WRITTEN QUESTION E-3031/97 by Amedeo Amadeo (NI) to the Commission (1 October 1997)

Subject: Living and working in the information society (Green Paper)

With reference to the Green Paper 'Living and working in the information society: people first' (COM(96) 0389 final),

will the Commission conduct studies to determine the level of investment needed and assess the impact which the creation and operation of the information highways and new services will have on employment?

Answer given by Mr Flynn on behalf of the Commission (27 November 1997)

The Commission has commissioned several studies related to the employment effects of the information society including 'The impact of telecoms liberalisation on the realisation of the single integrated information market' Analysis 1996 (forwarded direct to the Honourable Member and to Parliament's secretariat) and 'Effects on employment of the liberalisation on the telecommunications sector' BIPE, IFO and LENTIC, 1997 (not yet published).

The studies focus on the effects of the process of liberalisation of the telecommunications markets and agree that liberalisation will have positive effects on employment. These effects rely largely on two factors, the pace of markets liberalisation and the speed of technological diffusion. The quicker the process, the better the chances are of a favourable outcome on net job creation.

Job creation in information and communication technologies industries is expected to be in software and computer services, mobile services and in multimedia content processing. The wider adoption of electronic commerce will help to diffuse the benefits of information technologies on competitiveness in other branches of economy. It is difficult to monitor and predict the multiplier effects of the investment which can spill over to almost every other sector of the economy.

The Commission is currently supporting various projects contributing to a better understanding of the economic and social effects on the information society, including FAIR (Forecast and assessment of socio-economic impact of advanced communications and recommendations), Project AC093, in the Advanced communication technologies and services (ACTS) programme (the 1997 report is forwarded direct to the Honourable Member and to Parliament's secretariat) and the European survey on the information society (ESIS), launched in February 1997, to make an inventory of information society projects, initiatives and incentives in Member States.

Following the Information society activity centre/Information society project office (ISAC/ISPO) call for proposals 1997 (in the process of selection), the Commission will support studies aimed at promoting a better understanding of the political, economic and social impacts of the information society. In addition to this, a pilot research project is being launched on how to monitor and survey information technology added value services, the emerging demand for these services and the needs for new investment.

Finally, in its communication 'The social labour market dimension of the information society. People first - The next steps' ((COM(97) 390. )), the Commission has emphasised the need to improve existing knowledge on the employment effects of the information society. For this purpose it has announced that it will monitor in the annual report employment trends and changes in employment structure, propose to pursue in the 5th research and technological development framework programme the research on the dematerialisation of the economy and the relationships between technological change, employment, skills and economic competitiveness, and continue the efforts to improve the statistical framework and tools necessary to understand and monitor the development of the information society, particularly related to employment trends.