eChallenges
Speech by Frank Heemskerk, State Secretary of Economic Affairs, at the opening of the eChallenges conference, The Hague, 24 October 2007.
Ladies and gentlemen,
If there's one trait that has typified Dutch society for centuries, it's openness. Which is why this country is such a great location for the 17th e-Challenges conference. I am proud to welcome you all here today.
For some years, the Netherlands has been one of the leaders in the EU in the area of advanced communications networks, high-tech services, and overall IT skills. Combined with our open society and open market, this makes us an attractive partner in digital technology. So I hope we can offer you an inspirational environment in which to discuss IT and open innovation.
The key question for me is: how can we use digital technology to improve people's lives? Related to this key questions issues as security, convergence and the position of the consumer are for me priorities. If I have to translate these priorities into the challenges for the IT industry then I would like to summarize this with what I call the three 'I's: innovation, inclusion, and internationalisation. Let me explain.
Innovation
Innovation is not an end in itself. It is intended to improve the quality of people's lives and help keep our societies stable and sustainable. But if you really want innovation to contribute to the quality of life, you need to operate in an open environment. Otherwise, how do you know whether the products you develop will meet the needs of individuals and businesses?
Ensuring open innovation is therefore a major challenge for the IT industry. For me, open innovation means a cooperative system that is accessible to everyone and whose results are available to everyone. I'm not just talking about product innovation, but also about innovative new forms of cooperation.
Open innovation presents us with interesting dilemmas. It sounds like such a good idea. Yet businesses for which patents are vitally important have to work in closed innovation systems. Does 'open innovation' mean that any product can be copied, just like that? No, of course not. That's not what we're after.
So we constantly have to seek the right balance between open and closed systems - which may vary according to the industry, the business or the product. This is a complex issue that is bound to receive a great deal of attention at this conference. A useful guiding principle might be: keep it open whenever possible and closed only if you really need to.
A few weeks ago, I presented to the Parliament with an action plan called 'The Netherlands: an open connection'. The Dutch public sector wants to make itself more independent of established software suppliers and wants to simplify the exchange of data between government authorities, businesses and individual citizens. This is opening up opportunities for designers of open source software. By 2009, all government authorities in the Netherlands have to use ODF (Open Document Format) as the standard format for exchanging files.
Open innovation leads to creativity, to interaction between innovators. This will yield unexpected and unique products. It will yield cross-fertilisation between disciplines, so we can tackle social challenges in fields like care, education or security.
Now that digital technology has penetrated every corner of our society, security is becoming more important. The internet has been discovered not only by people with good intentions, but also by skilful criminals and terrorists, who disrupt societies worldwide by misusing digital technology. One of the greatest challenges of open innovation is how to prepare ourselves for cybercrime, whether petty or on a grand scale.
The Dutch Government is focusing on our vulnerability to cybercrime: by making users aware of digital security; by setting up a national coordination point to stop cybercrime through efficient cooperation; and by applying good ideas more widely - thanks to open innovation.
We are trying unexpected and creative solutions. For instance, we are organising contests on the use of IT to solve social problems.. In early October, we launched a call for proposals for 'serious gaming and simulation for better security'. Crisis and emergency exercises cost a lot of money. But some situations cannot be simulated in practice. Serious gaming and simulation can yield new applications in this area.
This room is packed with creative and innovative people. Do you have any suggestions in this area? If you do, have a go in this competition. You still have up to the first of February 2008 to submit project proposals and stand a chance of winning 50 per cent of the project costs up to 1.2 million euros. This is an example of how open innovation can lead to IT applications that meet social needs.
Inclusion
The second challenge for the IT industry is what I call 'inclusion'. Technological convergence is merging computers and telecoms with broadcasting and the audiovisual and creative industries. And this has consequences for other industries, the public sector and individuals.
Traditional relationships and lines of communication are changing. Businesses are having to respond, and people have to be computer-literate in order to get by in society. They don't just have to know which buttons to press; they also have to know how to use IT applications strategically. And they have to be able to seek and find information as well as assess its value.
Skills and access are unequally divided not only among the world's countries but also among social groups within rich countries. Research by the Dutch Social and Cultural Planning Office last week revealed major differences in IT skills in the Netherlands between young people and the elderly, between highly educated and less educated people, between those with jobs and those without, and between locals and non-western immigrants.
Young people and the highly educated are much more skilful with computers and the internet than the elderly and the less educated. The unemployed and the disabled spend a great deal of time behind computer screens. But they mainly play games and make little practical use of the computer. So they don't benefit enough from the potential of the information society. In addition, organisations cannot become more innovative without the right IT skills.
I think this is a very serious problem. Individuals have to keep track of developments. But employers too have a role in investing in education. What is more, the market sector can seize opportunities by making their products and services more accessible for groups on the other side of the digital gap. They too are potential customers or employees.
Clearly, the public sector also needs to act, but in a targeted fashion. This is why I want first to track down the decisive factors in the digital gap. Once they have been clearly identified, I'll do my best to fix them. The great thing is this: the digital developments - that the less privileged cannot keep pace with - can also be used to help involve them. Both the market and public sectors are active in this area in the Netherlands.
The EU as well is aware of the impending digital gap. Therefore the European Commission intends to present this year a European strategy to bring the information society into everybody's reach. I support this initiative and will commit myself to the further implementation on the national level, together with all relevant Dutch stakeholders.
Internationalisation
I see internationalisation as the third great challenge for the IT industry. Digital technology cares nothing for borders and is by definition international. We hear a lot about the negative effects of globalisation. But computers and the internet show its benefits. Many of us have become world citizens thanks to the unprecedented capabilities of information technology. Further internationalisation will allow us to use them more effectively.
Fortunately, there is already much good news in this area. Internationalisation means sharper competition. But it also means more potential cooperation. Which is already taking place on a large scale, for instance in the area of R&D.
Dutch researchers, businesses and other organisations are taking part in a 102 of the 318 selected research projects that are part of the Seventh European Framework Programme. Thanks to this partnership, they will have access to advanced technological know how, and they will receive 70 million euros in grants. An excellent result.
The great thing is that not only big names like Philips, TNO and the universities of technology will be taking part in the programme, but also small and medium-sized businesses. In the future, too, there will be plenty of opportunities for European cooperation. I hope that many of you will take part.
Conclusion
Ladies and gentlemen,
The most important challenges for the IT industry are open innovation, inclusion, and internationalisation. I hope that, during the next few days, you will get a sense of the openness, ambition and wealth of opportunities for IT in the Netherlands.
An innovative, dynamic and competitive economy is one of the pillars of the Dutch Government's programme. We are an internationally minded society. I know for certain that you will return. As a knowledge worker, business partner or tourist! Perhaps because you have found innovative partners here. Or because, in May 2010, you will be visiting the World Congress on Information Technology in Amsterdam. Every two years, the congress brings together worldwide opinion leaders from the market sector, government and the academic world. It's the Olympic Games of digital technology, and you can't miss it! I look forward to seeing many of you again in Amsterdam in 2010.
For now, let me wish you inspiration and interesting international contacts during e-challenges 2007. This is an important forum for your business, government authority or knowledge institute. And ultimately for the well-being of individuals and businesses in Europe and the world.
Thank you.