Dialogue for Digital Future – Digital Self-Confidence, Public Confidence, Public Security


The positive impact of the increase in broadband internet penetration and use on competitiveness is obvious at all levels: national economy, enterprises and the public. Given the current crisis, it is of paramount importance to realise that the development of broadband services can be one of the main catalysts and drivers of economic growth, as it plays a key role from the perspective of investments, job creation and the overall economic recovery and competitiveness. Now, although essentially all agreed with the above, in fact there has been no substantial professional debate in respect of these issues in Hungary for years, no strategy has been developed, and the concrete measures are still missing, too.

The Broadband Foundation established the Broadband Workshop independent professional initiative in order to offer a platform for the experts of the NGOs, state administration, service providers and research communities for a continuous professional dialogue regarding broadband electronic communication, and the most important issues of the development of the information society in Hungary.

As the first significant step in the practical implementation of the above ideas, on September 21, 2009, the Broadband Workshop organised an immensely successful and fruitful professional meeting and discussion session where one of the debated items on the agenda was the study entitled ”Discussion Paper on Broadband Services” completed early this summer, and also a decision was made to accept new members to the Workshop.

Those who recently joined the work of the Workshop - Nokia Siemens Networks, Hewlett-Packard, Sanofi-Aventis, EnterNet and Netvisor – made a presentation of their activities, and commented on the objectives set out. After this, the old and the new members jointly accepted the ”Action Programme” to serve as the basis to carry on with their work in pursuit of the common targets, with special emphasis on digital self-confidence, public confidence and public security.
In addition to participants from the industry (Telekom, Invitel, Nokia Siemens Networks, Hewlett-Packard, EnterNet, Netvisor, Sanofi Aventis), representatives of the Government were also present, to begin with, the State Secretary in charge of Infocommunication, and, among others, delegates from NHH (National Communications Authority), KHEM (Ministry of Transport, Telecommunication and Energy), NT KHT. (International Technology Nonprofit Co.), and APEH (Hungarian Tax and Financing Control Office), who also agreed with the priorities and objectives set forth.

The following topics were discussed at the conference:

- The current analysis of the BPI (Broadband Performance 2.0) index, with a brief summary.
On behalf of the Broadband Workshop, Gábor Mátrai argued that, with the exception of some moderate progress in the development of broadband coverage in the countryside, nothing changed at all over the past year, thus the main underlying reason for lagging behind in terms of using broadband services is still the inadequacy of the demand side. To catch up with the midfield, stakeholders must join forces as much as it is possible. To this end, it is indispensable to develop a project that properly aligns with the directions set out in the Post i2010 Strategy of the European Commission.

- Evaluation of the official comments received for the analysis entitled "Discussion Paper on Broadband Services", issued on May 6.

- Concise review of the Digital Competitiveness Report.

- Definition of strategic directions building on consensus.

At the meeting, all unanimously welcomed the initiative, and the State Secretary in charge of Infocommunication made a commitment to support the work of the Workshop in every respect.
The other partners also voiced and expressed their wish to first publish at appropriate level, then submit and implement the agreed consensus-based proposals.

An agreement was also reached in that not later than October 5, each partner will send its arguments and comments in writing to the organisers concerning the To-Do List relevant to Hungary, considering the basic ideas spelled out in the POST i2010 Strategy of the Union. Using the received comments, the Broadband Workshop will develop a document based on consensus, and send it to the European Commission by October 9, as this date is the closing day of the consultation process that will fundamentally shape the future infocommunication strategy of the Union.

Here are a few reflections made by the participants during the discussion:

"A state-of-the-art infocommunication infrastructure, and a powerful ICT industry are both decisive factors for the development of the Hungarian national economy. Accordingly, providing a true broadband internet service throughout the entire area of the country is our primary goal. The Broadband Workshop can give a prominent contribution to achieve this target. NETvisor Zrt. as a reputed and professionally respected actor of the ICT industry, expressed its intention to enhance the representation of the SME segment accounting for 60% of the employees of our domestic ICT industry, thereby promoting the efforts of the Broadband Workshop", stated János Máthé, CEO of Netvisor.

"We deem the work of the Broadband Foundation important, as we are aware that only the co-operation between professionals can give a push to expand the information society in Hungary as far as possible, thereby reducing the number of digitally ’illiterate’ individuals – knowing that today this may prove a huge handicap in a number of areas", - added Róbert Bauer, a member of the Board of Directors of EnterNet.

"We think it is important to work out a consensus-based, nationwide broadband concept, and we propose to facilitate this by offering our international experience drawn from the lessons we learned, and involving our competent and capable local expert staff. The strategy so created will be successful in practise, able to give extra momentum to increase competitiveness if it handles correctly the deficiencies of both the supply (available infrastructure) and the demand (available applications, user group) side. In our opinion, the Broadband Workshop – whose members include political decision-makers, market actors and stakeholders of the NGO sector – provides a proper forum to develop this concept", concluded Róbert Ésik, general manager of Nokia Siemens Networks.

"The Broadband Workshop is a civil initiative going way beyond data transfer and telecommunication, aiming at the creation of information society. It prompted the re-start of the dialogue between the governmental (state), business (market) and NGO sectors, and all this in a spirit pursuing comprehensive social goals in the interest of all people", pointed out János Szkurka, Division Director of HP Hungary.

"Sanofi-Aventis, a leading European company creating value in the health care industry is committed to promote the spreading of broadband internet, as access to this service facilitates the spreading of e-Health – the services related to electronic health care. These complex services contribute to the improvement of the quality of life of patients, and represent true added value. Our objective is to support the work of the Workshop, and thus ensure better standards for more cost-efficient health care, and to guarantee equal opportunities to access it", said the Communications Director of Sanofi-Aventis.

"Hungarian Telecom is in favour of every initiative that helps to develop the information society in Hungary, the elimination of the digital divide, and the increased penetration of broadband internet. This was the reason why the company took part in the work of the Broadband Workshop, a forum which, we are convinced, creates good opportunities for its stakeholders for common thinking, to discuss ideas and proposals, and to co-ordinate views."

The Broadband Workshop is also active vis-à-vis the EU. As a result, it participated at the Industry Hearing held in Brussels on September 23, organised with the key objective to outline and finalise the main directions of the public reconciliation process – soon coming to an end – of the future EU-level infocommunication strategy. Speaking for Broadband Forum, Ákos Bóna underlined that the implementation of the future strategy cannot be successful unless the existing infrastructural, content- and motivation-related obstacles are handled in parallel, that is, the development of broadband infrastructure in itself will not produce economic growth if the local markets and demand are not created. This opinion was shared and repeated by the European Director of Skype, and the representative of the European Broadband Portal (EBP) as well.

Subsequent to the hearing, Jean-Jacques Sahel, Director of Government and Regulatory Affairs, Europe, Skype, and Ákos Bóna concluded an agreement concerning the official accession of Skype.

"Skype is glad to be associated with the Broadband Foundation because we do believe in the power of the Internet and the content, services and applications that run over it to improve people's lives and work, across Europe and beyond."


Budapest, September 28, 2009

Broadband Foundation