Valentino Cavalli SEEREN Inauguration, Thessaloniki, 09/01/ Digital Divide and Policy Issues for NRENs in South East Europe Valentino Cavalli TERENA

Valentino Cavalli SEEREN Inauguration, Thessaloniki, 09/01/ About this talk General findings about the digital divide in Europe Based on the NREN Compendium and the SERENATE project Conclusions and recommendations about SEE Based on the VARNA workshop

Valentino Cavalli SEEREN Inauguration, Thessaloniki, 09/01/ Background NREN Compendium (COM-REN) –Administrative data and legal form, number of users and market share, internal and external connectivity, and capacity of links, network traffic, load and congestion indicators, services, staffing and funding SERENATE –Strategic study into the evolution of European research and education networking –Technical, commercial and political evolution –Formulate recommendations of general applicability –D16: Study on the digital divide in European research and education networking

Valentino Cavalli SEEREN Inauguration, Thessaloniki, 09/01/ Divide in network capacity Three groups of countries: –A. European Economic Area (EU15 + IS, NO, CH) –B. EU Accessing Countries May 2004 –C. EU neighbours in SEE (AL, BH, BG, HR, MK, RO, YU, TR) National backbone and total international capacity: B 5 times smaller than A, C 25 times smaller than B High prices of connectivity, lack of funding and government support perceived as the major inhibitors Serious issue of RESEARCH EXCLUSION

Valentino Cavalli SEEREN Inauguration, Thessaloniki, 09/01/ Access to infrastructure High pricing of telecommunication links due to lack of competition and persisting dominance of (ex-) monopoly telecommunications operators Very similar to the situation which existed in the countries of the European Union ten years ago, and the measures which need to be taken are the same The process of effective liberalisation of the market for electronic communications should be implemented effectively and rapidly

Valentino Cavalli SEEREN Inauguration, Thessaloniki, 09/01/ SERENATE conclusions Recommendations to EU institutions and governments of countries affected by the digital divide: –Recognise that a digital divide exist and take energetic measures to reduce and eliminate it –Monitor annually the state of the digital divide (including availability of Gigabit communication services, functionality and performance of services offered by the NRENs) and publish the results –Encourage the use of structural funds in the field of R&E including investment in communication infrastructure, such as optical fibre

Valentino Cavalli SEEREN Inauguration, Thessaloniki, 09/01/ The VARNA workshop Policy Issues for NRENs in South East Europe, Varna, 7- 9 Sept 2003 Organised by CEENet, TERENA, SEEREN, ICT Development Agency of Bulgaria, with support from the NATO Science Programme Participants from governments, universities, scientific institutions, networking organisations, telecom operators, the European Commission and the NATO Computer Networking Panel

Valentino Cavalli SEEREN Inauguration, Thessaloniki, 09/01/ SEE countries situation Awareness of NRENs importance, not clear political will Similar interest needs and driving forces towards IS but also some common issues: –lack of awareness at decision-making level –Fragmentation among different national actors –Shortage of resources –High cost of connectivity / PNO monopoly –Misguided competition with commercial ISPs Different infrastructures, network capacity, legal and regulatory frameworks, R&E structure

Valentino Cavalli SEEREN Inauguration, Thessaloniki, 09/01/ Conclusions Steering group working on a set of specific recommendations addressing measures to reduce the digital divide in the SEE region: –Advance the Information Society –Leading role of NRENs –Interest of governments on NRENs –Scope of NRENs –Access to infrastructure

Valentino Cavalli SEEREN Inauguration, Thessaloniki, 09/01/ Advance the Information Society Speed and quality of Information Society development critical for the future of Europe economic prosperity The academic community is a key driver for the Information Society

Valentino Cavalli SEEREN Inauguration, Thessaloniki, 09/01/ Leading role of NRENs The academic community cannot rely on sole market forces: requires a strong, stable, not-for-profit organisation providing leading edge networking services The NREN is such an organisation

Valentino Cavalli SEEREN Inauguration, Thessaloniki, 09/01/ Scope of NREN’s activity NRENs and commercial ISPs complementary, not competing. NRENs provide advanced services to well-defined communities. Over time fed back to standard ISP’s offer to general public Serving research centres, universities and higher institutions as well as other education segments, libraries, hospitals very important, particularly in smaller countries

Valentino Cavalli SEEREN Inauguration, Thessaloniki, 09/01/ Government support to NRENs R&E networking is a priority if you want to speed up the development of Information Society One NREN per country in charge of all R&E needs, stable organisation and staff, legally funded, sufficient funding, initially fully financed from government budget

Valentino Cavalli SEEREN Inauguration, Thessaloniki, 09/01/ Government support in access to infrastructure Governments should: –Ensure that sufficient financial resources are available –Exert influence on PNOs to provide services needed by NRENs at cost-related prices –Enable NRENs ownership of infrastructure

Valentino Cavalli SEEREN Inauguration, Thessaloniki, 09/01/ Thank you