Brussels, 03/05/2011 (Agence Europe) - European Commissioner for the Digital Agenda Neelie Kroes initiated the first phase of the public-private partnership on the internet of the future (FI-PPP) on Tuesday 3 May. The partnership, which will represent total investment of €600 million, will promote innovation in Europe and help businesses and governments to develop internet solutions that will be capable of managing the exponential increase in online data. “We are only at the beginning of the internet era. Europe must mobilise all its talent to keep ahead in this sector, not only to ensure Europe's future competitiveness and to unlock European creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship, but also to safeguard European values like privacy, openness, and diversity”, Kroes said. In her view, “we should use public finances in a smart way to leverage industry investment - if we don't invest and innovate first, our global competitors will”.
Internet data traffic is growing by 60% every year. European citizens already rely on the internet to deliver many essential services. In 2014, the internet economy will account for 5.8% of GDP, i.e. nearly €800 billion. New applications are coming into being every day in many areas such as mobility, energy, healthcare and governance - applications that must be developed. In order to seize this opportunity and ensure future European competitiveness, the Commission has committed to a FI-PPP which will address a number of key challenges that currently hold back internet development in Europe. Today, the internet links only computers and persons. It is not capable at this stage of absorbing the explosion of data or of providing a sufficient level of precision, resilience and security. The system that is now taking shape is geared to mobility and aims to connect all sorts of devices and objects. The partnership, in which 152 pioneer organisations from 23 European countries participate, covers eight areas where the data revolution could stimulate innovation and create jobs, for example in areas such as mobile communications, software and services. The Commission has tabled €300 million in funding over five years, while European research bodies, the public sector and the private sector have undertaken to provide equivalent funding. Projects launched today will receive European funding of €90 million, and the other partners are to provide an identical contribution. The first phase in the partnership will last two years (2011-2012) and will aim to develop a “tool box” of generic services in preparation for the second phase (2013-2014), during which there will be large-scale trials of innovative and complex internet services and applications in a wide range of domains across Europe. The third phase (2014-2015) will be dedicated to transforming these trials into fertile digital ecosystems. (I.L./transl.jl)