INTERNATIONAL

An information society for all

-Stephanie Rouget, French Journalist

In this millennium year France has more than 6 million Internet users. E-commerce turnover should triple this year, to attain 610 million euros-4 billion francs. The proportion of homes with a personal computer has risen to 26%. As for the mobile phone, it is part of everyday life for almost 50% of French households.

Information and communication technologies, ICT, are now part of life for a large number of French people. The move away from physical contact for a variety of activities and financial transactions is accelerating, and industrial society, born little more than hundred years ago, is giving way to a society whose principal resource and asset is information. The Internet, the network of networks, is at the heart of this revolution.

Technological developments, economic factors and social habits are the three intrinsically linked driving forces of this new society. The convergence of computer science, telecommunications and the audio visual together with the digitalization of data have technically encouraged the change from one society to other. But it is the new services, and the habits they give rise to, that characterize the information society.

A changing civilization: The imminent encounter between the ‘cordless’ world and the Internet, between mobility and the network, will constitute a new and major advance for the information society. Manufacturers and operators are indeed working on mobile devices, known as the third generation. From 2002, access to the Internet and video-telephone services terminal that could fit in the hollow of one’s hand will no longer be a part of futurist dream. This is because of a new standard, UMTS-Universal Mobile Telecommunications System.

This standard will provide transmission speeds very much higher than those currently available, and will thus make it possible to connect to the Internet, access video or e-commerce services on demand, to receive television transmissions from any cordless terminal, mobile phone, personal assistant. Moreover, with the allocation of a single number, the subscriber will be able to be contacted wherever he or she may be at home, on the move, abroad, in the car, on a plane. A dream for some, a nightmare for others.

But the growth of ‘cordless’ communications is not the only technology at stake for the information society. The introduction of ‘intelligent’ television, using digital resources, Internet access, e-mail etc. or even the developments of new multimedia satellites are at the center of the debate.

However, in the minds of the French authorities, the advent of the information society can not be reduced to its technological developments, nor to its economic stakes. Social factors are crucial and the development of information and communication technologies should not take place to the detriment of a part of the population.

In the Western countries, and particularly in France, while the information society has seen considerable expansion since the speech made by the Prime Minister Lionel Jospin, at the Communications University in Hourtin, on August 25, 1997, not all French people are gaining access to it at the same speed. While one may be delighted at the growth in the rate of acquiring personal computers and at the increase in the number of Internet users, it is also necessary to ensure equality of access to information and communication technologies.

A democratic challenge: The plan for primary schools, presented by the minister of National Education, Jack Lang, in June 2000 is a move in this direction. One of the priorities of the schools of the 21st century will to be to guarantee an introduction to the Internet and multi-media, especially to pupils who do not have a computer at home. For Jack Lang, it is ‘as much a democratic as an educational challenge’. This political will is to result in a series of measures, including the introduction, from 2001, of computing and internet certificate for all pupils at the end of primary school.

These measures, consistent with the program of governmental action for the information society introduced in 1997, are one of the government’s priority areas of policy. Indeed, according to Jean Noel Tronc, advisor on the information society in Jospin’s cabinet: "today, multimedia is dispensed in all the institutions from which our future teachers will come and the proportion of secondary schools connected to the Internet will have reached 100% at the beginning of the 2000 school year".

At the time of the French presidency of the European Union, July-December 2000, these national priorities are being broadened to include the whole of Europe as part of the action plan "e-Europe". France is indeed committed to making Europe the "continent of innovation", while preserving social cohesion in the face of the threat of "digital fragmentation".

On the eve of 83rd Anniversary of Independence of Finland

Finland is a republic, which became member of the European Union in 1995. The population is 5.2 million, the capital Helsinki has 546,000 inhabitants. Finland is an advanced industrial economy: the metal, engineering and electronics industries account for 50% of export revenues, the forest products industry 30%. Finland is said to be "the most wired nation in the world", with more mobile phones and Internet connections per capita than any other country.

Forests cover three quarters of the country’s surface area of 338.000 square kilometers. Other outstanding features of Finland’s scenery are around 190 000 lakes and as many islands. The principal archipelago and the self-governing province of Aland Islands lies off the southwest coast while the main Lake District, centered on Lake Saimaa, is in the east.

Foreign policy: As a member of the European Union since 1995, Finland is part of an influential body in world politics. Within the agenda of the European Union and global responsibilities, Finnish foreign policy promotes democracy, rule of law and human rights in line with long-established Nordic values. To benefit from solidarity and common security, Finland is adhering to the core of the Union and advocates improvements in its efficiency. Finland joined the third phase of Economic and Monetary Union, EMU, and adopted the common currency, the euro, in 1999. While remaining militarily non-allied, Finland works actively for the strengthening of the Union’s common foreign and security policy and its capability to act in crisis management.

Finland supports enlargement of the EU. Based on the principles of the United Nations, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, OSCE, and the Council of Europe, the Union’s policy of partnership and assistance is supporting reform and extending stability throughout Europe.

Languages: The Finnish language is a member of the Finno-Ugric linguistic family that includes, in one branch, Finnish, Estonian, and a number of other Finnic tongues, and in the other Hungarian, by far the biggest language of the Ugric group. The official languages of Finland are Finnish and Swedish, the latter spoken as a mother tongue by about 6% of the people. Another indigenous minority language is Sami, spoken by the Sami people, also known as Lapps, of Lapland. The official status of Swedish has historical roots in the period when Finland was a part of the Swedish realm, a period that lasted from the beginning of the 13th century until 1809.

The number of foreign citizens living permanently in Finland was about 81.000 in 1998. The biggest groups were from the neighboring countries, Russia, Estonia and Sweden.

Industry and economy: Finland’s road to industrialization started in the 19 century with the harnessing of forest resources. Forests are still Finland’s most crucial raw material resource although the engineering and high technology industries led by Nokia have long been the leading branches of manufacturing. The most important export product today is mobile phone and Finland is one of the few European countries whose exports exceed imports in data and communication technology. Finland has more mobile phones per capita than any other country in the world, some 56 cellular phones per 100 inhabitants. Today, Finland is a typical advanced industrial economy. The next wealth of Finnish households is at the average level for members of the EU. In 1998 Finland’s GNP per capita was around 21 300 euros that is equivalent to 23 000 USD.

Media: Finland has 56 newspapers that are published 4 to 7 times a week and 158 with 1 to 3 issues per week. The total circulation of all newspapers is 3.3 million. In terms of total circulation related to population Finland ranks second in Europe and third in the world. Most newspapers are bought on subscription rather than from newsstands. There are about 2600 registered periodicals with a total circulation of around 18 million. The best selling newspaper is Helisingin Sanomat, circulation 473 000 and in the Swedish language Hufvudstadsbladet with 59 000.

Education and research: All children receive compulsory basic education between the ages of 7 and 16. Education beyond the age of 16 is voluntary, taking the form of either a three to four-year course in upper secondary school or 2 to 5 years at a vocational school. There are 21 universities or institutes of higher education with a total student population of around 135 000, of whom 52% are women. 56% of the population have completed post-primary education and 13% have a university degree or their equivalent. In recent years there has been national focus on research and product development, with special emphasis on information technology. R&D expenditure in relation to GNP has risen continuously and reached 2.9% of the GNP in 1999.

(Text courtesy: Embassy of Finland, Kathmandu).