Presentation of the project to BSSSC BOARD Hämeenlinna, Finland June 14, 2003

Background Initiative City of Stockholm Economic Development Agency Baltic Alliance of Regional Development Institutions

Background Model The Bangemann Challenge 1994 Six editions of the Stockholm Challenge so far

Background The Bangemann Report “The Bangemann Report, Europe and the Global Information Society” is published by the European Commission. The report singles out ten areas related to IT in which Europe has to become stronger in order to catch up with the United States.

Background Areas in the Bangemann Report 1) Teleworking 2) Distance learning 3) A network for universities and research centres 4) Telematic services for SMEs 5) Road traffic management 6) Air traffic control 7) Healthcare networks 8) Electronic tendering 9) Trans-european public administration network 10) City information highways

Background The Bangemann Challenge The City of Stockholm initiates the Bangemann Challenge a challenge between cities and regions in Europe; ten categories (one for each area in the Bangemann report).

Background The Stockholm Challenge The Bangemann Challenge continues annually as the Stockholm Challenge: competition becomes global; from 2001 onwards, the number of categories is reduced to six.

Background The Stockholm Challenge the 5th competition was held in 2002, gathering nearly 600 projects from 78 countries; total of more than 3000 projects have joined the Stockholm Challenge so far.

From the Stockholm Challenge to the Baltic Challenge

The Spirit of the Challenge Bridging the digital divide Sharing of knowledge and experiences Openness and democratic approach Focuses the benefits and positive changes that IT can bring the users rather than on the sophistication of the technology itself Simple applications - same chances for winning Key Values

Basic framework Categories e-Government Culture Health Education e-Business Environment Project Ideas

Categories e-Government Striving for a more democratic information society, built on empowerment and participation among citizens; IT provides new possibilities for governments, local and regional public services’ providers to create democratic platforms with online citizen services 24-hours a day, cyber voting, on-line discussions, and wide access to community information.

Categories Culture making culture more open and accessible to all using IT tools; preserving cultural heritage and identity in the global society.

Categories Health telemedicine care lets hospitals provide remote consultation and diagnosis and more accurate, accessible patient records, enabling improved service and treatment; the internet lets the disabled interact with each other and the rest of the society, supporting them by applications that diminish their disabilities; using the internet for preventive care and information, thus umproving general health.

Categories e-ducation Thanks to e-learning, education can be brought to more people, regardless to distance, disability or other barriers; IT facilitates sophisticated stimulation for technical and vocational training; through media and interactivity, creative lifelong learning is helping to close the digital divide.

Categories e-Business IT opens new opportunities and new markets for businesses; new activities, ranging from home shopping and mobile marketing to business-to-business transactions, create a need for modern ICT tools in day-to- day operations.

Categories e-nvironment IT can help improving the understanding of issues such as climate change and biodiversity, as well as help to monitor and survey ecological conditions and respond to environmental diseasters; IT is an effective tool to spread information in order to preserve the environment and enhance environmental awareness.

Categories Project Ideas The aim of introducing this category is to support and promote new innovative ideas and facilitate their implementing.

Evaluation criteria Innovation User Need Transferability Accessibility Local impact Basic framework

Purpose Why a Baltic Challenge? Enhance regional growth Promote co-operation within the region Facilitate the accession to the European Union Access to an international network of entrepreneurs and IT expertise Create a Source of Inspiration!

A region in transition Co-operation between new EU members and neighbours increases regional strenght Harmonisation of governments increases similarities A possibility to facilitate co-operation between projects from participating countries in a systematic way Networking

Ukraine Project Manager Networking Network of Partners Belarus Project Manager North-West Region of Russia Project Manager Poland Project Manager Lithuania Project Manager Latvia Project Manager Estonia Project Manager Project management SNK + BARDI TASK FORCE Jury

What do we want to achieve? A meeting between companies, universities and organisations in the Baltic Sea Region Promotion of a wider use of IT, showcasing economically sustainable models and examples of how IT can be used within all society sectors Numerical goal - number of competing projects Goals

Local strategy and implementation Structuring local networks Link with local companies, organisations, government, universities, schools etc. Local marketing Develop information material Translations Evaluation Organisation

Project process Preparation and construction of web site Launch of the competition Project search Jury evaluation process Selection and announcement of finalists Preparation for the final events Final Events and Prize-Giving Ceremony 7 steps

Financing Interreg III B Interreg III C Phare Tacis Public-private funding Financing

Latest developments BSR Interreg III B Seed Money grant Partnership Meeting in Gdansk, April 28-29, Establishment of the Task Team Latest developments

Latest developments -financing Application to Baltic Sea Billion has been recently submitted by SNK Application to Phare 2001 CBC SPF was submitted by BARDI at the end of May Latest developments

Launch Event On the occasion of 5th Annual Baltic Development Forum Riga, 5-7 October 2003 Project

Baltic Challenge will be presented and promoted during Baltic Round Table Conference (Gdansk, June 17-19, 2003) co-organised by BARDI and BSSSC Promotion

Creating regional opportunities!