CZECH%20REPUBLIC:%20A%20KNOWLEDGE-BASED%20ECONOMY%20AND%20SOCIETY%20AND%20THE%20STATE%20INFORMATION%20POLICY

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CZECH REPUBLICA KNOWLEDGE-BASEDECONOMY AND
SOCIETY AND THE STATEINFORMATION POLICY
Karel Brezina, Minister of the Czech
Government, Head of the Czech Government
Office, Chairman of the Government Council for
the State Information Policy
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Agenda

• Knowledge-based Economy and Society (KBES) in the
  Czech Republic today
• Basic economic framework
• Towards the information society
• Educated and skilled population
• Information and communication infrastructure
• Challenge of the KBES and the State Information
  and Communication Policy - next steps

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Czech Republic - Several Facts

• Stable political situation
• All major political parties united behind the
  priority of EU accession
• After three years of recession the Czech economy
  has clearly recovered
• GDP rose by 3.1 in 2001 and is expected to rise
  at the same pace in 2002
• Growth has been fuelled by rebounding foreign
  direct investment, with USD 6.3 billion invested
  in 1999 and 4.6 billion in 2000

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Legal Environment for Investments
NON-DISCRIMINATION 100 FOREIGN OWNERSHIP
POSSIBLE FREE ENTRY AND EXIT SUPPORT AND
PROTECTION OF INVESTMENTS DOUBLE TAXATION
PREVENTION TREATIES FULL CONVERTIBILITY OF CZECH
CURRENCY POSSIBILITY TO ACQUIRE REAL ESTATE
INVESTMENT INCENTIVES
YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES!
THROUGH A LOCAL SUBSIDIARY
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Towards the Information Society

• 1990-1998 Extensive Growth
• No general nationwide policy, lack of
  coordination
• Departmental dependency
• Heterogeneous information systems without
  integration
• Extensive growth, many separate projects
• No citizen focus
• Architectural approach, less process orientation
• No modern legal framework

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Towards the Information Society

• 1998-2002 First Steps towards Coordination of
  Information and Communication Policy
• October 98 - Government Council for State
  Information Policy
• 1999 - National Telecommunications Policy (NTP),
  State Information Policy (SIP)
• May 2000 - SIP Action Plan (AP SIP)
• June 2001 - eEurope adopted
• New institutions established (e.g. ÚVIS)
• Private Public Partnerships developed

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SIP - Eight Priority Areas

• I. Information/Digital Literacy
• II. IT-based Democracy
• III. Development of Public Administration
  Information Systems
• IV. Communications Infrastructure
• V. Trustworthiness and Security of Information
  Systems and Personal Data Protection
• VI. Electronic Commerce
• VII. Transparent Economic Environment
• VIII. The Information Society Stable and Safe

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SIP Action Plan

• E-literacy programme (e.g. Internet for Schools)
• E-commerce programme
• E-government programme
• Examples
• - Public Libraries on-line (1100 l./2001,
  6500/2005)
• - Internet for Schools (2002- 3620 least equipped
  schools will be connected to the School Intranet
  and to the Internet during the first period )

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SIP - Legal Framework

• Personal Data Protection Act
• Free Access to Information Act
• Telecommunications Act
• Electronic Signature Act
• Public Administration Information Systems Act
• The Czech Republic has made good
  legislative progress in the field of the
  Information Society. Acts on Technical Products
  Requirements, Public Administration Information
  Systems and Electronic Signatures have been in
  force since 2000, with further alignment to be
  completed upon accession. Future efforts should
  concentrate on the effective implementation of
  the adopted laws and on the transposition of the
  electronic commerce directive. Certain elements
  of the electronic signatures law will have to be
  reviewed. The Office for Personal Data
  Protection will be in charge of the accreditation
  and supervision of certification authorities.
• EU Commission 2001 Report

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Educated and skilled population

• High quality "knowledge pipeline"
• OECD Czech Republic has extremely high secondary
  level completion rate, second only to the USA
  (88 of Czech labour force completed their higher
  secondary education - OECD average is 65
• Even better in younger age groups
• Language-skilled and IT literate
• Internet making its way to households

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Information policy in education

• Strategy of the State Information Policy in
  Education
• STAGE I
• Achieve information literacy by all
  school-leavers from basic and secondary,
  integrated and vocational schools by 2005
• Establish at least one special classroom equipped
  with quality multimedia computers at each school
• Integrate ICT among the standard tools of work
  used by teachers

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Information policy in education

• Strategy of the State Information Policy in
  Education
• STAGE II
• Create the conditions for the effective
  integration of schools into the system of
  lifelong education, in particular for people in
  the ICT sphere, public and state employees
• Lifelong education available via public
  information services of libraries.
• Education for the disadvantaged regions, the
  handicapped and unemployed.
• Access to the information of the Ministry of
  Education and close cooperation among all
  ministries.

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Information policy in education

• Project I - Information literacy
• Education of teachers to increase computer
  literacy
• Education of teachers to administer computer
  networks
• Using the modern ICT for teaching
• Project III - Infrastructure
• Connection to the Internet and provision of
• Multimedia computer equipment
• LAN networks at schools
• Creating a nationwide School Intranet

• Project II - Education software and Information
  Sources
• Multimedia tools and programs
• Launching the ICT and programs
• Information sources in education
• Project IV - Coordination Centre
• Managing and coordinating individual projects
• Drafting the methodology
• Collecting and evaluating the information

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Information policy in education

• Current goals and achievements in stage I
  Infrastructure
• Implementation finished at 850 schools
• Goal for 2002 3620 schools
• 482 training centres for teachers established
• 48 000 teachers will be trained during 2002

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KBES-related strategy documents

• State Information Policy (1999)
• State Information Policy in Education (2000)
• Action Plan of SIP (2000)
• National Telecommunication Policy (1999)
• eEurope Action Plan (2001)
• Vision of the CR in 2015 (2001)
• National Educational Program (White Paper)
• National Plan for Accession to the EU
• National Development Plan (2001) etc.

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Czech Republic Right Time for the KBES
StrategyAction plan?

• Basic milestones
• - timeframe for KBES Action plan
• JUNE 2002 parliamentary election
• JULY 2002 new government
• AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2002 new government programme
  statement
• Closing all chapters of the EU accession process
• 2003 2004 period
• Central government reform (ministries, central
  offices, other government agencies and bodies)
• Regulatory reform

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Challenge for KBES strategy

• Response to this challenge
• Draft GREEN PAPER
• on the KBES in the Czech Republic
• the nearest concrete step with regard to the
  knowledge-based economy

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Green Paper on the Czech KBES

• Timeframe for preparation before JULY 2002
• Responsible e-minister
• Goals of the Green Paper
• Position document - kind of SWOT analysis
• Basic benchmarking document
• Summary document
• Propose draft of the KBES Action plan
• Specify role of all actors participating in the
  KBES development
• Including anticipated EU Sevilla conclusions

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• Thank you for your attention.