2002 alone thanks to eProcurement.  Ericsson Networked City Index - there is a strong correlation between ICT maturity in cities and their triple bottom line (i.e. long-term social equity, economic prosperity and environmental performance) development.  Mobile Broadband - Ericsson estimates there will be 50 billion connected devices by 2020  Ms. Neelie Kroes: “10% increase in broadband penetration could lead to % growth in the economy”

The Impact of Broadband on the Economy Dr. Raúl L. Katz, Adjunct Professor, Division of Finance and Economics, and Director, Business Strategy Research, Columbia Institute of Tele- information at the 10th Global Symposium for Regulators “Enabling Tomorrow’s Digital World” Dakar, Senegal, 10 November 2010.

INCREASING BROADBAND IMPACT ON GDP GROWTH The Impact of Broadband on the Economy. ITU, 2012

Broadband impact on job creation Dr. Raúl L. Katz, Adjunct Professor, Division of Finance and Economics, and Director, Business Strategy Research, Columbia Institute of Tele- information at the 10th Global Symposium for Regulators “Enabling Tomorrow’s Digital World” Dakar, Senegal, 10 November 2010.

These effects result in different output and employment impact depending on broadband penetration Dr. Raúl L. Katz, Adjunct Professor, Division of Finance and Economics, and Director, Business Strategy Research, Columbia Institute of Tele- information at the 10th Global Symposium for Regulators “Enabling Tomorrow’s Digital World” Dakar, Senegal, 10 November 2010.

IT and Education Across the OECD countries, 83.6% of people between 25 and 64 with tertiary education were in employment, compared to 56% of those without an upper secondary education. (OECD Report Education Indicators in Focus, 2012) By 2015 it is expected that 90% of jobs across all sectors will require tech skills (IDC White Paper Post Crisis: e-Skills are needed to drive Europe’s innovation society, 2009) e-Skills are needed across the full spectrum of economic sectors: Already in 2007 the majority of ICT practitioners in Europe worked in industries other than ICT: less than half (46%) were employed in the core ICT industry. (IDC – Empirica GmbH, Monitoring e-Skills Demand and Supply in Europe, 2009) 58% of employers believed the education sector is not doing enough to prepare young people for the modern workplace. (IDC White Paper Post Crisis: e-Skills are needed to drive Europe’s innovation society, 2009)

Education and Economic Growth With high labor costs and advanced industry structures, OECD countries need a steady supply of skills to move their economies forward. Education plays a key role in providing the labor market with those skills. The supply of highly-educated workers has increased rapidly in most OECD countries over the past several decades. Other indicators in Education at a Glance suggest that there is little evidence that this expansion has led to an excess supply; on the contrary, most indicators suggest that the expansion of higher education has not kept pace with the demand for those skills. Labor income growth among tertiary graduates has contributed over one percentage point in annual GDP growth over the past decade. Even during the recent economic downturn, labor income growth among this group generated a positive impact on GDP of more than a half percentage point per year (between 2008 and 2010). While GDP shrank by almost 4% across OECD countries in 2009, labor income growth among tertiary graduates still made a positive contribution to GDP of 0.4%. (OECD Report Education Indicators in Focus, 2012)

Perspectives  Horizon Commission proposal for an 80 billion euro R&I funding programme ( ). Innovation and capacity building Cross boarder and EU cooperation is key to success. Decision would be taken by project impact on the community level  Collaboration on regional level – neighboring and other EU countries. Start preparation for 2020 targets  Start working on the program ASAP as it will begin in 2014  Broadband and education each individually has significant impact on economic growth – combined – even stronger  Growing professional ICT shortage in Europe will generate a shortfall of as many as 700,000 professionals by 2015 (Vice President of the European Commission responsible for the Digital Agenda for Europe, Neelie Kroes.)

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