EC Publishes Digital Agenda Scoreboard

BRUSSELS -- The Digital Agenda Scoreboard (see IP/11/663) gives essential data and in-depth analysis of progress so far with the implementation of the Digital Agenda for Europe (DAE) (see IP/10/581, MEMO/10/199 and MEMO/10/200). The Scoreboard is the first to be published by the European Commission showing the performance of the EU and Member States in delivering on the agreed targets after the first year of existence of the DAE. The DAE includes 101 specific actions (78 for the Commission, of which 31 were legal proposals, and 23 for Member States) which will together boost investment in, and use of, digital technologies. They are grouped under 7 headings, each representing a key area of Europe's digital economy. Overall, progress is good: 11 actions have been completed (two ahead of schedule), 6 actions due to be delivered last year are delayed, and the other 84 are largely on track.

A vibrant digital single market
Progress in this area has been mixed. Some of the actions related to improving access to digital content have not progressed as quickly as originally foreseen. A major milestone will be achieved in the second half of 2011 with the review of the Data Protection Directive. The rest of the 21 actions under this heading have made good progress.

Internet usage and online content
The use of Internet in the EU continues to rise. 65% of citizens now use it at least weekly. Day-to-day activities traditionally carried out offline are increasingly performed online. For example, one third of citizens now use internet banking and read the news online. Not only have nearly all kinds of online content, like web radio or posting messages, become more popular, but the difference in popularity between the different kinds of content has also reduced.

Nevertheless, there is still considerable room for development for on-demand services and online music subscriptions, which for the moment find significant markets only in the largest European countries. In this context, DAE Action 1, which foresees simplified copyright clearance, management and cross-border licensing through a proposal for a framework Directive on collective rights management would help to unlock the EU's digital content market.

Most of the recent growth in Internet use has come from the educated middle-aged and from young citizens with lower educational levels. For young Europeans, usage rates have converged across countries, while for older citizens there is considerable variation between Member States. For highly educated young adults, use ranges from 88% to 100%, while for medium-educated elderly citizens the range is from 10% to 80%. Under, the Digital Agenda, Member States are due to implement by 2011 long-term e-skills and digital literacy policies and promote relevant incentives for small- and medium sized companies (SMEs) and disadvantaged groups (Action 66).

European Commission