TOWARDS THE DIGITAL WORLD IN 2025: 

Ideas and perspectives for Europe

Under the Patronage of Hans-Gert Pöttering, President of the European Parliament

Objective of the event:

This EIF special event kicked off an EIF project looking at how Europe can remain among the leading regions of the world in the age of digital communications. Our purpose is to bring together high-level perspectives on some of the key macro technology trends, policy implications and future governance issues, as well as identify areas for a common approach between Europe, the United States and other key regions.   

Initial ideas and conclusions emerging from the project will be released for public comment in early 2009 prior to the European elections, and will also contribute to the debate of the Reflection Group to be initiated by the French Presidency of the EU.

Thursday, November 13th 2008 at the European Parliament

Rue Wiertz 60 -1047 Brussels

PROGRAMME

14:00 - 14:30 Registration

14:30 - 14:45 Welcome and opening remarks
                    (Room: P1A002)
                    Erika Mann, MEP and EIF Chair
                    Video message from Hans-Gert Pöttering, MEP and President of the European Parliament

14:45 - 16:15 The Internet in 2025: What are the limits?
                    (Room: P1A002)
                    Moderator: Erika Mann, MEP and EIF Chair
                    Special key-note guests:
                    Viviane Reding, European Commissioner for Information Society & Media
                    Eric Besson, French State Secretary, Prospectives & Evaluation of Public Policies & Internet
                    Patrick Dixon, Founder and Chairman, Global Change
                    Lynn St. Amour, President and CEO of the Internet Society

16:15 - 16:30 Break

16:30 - 18:00 Parallel Thematic Workshops

1. Economic Focus
   (Room: A1E-3)
              Chair: Alexander Alvaro, MEP and EIF Member
              Rapporteur: Claudio Murri, Vice-President Public Policy, TimeWarner Europe
              Panellists:
              Prof Howard Williams, Internet Institute, University of Oxford 
              Ilkka Lakaniemi, Head of Global Political Dialogue and Initiative, Nokia Siemens Networks
              Michel Vergotte, Director Business Development, eBay

2. Technology Trends
   (Room: A1H-1)
               Chair: Malcolm Harbour, MEP and EIF Governor 
               Rapporteur: Andreas Tegge, VP Government Relations Global Communications, SAP AG
               Panellists:
               Marc Fossier, France Telecom Orange Group, Senior VP, Technologies & Innovation
               Andrew Herbert, Managing Director, Microsoft Research
               Gee Rittenhouse, VP, Head of Research, Bell Labs, Alcatel-Lucent
               Erich Ruetsche, Manager Business Development & Relations, IBM Zurich Research

3. Socio-political dimension
   (Room: A1E-1)
               Chair: Edit Herczog, MEP and EIF Governor
               Rapporteur: Serge Ferré, Head of Nokia EU Representative Office in Brussels
               Panellists:
               Ajit Jaokar, Founder and CEO of Futuretext, Author of "Mobile Web 2.0"
               Christina Kaul, International Policy Director, Vodafone
               Andrea Pirotti, ENISA, European Network and Information Security Agency
   

18:15 - 19:15 Plenary: Workshop reports
                     (Room: P1A002)
                     Chairman: James Elles, MEP and EIF Vice-Chair
                     Presentations of reports by Rapporteurs

20:00 - 22:00 Global Challenges ahead: What does it mean for Europe? / A call for action
                     Dinner at Stanhope Hotel***** (Rue du Commerce, 9B–1000 Brussels)
                     Chair: Catherine Trautmann, MEP and EIF Governor
                     Speaker: Lutz Heuser, Chair of ISTAG and SAP Corporate Research