October 2012: European Cyber Security Month

The European Network and Information Agency (ENISA) that recently published a new study on cyber incident reporting in the EU, is organizing the first European Cyber Security Month (ECSM) in October to raise public awareness on cyber security. ECSM will feature a wide range of activities in six European countries (Luxembourg, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, and UK) aiming to promote safer use of the Internet for all users. 

EU legislation can play an important role here as there is now a Directive, which has been transposed in national laws, obliging providers to report incidents to a national authority. Moreover, the European Commission is developing a European Cyber Security Strategy which aims to increase transparency about incidents, and ultimately to prevent them or limit their impact.

More information about European Cyber Security Month

Better use of ICT can help Spain to improve economic growth

Spain can reap more value from ICTs, says OECD. Better use of information communication technologies (ICTs) can help Spain unlock governmental efficiencies and help prepare the country for future economic growth, according to a new study from the OECD. The report "Reaping the Benefits of ICTs in Spain - Strategic Study on Communication Infrastructures and Paperless Administration", examines recent achievements in two key areas – communication infrastructures and e-government - and proposes policies to help Spain better leverage ICT investments.

"The difficult economic challenges faced by Spain require attention from several perspectives", says Mr. Rolf Alter, director for the OECD Public Governance directorate. "A focus on the added value of ICTs – to lever investments in growth as well as to promote higher efficiency and enable expenditure reductions in the public administration -  is an important contribution for Spain's sustainable recovery."

In terms of ICTs in the public administration, Spain has achieved an impressive supply of online public service delivery but needs to implement effective measures to support a greater user uptake in order to benefit from returns on previous investments. Data and evidence should be used to ground business cases with a clear focus on the value of ICTs – both in decision making and project implementation. Additionally, governance measures should be put in place to ensure national-regional alignment of e-government policies and implementation.

The report has been presented to key members of the Spanish government and to the High-Level Committee Group of Experts of the Spanish Digital Agenda.

More information about this study of OECD

Study on the Role and Impact of Professional and Scientific Societies in ICT Research, Education and Innovation

This new report summarises the results of the SMART study, carried out under a mandate from the European Commission to investigate the current situation and the dynamics of the ICT societies in Europe and to recommend strategies that may help overcome ICT society fragmentation, increasingly seen as a major bottleneck to their future development.

The study gathers and analyses information about ICT societies, performs an assessment of the actual contribution of societies to ICT research, education and innovation, analyses the impact of "participative" technologies and services, such as web 2.0, on the future of scientific societies, particularly in enabling new ways of producing & sharing knowledge and consensus building.

It furthermore analyses how the world-wide competing societies head-quartered in Europe are perceived by researchers, industrial stakeholders and policy-makers.

One of the key conclusions of this study is that the current set-up of ICT societies in the EU does not optimally address the key challenges of globalisation and multi-disciplinary.

The document also provides several recommendations, ideas for further research and activity and a list of European ICT societies.

Download the study