Telecommunications networks and services in Estonia. Lessons to other European countries.

Estonia has shown somewhat remarkable developments in the telecommunications – or more precisely, building up an efficient network of modern information and telecommunications technologies (ICTs) for the Information Society. This paper takes a look at the development of telecommunications infrastructure networks and services in Estonia. The study also evalu-ates what other countries could learn from Estonia. More specifically, by this study we at-tempt at answering whether Estonia is as successful as data suggests, what the factors behind this success are, and whether there are lessons to be learned for the entire European territory. The paper introduces to the development of the telecommunications infrastructure and ser-vices in Estonia, by presenting facts and figures, and comparing the progress of the country with that of other European countries. It also discusses the measures that have helped Estonia on the road to Information Society. The results show that in summary the success of Estonia seems to have been a result of three things: Proximity of Finland and Sweden, active regula-tion and relative early liberalization, and a competition and entrant friendly market environ-ment. The paper is an outgrowth of the ESPON (European Spatial Planning Observation Net-work) project 1.2.2 “Telecommunications Services and Networks: Territorial Trends and Ba-sic Supply of Infrastructure for Territorial Cohesion” (see: http://www.espon.lu).

The study of using information and communication technology in Hungary and in the 27 countries of the EU

The rate of personal computers and workstations in the 27 countries of the EU reached 96 %. The biggest backlog can be observed in the number of enterprises having and maintaining a website. Hungary's rate of 47 % is less than the EU average by 13 % and this rate was enough to overtake only two countries (Latvia and Portugal). In terms of small-sized enterprises having Internet access, Hungary, with 85 % came in last behind Lithuania (86 %) among the surveyed countries. The average penetration rate of intranet in the EU-25 was double than that of Hungary's

Global Innovation Policy Index

Ranks fifty-five nations' strategies to boost innovation capacity: policies on trade, scientific research, information and communications technologies, tax, intellectual property, domestic competition, government procurement, and high-skill immigration

An Index of Child Well-being in the European Union

While the living conditions of children and young people in the European Union have gained increasing recognition across the EU, the well-being of children is not monitored on the European level. Based on a rights-based, multi-dimensional understanding of child well-being we analyse data already available for the EU 25, using series data as well as comparative surveys of children and young people. We compare the performance of EU Member States on eight clusters with 23 domains and 51 indicators and give a picture of children’s overall well-being in the European Union. The clusters are children’s material situation, housing, health, subjective well-being, education, children’s relationships, civic participation and risk and safety

Structure and performance of the services sector in transition economies

This paper examines the structure and performance of the services sector in Eastern European and Central Asian countries during 1997-2004. Services represent an increasing share of total value added and employment with the major sub-sectors being wholesale trade, retail trade, inland transport, telecommunications, and real estate activities. A clear divide separates EU-5 countries from South Eastern European countries and Ukraine in terms of services labor productivity. Although a large gap in productivity also separates EU-8 countries from EU-15 countries, that gap was reduced from 1997 to 2004 as most services sub-sectors experienced fast productivity growth. High skill intensive sub-sectors and information and communications technology producers and users have exhibited higher productivity levels and growth rates relative to other sub-sectors since 2000. The author finds a positive effect of services liberalization on the productivity growth of services sub-sectors. The author also finds a positive and significant effect of services liberalization in both finance and infrastructure on the productivity of downstream manufacturing.Labor Policies,E-Business,Labor Markets,Economic Theory&Research,Transport Economics Policy&Planning

EMU enlargement towards CEEC's : risks of sector-based and geographic asymmetric shocks

The future membership of CEECs in the eurozone involves the risk of external asymmetric shocks, due to too strong a dependence on one sector or one customer country. By defining two indicators - sector-based and geographic - of exposure to shocks, taking into account the symmetry of the export structures of a candidate state with the EMU and the opening rate of the candidate state, we are able to draw up a classification of countries according to the fulfillment of Kenen's criterion, revised and transposed to the geographic variety of exports. The results, compared with those of the two countries of the EMU which are most sensitive to sector-based and geographic shocks (Finland and Ireland), testify to a generally pronounced exposure to shocks. An inventory of the pairs country / branch and country / destination at the origin of shocks with strong macroeconomic impact shows that Bulgaria and Slovakia, and even more Estonia and Latvia, are exposed to major risks. Thus, these two small economies would be well advised to create a cyclical stabilization fund before envisaging joining the EMU. Against the thesis of the endogeneity of the OCAs (optimum currency areas), this recommendation remains valid, insofar as the increase in the share of intra-industry trade between the EMU and a candidate state does not necessarily entail a convergence of multilateral sector-based export structures.Central and Eastern European countries; external asymmetric shock; Kenen's criterion; optimum currency area; symmetry of export structures

NEAR SHORING IT-ENABLED SERVICES IN AN ENLARGED EUROPE

The aim of the paper is to explore the potential for off shoring IT-enabled services among traditional (EU15) and new Member States of the EU, including Romania. First, issues related to the theoretical background of the off shoring phenomenon are addressed. The second part of the paper includes the assessment of EU15 - CEECs (Central and Eastern European countries) trade and FDI in e-tradable services. In the final section, potential factors that could explain the preference of the EU15 to offshore services to the CEECs, especially Romania, are considered, as well as the challenges of off shoring for the enlarged EU.IT-enabled services, e-tradable services, near shoring, off shoring, Central and Eastern European countries, EU15