Abstract
The pressures of competition in a global economy are causing governments to try to transform their economies and social structures into information societies. In the European Union, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands and Sweden have been the leaders, with well-developed policy frameworks and a programme of government-supported information initiatives. A second group consists of Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, Portugal and the UK, which have only recently given information society developments a high priority. A third group, Greece, Italy and Spain have no formal policy framework and only uncoordinated information society initiatives. Various actions and activities have been undertaken in the areas of public administration, services for the disabled and elderly people, education and training, the environment healthcare, language engineering, libraries, transport, services in urban and rural areas and support for small and medium-sized enterprises. Initiatives are spread thinly across the European Union and many are at an early stage, but the fact that a body of expertise is developing holds hope for the future. The role of governments is critical, since they can create the framework and structure for development by other agencies, they must cope with market failure and provide a regulatory regime, and they have an important role in funding pilot projects and raising awareness. What will be a long journey has however only begun
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