1 Challenges and Implementation of the Knowledge Economy in the Slovak Republic Dušan Faktor State Secretary Ministry of Transport, Posts and Telecommunication Knowledge Economy Forum, Paris, February 20, 2002

2 Basic Macroeconomic and Regulatory Environment Basic Macroeconomic Information Knowledge Economy Forum, Paris, February 20, 2002

3 Basic Macroeconomic and Regulatory Environment  1998 – Macroeconomic instability and international isolation  1999 – Stabilisation measures and renewed integration process  2000 – Restored macrostability and OECD membership (Slovakia – 30th member of OECD – December 2000)  2001 – Sustainable growth and rapid progress in EU and NATO integration (22 closed chapters)  2001 – Banking sector fully consolidated and recapitalised, over 90% privately owned  Reduction of public sector expenditures Macroeconomic Environment Knowledge Economy Forum, Paris, February 20, 2002

4 Basic Macroeconomic and Regulatory Environment  Membership in NATO  Further progress in EU integration  Sustaining Macroeconomic Stability  Structural Reform and Privatisation Government Priorities Knowledge Economy Forum, Paris, February 20, 2002

5 Basic Macroeconomic and Regulatory Environment Priority Objectives for building Information Society in Slovakia  Participate in the forming knowledge-based and digital economy  Ensure all citizens of Slovakia to stand up to competition in the knowledge-based and digital economy at the global level  Exploit the innovative potential of ICT at the level that guarantees the competitiveness in global economy (by removing barriers for e-commerce)  Alleviate citizens´ access to public services as well as promoting online interaction between citizens and government (eGovernment)  Create opportunities for development of all forms of education which enables the integration of the Slovak Republic and its citizens into the global information society  Harmonise information society related activities with the activities of European Union, mainly the promotion of Action Plan e Europe+ Knowledge Economy Forum, Paris, February 20, 2002

6 Basic Macroeconomic and Regulatory Environment  Telecommunication Policy for 2002 – 2004 (Resolution No. 440, June 14, 2000)  Policy of Information Society Development (Resolution No. 552, June 13, 2001) Policy and Regulatory Environment Knowledge Economy Forum, Paris, February 20, 2002

7 Basic Macroeconomic and Regulatory Environment State Information System Act Passed in 1995, transformation into several bills expected in 2002 Telecommunication Act Fully liberalised environment in 2003; new, independent regulatory Office of Telecommunications Passed in 2000, amendments under preparation Personal Data Protection Act Passed in 1998; amendments now in public discussion, ready for submission to the Government Freedom of Information Act Passed in 2000 Protection of Classified Information Act Passed in 1996; amendments passed in 2001; adjusting to NATO-EU legislation Digital Signature legislation Submitted to Parliament E-Commerce legislation Under preparation Others Copyright issues, intellectual property, etc. Knowledge Economy Forum, Paris, February 20, 2002

8 Basic Macroeconomic and Regulatory Environment FDI + External Debt Comparison Source: National Bank of Slovakia FDI Inflow External debt increase In million USD Knowledge Economy Forum, Paris, February 20, 2002

9 Basic Macroeconomic and Regulatory Environment FDI – Top Priority Source: National Bank of Slovakia  ACT ON INVESTMENT INCENTIVES  Tax holidays – 10 years  Contribution up to 4000 EUR per employee p.a.  Trashold investment project 5 mil EUR  ACT ON INDUSTRIAL PARKS  Contribution up to 70% of infrastructure costs Knowledge Economy Forum, Paris, February 20, 2002

10 Basic Macroeconomic and Regulatory Environment  SPP (gas utility) – Completion expected in February 2002  Transpetrol (oil pipeline) - Completion expected in December 2001  Electricity Distribution Companies - Completion expected in April 2002  Slovenske elektrarne (electric utility) – to be privatised in 2002 Privatisation of Utilities Knowledge Economy Forum, Paris, February 20, 2002

11 Education and Social Capital Education - Structure Source: Slovak Statistical Office Knowledge Economy Forum, Paris, February 20, 2002

