Internet

News, background information and web links about the Internet policy of the European Union.

Europe keeps strengthening the superhighway — 24 June 2008, 19:33 CET

The European High Performance Computing (HPC) infrastructure is growing. The consortium of the Distributed European Infrastructure for Supercomputing Applications (DEISA) is striving for an integrated HPC network. This will offer researchers the opportunity to communicate with each other to create 'virtual science communities' a sort of online campus .The European Commission is financing the project DEISA2 until 2011 with EUR 12.2 million.

Commission sets target for IPv6 deployment — 30 May 2008, 00:08 CET

The European Commission has set a target to get at least a quarter of EU businesses, public authorities and households to use the next-generation of internet protocols (IPv6) by 2010, which would provide an almost unlimited number of web addresses.

ENISA - European Network and Information Security Agency — 23 May 2008, 14:55 CET

Every day we experience the Information Society. Interconnected networks are touching our everyday lives, at home and at work. It is therefore vital that e.g. computers, mobile phones, banking, high-tech cars and the Internet are functioning, as they constitute the "Digital Economy". That is why ENISA is working with Network and Information Security for the EU and the Member States. ENISA is a Centre of Excellence for the EU Member States and EU Institutions in Network and Information Security, giving expert advice and recommendations; is a switchboard of information for best practices; facilitates contacts between the EU-institutions, the EU Members States and the private business & industry actors. ENISA consequently contributes to modernising Europe and securing the smooth functioning of the Digital Economy and the Information Society.

European Data Protection Supervisor — 15 May 2008, 20:27 CET

The EDPS is an independent supervisory authority devoted to protecting personal data and privacy and promoting good practice in the EU institutions and bodies. It does so by: monitoring the EU administration's processing of personal data; advising on policies and legislation that affect privacy; and co-operating with similar authorities to ensure consistent data protection.

ACTIVE promotes knowledge across Europe — 28 April 2008, 18:51 CET

Europe has set itself the goal of becoming the world's leading knowledge-based economy by 2010. This means that businesses must bolster the productivity of their knowledge workers to boost their competitiveness. The problem is that existing information systems do not provide companies with enough support, so information exchange can be time-consuming or even unavailable. The solution, according to the EU-funded project ACTIVE, is to increase productivity in a pro-active, yet simple way.

New EU project to boost online security — 08 April 2008, 12:59 CET

A new EU-funded project is set to boost our understanding of the new and existing threats to the internet and its users. The WOMBAT ('Worldwide observatory of malicious behaviours and attack threats') project is funded by the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) programme of the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7).

.eu web domains - guide — 04 April 2008, 18:27 CET

News, background information and web links about the Internet policy of the European Union.

EU-funded project to offer cheaper and 100 times faster broadband — 11 March 2008, 20:14 CET

A team of researchers has developed a device which promises 100 times faster broadband speeds and 75 per cent cheaper costs.

EU project to develop next generation network architecture — 04 February 2008, 19:44 CET

With traffic on the Internet growing by nearly 100 per cent every 18 months, a new EU-funded project is working on developing an improved traffic management system that can meet users' increasing demand for music, films and photos.

Commission steps up efforts in Privacy Enhancing Technologies — 06 December 2007, 18:32 CET

The European Commission is set to significantly increase its funding into the development of technologies which protect the privacy of users on the internet, announced the Commission Vice-President Franco Frattini.

European initiative on an all-inclusive digital society - guide — 29 November 2007, 16:50 CET

News, background information and web links about the Internet policy of the European Union.

EU project to improve quality of city life for citizens — 23 November 2007, 18:57 CET

The residents of European cities may soon find their quality of life and relationship with their city improved thanks to an EU-funded project.

Data Protection: A Practical Guide to UK and EU Law (Paperback) — 11 September 2007, 19:03 CET

News, background information and web links about the Internet policy of the European Union.

EU Commission launches new e-skills initiative — 10 September 2007, 19:48 CET

The European Commission has proposed a series of actions to boost Europeans' e-skills. According to recent reports, Europe is likely to face a growing e-skills shortage in coming years. Nevertheless, these skills are vital if the EU is to boost innovation and respond to global challenges.

Eurobarometer on Safer Internet for Children: qualitative study 2007 — 10 August 2007, 16:49 CET

In a pan-European qualitative study covering 29 European countries, children of 9-10 and 12-14 years old were interviewed about their use of online technologies, such as the Internet and mobile phones, and how they see and deal with risks. The study was commissioned by the European Commission and covers 29 countries (the 27 Member States, as well as Iceland and Norway). It aims at improving knowledge about Internet usage by children, as well as mobile phone usage (by those who own a mobile phone); their on-line behaviour; their perceptions of risk and safety related questions. The results of the study are to be used to contribute to designing the EU's Safer Internet Programme, and to increase the impact of awareness building actions.

EU Commission thumbs up for 'broadband over powerlines' project — 19 July 2007, 14:57 CET

The European Commission has awarded an 'excellent' rating to the OPERA 2 (Open PLC European Research Alliance) project, which aims to develop an open standard for the next generation of powerline technology.

Defining the European Commission's global policy on the fight against cyber crime — 22 May 2007, 23:50 CET

News, background information and web links about the Internet policy of the European Union.

EU fight against cybercrime — 18 May 2007, 14:43 CET

The European Commission is exploring various avenues for preventing and combating cybercrime in order to tighten up the security of information infrastructures - SCADPlus

Privacy Enhancing Technologies (PETs) — 02 May 2007, 21:47 CET

News, background information and web links about the Internet policy of the European Union.

European households becoming increasingly digital: survey — 01 May 2007, 10:18 CET

The drive to get European citizens to go digital would appear to be gradually paying off, according to the findings of an EU-wide survey. It finds that more than half of European households have a computer - 4% more than in a similar study done at the end of 2006, while increasing numbers of people are switching to broadband and wireless internet access.

E-Communications household survey — 01 May 2007, 10:12 CET

The results of a special Eurobarometer survey conducted by TNS Opinion & Social between 17 November 2006 and 19 December 2006 to measure the attitude of European households and individuals towards fixed and mobile telephony, Internet access, TV broadcast services, bundled offers, 112 emergency call number, telephone directories, privacy and security. The survey covers the 27 EU Member States together with Candidate countries (Croatia and Turkey) and the Turkish Cypriot Community, with an average of 1.000 households interviewed per country. It follows on from the previous Eurobarometer survey that was conducted between December 2005 and January 2006.

.eu one year on - questions & answers — 12 April 2007, 21:10 CET

News, background information and web links about the Internet policy of the European Union.

Europe's .eu a soaring success in cyberspace — 11 April 2007, 18:47 CET

The .eu online domain name is enjoying a runaway success in cyberspace with over 2.5 million registered users during its first year.

The internet and other computer networks and their use by European enterprises to do eBusiness — 11 January 2007, 17:52 CET

News, background information and web links about the Internet policy of the European Union.

Data protection in the EU — 03 January 2007, 17:44 CET

Developments of a frontier free Internal Market and of the so called 'information society' increase the cross-frontier flows of personal data between Member States of the EU. In order to remove potential obstacles to such flows and to ensure a high level of protection within the EU, data protection legislation has been harmonised. The Commission also engages in dialogues with non-EU countries in order to insure a high level of protection when exporting personal data to those countries. It also initiates studies on the development on European and international level on the state of data protection.