Telecommunications for Development

background

With the signing of the Statement of Intent in Ljubljana on June 4, 2002, Ministers of SEE countries (Albania, BiH, Croatia, FR Yugoslavia, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro and Serbia) reaffirmed their intention to develop information societies in their respective countries by initiating regional actions, which follow the successful model of the eEurope and eEurope+. Bulgaria and Romania being equally members of eEurope+ and eSEE participated in Ljubljana meeting and supported the Statement of Intent.

Ministers agreed to rapidly introduce a new legislative and policy framework and to improve the capability of their countries to apply information technologies for better governance and economic development. The Statement of Intent was worked out as part of the Stability Pact's eSEE (electronic SouthEast Europe) Initiative, which was launched at the Stability Pact Economics Working Table in Istanbul in October 2000. In order to facilitate implementation of the Statement of Intent, Ministers agreed to develop an ambitious regional action plan, called eSEEurope Agenda for the Development of the Information Society, which shall be approved at a high level conference "Telecommunications for Development" in Belgrade.

The European Union launched eEurope in Lisbon in March 2000. It was extended to also include candidate countries in Goteburg in June 2001. The signing of the SOI marks an important step to engage the countries of SEE in a similar process. In this respect Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey, as SEE countries already participating in eEurope+, and Greece, as the only EU member in SEE, have been invited to share their experiences and best practices gained, with the signatory countries.

Yugoslavia as chair called upon the International community, to support the development of information society in SEE and to provide the necessary guidance.

United States Government and the United Nations Development program, recognizing the importance of this initiative, have since provided financial and expert support to the eSEE Chair and the process. South Eastern Europe Telecommunications Academy has also pledged support through its forthcoming regional nodes.

process

December 11-12, 2001, London. At the Lancaster House eEurope seminar Serbia, supported by Macedonia and Montenegro, proposed an initiative to involve SEE countries in the eEurope process.
April 10-11, 2002, Palermo. At the International Conference on e-Government for Development, European Commission agreed to support eSEE initiative and Slovenia invited SEE countries to sign Statement of Intent during European Ministerial Conference on Information Society in Ljubljana, June 3-4, 2002.
April 29, 2002, Geneva. During the World Summit on Information Society preparatory conference, International Telecommunications Union agreed to support eSEE initiative and participate in Belgrade conference in October.
May 17, 2002, Belgrade. eSEE Working Group meeting adopted Statement of Intent to be signed by the SEE ministers at the Ljubljana conference.
June 4, 2002, Ljubljana. At the European Ministerial Conference on Information Society SEE Ministers signed joint Statement of Intent.
June 2002. SEE governments appointed Senior Policy Officials to the eSEE Working Group for drafting eSEE Agenda.
July 25, 2002, Sarajevo. First Drafting Session.
September 27,2002, Budva. Second Drafting Session.
October 29, 2002, Belgrade. Signing of the eSEE Agenda

goals of THE conference

Adopt "eSEEurope Agenda for the Development of the Information Society" agreed to by Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, FR Yugoslavia, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro and Serbia
Determine impact of existing regulation on overall development of each country and the region itself
Determine impact of existing regulation on European integration
Propose regional cooperation initiatives that could help speed up infrastructure development
Promote cooperation among regional NGOs, operators and ISPs

Participating countries

Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro), Greece, Macedonia, Moldova, Romania, and Turkey.

Venue and Organization

Belgrade, Sava Center and Hotel Intercontinental
Conference Chair: Zoran Djindjic, Prime Minister of Serbia
Conference Director: Branislav Andjelic, Director, IT and Internet Agency of Serbia
Logistics: BiznisLink, Belgrade

Program Board:

Marijana Vidas Bubanja, Chair of the eSEEurope Initiative, Stability Pact
Branimir Gvozdenovic, Deputy Prime Minister, Republic of Montenegro
Dragan Domazet, Minister of Science, Technology and Development, Republic of Serbia
Robert Mangar, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Science and Technology, Croatia
Živko Jovanov, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Transportation and Telecommunications, Republic of Macedonia
Mileta Ivanovic, Deputy Secretary, Federal Secretariat of Science and Development, Yugoslavia
Sabrija Šerifovic, Assistant Minister of European Integration, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Jelica Minic, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs, FR Yugoslavia
Pirro Xhixho, General Director of P&T at the Ministry of Transports and Telecommunications, Albania
Slavko Maric, Software Project Manager at the Ministry of Civil Affairs and Communications, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Fjodor Ružic, Office for Development of Internet Infrastructure, Croatia
Ružica Miškovic, Adviser for Information Systems in Secretariat for Development, Montenegro
Dragan Cepujnoski, Head of the Department of Telecommunications in Ministry of the Transport and Communications, Macedonia
Sergiu Sitnic, Deputy Director General of the Department of Information Technologies, Republic of Moldova
Andy Athanasiadou, Ministry of Transport and Communications, Greece
Miklos Havas, Council Member at National Council of Hungary for ICT, Hungary
Dhurata Kurti, Head of Department at the Ministry of Transports and Telecommunications, Albania
Rajan Amol, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, United Kingdom
Jonathan Kimball, Desk Officer for Southeast Europe in U.S. Department of Commerce, United States
Barbara Dooley, United States
Recep Demir, Turkey

Organization Board:

Jan Lundin, Founder of the eSEE Initiative, Sweden
Vojo Spahiu, Member of The Board of Directors of Telecommunications Regulatory Authority, Albania
Alexander Ognianov, eEnvoy, Bulgaria
Hasan Makarevic, Expert for Telecom and Licensing of Telecom services in Communications Regulatory Agency, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Mladen Mauher, Chairman of the Office for Infrastructure Development, Croatia
Ljuben Talev, Deputy Director of the Macedonian Telecommunications, Macedonia
Boris Steinman, Head of Section of Social Development Systems in Department of Information Technologies, Republic of Moldova
Milica Pejanovic-Djurisic, Professor at the University of Montenegro, Montenegro
Ioan Cordos, eEnvoy, Romania
Dusan Caf, Adviser to the Management Board at Slovenian Telecom, Slovenia
Laszlo Glatz, expert, Stabuility Pact
Haris Hadžialic, Head of eSEE Secretariat, Stability Pact
Nera Nazecic, e-SEEurope Desk Officer, Stability Pact
Zorica Mihajlovic, Commercial Section, US Embassy, Belgrade
Nenad Stankovic, Federal Ministry of Transport and Ttelecommunication
Slobodan Markovic, GIPI
Milan Mrvaljevic, BiznisLink, Belgrade
Jasna Kronjo, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Yugoslavia
Olivera Jovanovic, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Yugoslavia
Sasa Stosic, Information Technology and Internet Agency, Serbia