European Union News - Information Society

According to a survey results, in January 2012, almost half of enterprises in the EU reported that they provided some type of portable device to at least some of their staff for business use. With regard to the type of mobile devices provided to staff, 40% of enterprises provided portable computers and 39% other mobile devices, such as smartphones or Personal Digital Assistants.

The European Commission presents an Action Plan to address barriers to the full use of digital solutions in Europe's healthcare systems, and to increase the pace of change and improvement in healthcare. In addition, the Commission will publish in 2014 a mHealth (Mobile Health) Green Paper addressing quality and transparency issues.

The European Commission presented the results of an EU wide screening of websites selling games, books, videos and music which can be downloaded to a computer or mobile device. The check shows that over 75% of these websites do not appear to comply with consumer protection rules. National enforcement authorities will now contact the companies concerned to enable them to clarify their position or correct their website.

The European Commission announce that 48 countries worldwide will join forces since 5 December to increase international cooperation for the fight against child sexual abuse online. During the launching meeting that will take place on 5 December, the participating countries will make political commitments to pursue a number of goals for making this fight more effective.

The European Commission's proposal for a Directive on the accessibility of public sector bodies' websites that would introduce mandatory EU standardised accessibility features, from the end of 2015, for 12 types of websites, was presented on the International Day of People with Disability.

According to the European Commission, an efficient delivery and return system is key to facilitating further growth in e-commerce and therefore consumer choice and convenience. It has therefore launched a public consultation to gather opinions to boost the transnational delivery system on the e-commerce in the EU.

Following the outcome of a co-ordinated "Sweep" investigation in which national enforcement authorities checked 565 websites across the 27 Member States, Norway and Iceland, the European Commission now published that up to date figures show that over 75% of websites checked now give satisfactory information to clients, while in September 2011, 70% of these sites (393) were flagged for further investigation.

The European Commission announced its intention to refer Greece to the Court of Justice because it has failed to ensure full compliance with EU rules on public procurement as regards the purchase of an information system for the Social Security Foundation.

Neelie Kroes, European Commission Vice President for the Digital Agenda and the U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano signed a Joint Declaration in London, committing to make the Internet a safer and better place for children. Among the commitments signed, they agreed to implement joint campaigns on the occasion of an annual Safer Internet Day.

A report published by the European Commission confirms that, in general, European schools are still paying insufficient attention to these transversal skills compared with basic skills in literacy, mathematics and science.

The Steering Board that brings together tech Chief Executive Officers and government representatives with responsibility for IT procurement met for the first time in Brussels. With this meeting, it was launched a process where public authorities and industry work together to help building the EU Digital Single Market for cloud computing pursuant to the European Cloud Computing Strategy.