EU failing to exploit Internet’s potential to create new jobs

Date: 16/03/2000

By Simon Coss

THE EU is still not reaping the full benefits of the Internet's capacity to create new jobs, according to Social Affairs Commissioner Anna Diamantopoulou.

In a report issued last month, she pointed out that the Union was lagging behind the US in terms of access to the Internet and argued that unless member states took positive steps to close this gap, the EU risked losing out to transatlantic competitors when the much-trumpeted electronic economy finally takes off.

"Our goal is to build an inclusive knowledge-based economy. It is the only route to creating jobs and growth in Europe in the coming years," insisted Diamantopoulou when she unveiled the new study.

The Commission says that, at present, the number of people with access to the Internet in Europe varies enormously depending on social status and geographical location. Its survey found that net access is currently concentrated among higher-income groups and is much more widespread in the northern EU than in southern member states. It also concluded that far more men than women currently have access to the Web.

Diamantopoulou insists this must change if the Union wants to become a serious player in the new net economy. "If we can combine competitiveness and cohesion in the new knowledge economy, Europe will act as a model to the world," she said recently.

But the Commissioner also insists that if the Union wants to become a real 'e-player', its governments will have to do more than simply ensure that greater numbers of people have access to the web. They will also have to make sure training is made more accessible so that people know how to navigate their way around the Internet once they get online.

Consequently, many of the recommendations in the report address the need to radically overhaul the Union's education systems and Diamantopoulou has thrown down the gauntlet to EU governments by challenging them to guarantee that all schools are connected to the Internet by 2002.

She also argues that Internet training should be made more readily available in the workplace to ensure that the Union's current workforce does not rapidly become a generation of pre-Internet dinosaurs.

But while the Commission stresses the huge economic advantages the Web revolution is likely to bring the Union, it also warns that governments should take steps to ensure that it does not lead to a reduction in workplace health and safety standards.

Diamantopoulou says particular attention must be paid to the needs of the rising number of people - nine million at the last count - who use information technology to work from home, warning that ensuring that they are working in safe and healthy conditions will be a major challenge.

The EU is still not reaping the full benefits of the Internet's capacity to create new jobs, according to Social Affairs Commissioner Anna Diamantopoulou. Article forms part of a survey on the Information Society.