Prospects of the ICT sector in Greece

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Study of the ICT sector in Greece: Current Situation and Future Trends Deliverable 14: Prospects of the ICT sector in Greece-policy implications education and training the population and the entrepreneurs are required. Otherwise, Greece could be in danger of staying behind on developments regarding the Information Society, which could hamper its competitiveness. Public policies aiming at narrowing the digital gap and promote the use of new technologies must, therefore, focus on social groups of lower educational level and income and older age, in order to inform, train and familiarize them with the ICTs. By using the computer labs that have been created in schools for further educating older people on ICTs is such an activity. Moreover, motivating groups of citizens and volunteers that can support this activity could also be effective. …with more motives for citizens and businesses to adopt ICTs… The support of the ICTs use by firms is a fundamental priority of the new ‘Digital Convergence’ Operational Programme. Subsidies involving equipment and connection to the Internet have been and will still be used as a motive, in order to achieve the first step towards digital economy. Nevertheless, cost does not horizontally affect every group of people / firms at the same extent. That means that cost is not the main deterrent factor for the limited use of ICTs in the country. Consequently, apart from these motives, efforts to stress the benefits from the use of ICTs must be intensified. Discounts for electronic transactions with the Public– since the offered services have been upgraded and expanded (e.g. taxisnet) – better e-services through the one-stop shops, but also real benefits of cost reductions, could affect the adoption of ICTs rather than just subsidizing equipment. Hence, motives should involve this new dimension: promote the use of ICTs and not just a purchase of the relevant equipment. The ‘Digital Convergence’ Programme supports actions for more digital content and more effective services from the public’s side. These actions in conjunction with the provision of specific, for each case, motives for their use (contrary to the old procedure), could substantially improve the willingness of citizens and enterprises to enter into the digital economy. ...as well as motives for firms regarding training and further education of their employees on new technologies Given that one of the main deterrent parameters regarding the slow ICTs adoption from firms is the fact that the majority of the employees – especially the older ones– do not master ICTs skills, the need for their further education is evident. However, the actions towards that direction that firms undertake by themselves in terms of training and further education are limited and lie on the initiatives of the owner / entrepreneur. A more active promotion of such training activities (subsided seminars, etc) is required, in order for the employees to develop an adequate level of ICTs skills, which will help these firms enter into the digital economy. Support of ICTs teaching at all levels of education October 2006 Observatory for the Greek IS 46
Study of the ICT sector in Greece: Current Situation and Future Trends Deliverable 14: Prospects of the ICT sector in Greece-policy implications The need to enforce ICT courses at all levels of education is necessary for the better preparation of graduates, so that they would possess the required ICTs skills in their search for a career. These skills will help them claim a well paid job, as well as contribute to the technological improvement of the medium-sized Greek enterprise. The induction of computer science as a school course, which is already taking place, is not however adequate; the partial transformation of the educational procedure is also required. This means that the teachers should adopt the practical use of computer science in their courses and support the educational procedure by exploiting the existing tools. Therefore, they need for more digital (e.g. educational software) and of course more training and advising about the new possibilities. Simplification of processes of public offerings, acceleration of the cycle of implementation The implementation of Information Society projects face difficulties for the reasons that have been already explained. This delay may cause problems in the sector, but it also functions negatively in relevance to Greece’s course towards the Information Society. It is a fact that there is room for improvements in the cycle of implementation of these projects. These should be spotted, while the cause of delays should be pinpointed, in order to improve effectiveness. Creation of a Strategy unit next to the Prime Minister regarding ICTs The problems of Public Administration and its inflexibilities and technological impotence in materializing large-scale ICT projects indicate the need for a more flexible mechanism which will more effectively implement government’s decisions. The establishment of a Strategy unit, which will provide the independent existing knowledge and experience to the government, will promote government’s objectives and communicate their directions to all involved agents. Furthermore, it could convert the political commitments and strategies into practice in a more effective way. It is noted that in other countries the coordination of the Information Society’s policies is supervised by an institution reporting directly to the prime minister. Under certain conditions (changes of responsibilities) this Strategy unit could either be the Information Society S.A., or the Observatory of the Information Society or some other institution that could supplement their work. Long-term evaluation – with both qualitative and quantitative objectives – of the effectiveness of ICT expenditures could be a responsibility of such an institution, in order to point out the positive / negative points and improve the country’s entry into the Information Society. At the level of broader public policies that also touch also upon the ICT sector This section makes suggestions on general public policies that refer to the country’s economic activity and also on reformative actions that affect more or less the sector in question. October 2006 Observatory for the Greek IS 47
Page 1 and 2: Study of the ICT sector in Greece:
Page 45: Study of the ICT sector in Greece:
Page 55: Τίτλος Μελέτης

Prospects of the ICT sector in Greece

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?