From hungary-online-owner Sun Apr 16 01:04:37 1995 Received: from localhost (daemon@localhost) (fnord) by nando.yak.net (8.6.5/8.6.5) id BAA17594 for hungary-online-out31415; Sun, 16 Apr 1995 01:04:37 -0700 Received: from localhost (daemon@localhost) (fnord) by nando.yak.net (8.6.5/8.6.5) id BAA17579; Sun, 16 Apr 1995 01:04:20 -0700 Received: from jhorv@mars.iif.hu () via =-=-=-=-=-= for hol@hungary.yak.net (17577) Received: from mars.iif.hu (mars.iif.hu [192.84.225.92]) (fnord) by nando (8.6.5/8.6.5) with SMTP id BAA17559 for ; Sun, 16 Apr 1995 01:03:59 -0700 Received: by mars.iif.hu (5.67a8+/ULTRIX-1.01) id AA18794; Sun, 16 Apr 1995 10:03:03 +0200 Date: Sun, 16 Apr 1995 10:03:01 +0200 (MET DST) From: John Horvath To: Hungary On-line Subject: (HOL) European Information Superhighway Message-Id: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII X-Charset: US X-Char-Esc: 0 Sender: owner-Hungary-Online@hungary.yak.net Precedence: bulk Reply-To: Hungary-Online@hungary.yak.net I've been cleaning out my directories and have come across some articles I wrote but never got around to putting it on HOL. I thought this might be of interest to some of you (especially Steve). Enjoy, John :) ------------------------------------------------------------------------- European Unity and the Information Super-Highway by John Horvath Europeans have been concerned with the concept of unity since the days of Charlemagne. Over the centuries, blood has been continually spilt in the quest for a united Europe. Napoleon and Hitler were the most recent examples of people who had brought suffering and misery to countless millions in their drive to bring the nations of Europe together as one -- under the heels of the French and Germans respectively. In the information age, computers are now set to take over from where politics and religion have failed. Unity through mutually co-ordinated computer infrastructure development -- the building of the information super-highway -- is the basis of what has become known throughout the European Community (EC) as the Telematics Program. Telematics is a term used by Eurocrats in Brussels and Luxembourg to describe the combined use of telecommunications and information technology. The Telematics Program of the European Commission began in 1989, after exploratory activities on telematic applications in health care, education, and road transport were launched. It was subsequently concluded that the potential of telematics was promising, giving birth to a series of research and technological development projects that has since been known as the Telematics Program. In a speech to the European Parliament in February 1993, EC President Jacques Delors summarized the prime objective of the program: "We shall be starting programs aimed at creating a large network of information for transport, telecommunications, databases, and also for professional training." The idea of unity through infrastructure development is nothing new. In Canada, the railway linking the country from "sea unto sea" in the latter half of the 19th century was considered to be the main unifying force of the new confederation. Besides physically linking the scattered settlements of British North America, the trans-Canadian railway (and later the trans-Canadian highway) was seen as essential for the country's economic development and prosperity. It is this same basic view that is held by the builders of the EC's information super-highway. Economic growth, social improvement, and job creation are seen as the main benefits of the telematics program. As a result, emphasis is laid on the participation of small and medium sized enterprises (SME's). It is believed that only through partnerships between the public and private sectors can more accessible public services and more efficient business services be achieved. In turn, by relying on SME's for their input into the telematics program, rather than inter-government co-operation, economic growth and employment is assured. Apart from the economic benefits, what is of significance is that participation in the telematics program is not limited to merely the 12-member states of the European Union. At a Telematics Requirements and Options meeting held in Brussels in June of this year, eastern Europeans were invited to partake at the sessions and workshops. Representatives of user groups, industry, research, SME's, and public authorities from the Baltic states, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia were in attendance. Considering eastern Europeans are still "segregated" from many political and economic activities of the EC, not to mention membership within the EC itself, many observers see this as a step in the right direction. As Grazyna Wojcieszko of the European Commission noted, "it is hoped that [eastern Europe] will largely benefit both in terms of the programs and in terms of getting new contacts for future co-operation." Despite such efforts toward European telematic integration, there are opponents to the scheme. As with any kind of federation, member states from less developed areas question the motives of Eurocrats in Brussels and Luxembourg. They argue that economic development would be restricted to the more industrialized and technologically advanced nations such as Germany, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Great Britain. Moreover, the telematics program is seen as public funding merely channeled to support hi-tech industries suffering from recession while more basic infrastructural development projects (building roads, schools, water treatment plants, etc) continue to be ignored or under-funded. The emphasis of SME participation is also of some concern. Although the information super-highway is still in its developing stages, NGO's and public institutions such as universities and libraries fear that the present use of the system will no longer be free and so easily accessible. Instead, it will be administered by profit-oriented ventures granted "concession rights" along the "highway". Hence, the use of "tolls" on the information super-highway threatens to restrict the free flow and access of information as promised by the supporters of the telematics program. Finally, the participation of eastern Europeans in the program appears to be a token gesture at best. While they are encouraged to participate and form consortiums with member states of the EC, their rights within the program are limited. Partnerts must be based in at least two members states in order for a project to be accepted within the telematics program. Furthermore, only member states have full user rights to a project and are authorized to sign contracts and carry out financial management tasks. This means that even if countires within eastern Europe build a consortium of their own to solve a problem endemic to their region, they must have at least two partners from western Europe who, in turn, control the administration and finances of the project. In essence, it is a form of telematic imperialism. Thus, as in the political and economic spheres, the 12 members states still retain their elitist positions. For eastern Europe, the telematics program threatens to increase the "brain drain" from the region as researchers and scientists move westward in order to have more control over their own projects. For others, the telematics program is just a step away from the creation of a "global state" and the nightmare of a "fortress" Europe, run by powerful multinational corporations that span the world through global networks, with the electronic frontiers of cyberspaces being their only borders. However, the elitist position of the 12 member states of the EC is prone to become weaker as the information super-highway develops. The issues and concerns of the activists of today are already being taken up by the cyberpunks of tomorrow. Anonymously commuting on electronic bulletin board systems with the intended aim of disseminating information, cyberpunks act as sociopolitical watchdogs capable of averting oppression. As A.J.S. Rayd of Omni Magazine points out, in some cases they can even act as "electronic terrorists" -- by wreaking havoc on computer systems or by simply shutting them down. ############# # This message to Hungary-Online@hungary.yak.net # was from John Horvath # # To unsubscribe, # send "unsubscribe" to # An announcement-only subscription (less volume) is available # at # Send mail to for more information, # or to if you need human assistance. #############