12 Education and Social Capital Access to Knowledge and Information – Main Projects INFOVEK (INFO-AGE) - provides an access to Internet to all the elementary (age 6-14, approx. 2500) and secondary (age 14-18, approx. 900) schools by the end of 2005 together with building the multimedia materials, digital content for curriculum etc.; 20% by the end of 2001, total cost expected: $50-67 mil. SANET – Slovak Academic NETwork – connects all the universities (total number of universities – 23), cooperation in GEANT project, next year an upgrade to high speed network is expected (1 Gbps); the goal is to provide a high speed internet access for science and research Knowledge Economy Forum, Paris, February 20, 2002

13 Education and Social Capital Project INFOVEK – 4 main principles 1) Equip all schools in Slovakia with computers and connection to Internet (building hardware infrastructure; 800 schools in 2002) 2) Train teachers to integrate ICT in modern teaching and learning processes (training programs for teachers, management, teacher universities) 3) Develop new educational contents (building digital literacy, 4) Promote digital literacy in local communities (schools as local Internet centres) Knowledge Economy Forum, Paris, February 20, 2002

14 Education and Social Capital Unemployment Remains A Problem but creates opportunities as well Knowledge Economy Forum, Paris, February 20, 2002 Source: National Labour Office

15 Education and Social Capital Number of Inhabitants in a Productive Age Knowledge Economy Forum, Paris, February 20, 2002 Source: Slovak Statistical Office in thousands

16 Education and Social Capital Unemployment and Structural Reforms Knowledge Economy Forum, Paris, February 20, 2002 Source: Slovak Statistical Office Industry Performance Number of employees (in thousands) Profit before tax (in billion SKK)

17 ICT Infrastructure Development of Telecommunication Services  The telecom. network market liberalised since 1998 (excl. basic voice service)  1 incumbent operator (Slovak Telecom)  2 mobile operators (GSM)  3 FWA licences  cca 60 Internet providers  cca 20 - Voice over IP  2 national paging networks (RDS and POCSAG)  1 national and 1 regional trunking network (430 MHz)  VSAT services, data services,... Knowledge Economy Forum, Paris, February 20, 2002

18 ICT Infrastructure Penetration (Fixed Telephone Lines) Knowledge Economy Forum, Paris, February 20, 2002

19 ICT Infrastructure Number of Fixed Telephone Lines per 100 Households Knowledge Economy Forum, Paris, February 20, 2002

20 ICT Infrastructure Penetration – Mobile Telephony % Knowledge Economy Forum, Paris, February 20, 2002

21 ICT Infrastructure Internet  Number of Internet domestic users (6/2001)103,000  Total number of home PC´s per 100 inh.3.3  Total number of business PC´s per 100 inh.10  Total number of PC´s per 100 inh.13.3  Number of addresses under country domain (11/2000)56,315  Number of Internet hosts (12/1999)39,774 Knowledge Economy Forum, Paris, February 20, 2002

22 ICT Infrastructure Internet Users and Host Computers Knowledge Economy Forum, Paris, February 20, 2002

23 ICT Infrastructure Access to Internet (% of Users) work internet cafe home school mobile phone % of all users Knowledge Economy Forum, Paris, February 20, 2002

24 ICT Infrastructure Cable TV Knowledge Economy Forum, Paris, February 20, 2002

25 ICT Infrastructure Access to Knowledge and Information – Government Projects GOVNET – GOVernment NETwork – extending the existing infrastructure between central state government institutions (approx. 40) to the regions (8) and districts (79); the main state infrastructure for information systems of public administration, e-Government delivery, basis for kiosks, libraries, etc.; cooperation between state and local authorities necessary ($40 mil., backbone 622 Mbps – 1 Gbp) DIGITAL LIBRARIES – information and communication system for libraries and transformation to digital content, providing a public access points to the Internet Knowledge Economy Forum, Paris, February 20, 2002

26 Thank You ! Knowledge Economy Forum, Paris, February 20, 2002