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Better communication of EU affairs by public service broadcasters is key to bridging the gap between the European Union and its citizens, said the European Parliament yesterday (7 September), highlighting in particular the "huge potential" of social media to reach out to young people. 

While acknowledging the "immense potential" of social media like Facebook and Twitter to reach young people, MEPs warned that "their reliability as sources cannot always sufficiently be guaranteed," that they "cannot be considered to be professional media" and may "give rise to serious breaches of journalistic ethics". "Caution is required when taking up these new tools," the report declares, stressing "the importance of drawing up a code of ethics applicable to new media".

Other more controversial proposals survived, however: the Parliament advocated "incorporating the EU more fully into all educational curricula" and teaching in schools "courses in journalism using new media".

Die Europäische Kommission hat auf der Lift-off towards Open Government Conference in Brüssel ihren neuen eGovernment Action Plan für die Jahre 2011 bis 2015 vorgestellt. Das Vorhaben soll die Teilhabe europäischer Bürger und Unternehmen am gemeinsamen Wirtschaftsraum verbessern und die Chancen der Informationsgesellschaft für die wirtschaftliche Entwicklung weiter erschließen. Dazu strebt der Action Plan unter anderem eine nahtlose Überführung der bisherigen eGovernment-Dienste in eine neue Generation von offenen, flexiblen und kollaborativer Services auf lokaler, regionaler, nationaler und europäischer Ebene an. Dazu sollen in den nächsten fünf Jahren insgesamt 40 verschiedene Maßnahmen durchgeführt werden.

On December 15 and 16 the Belgian EU presidency and the European Commission are holding in Brussels a conference with an inspiring title: Lift-Off Toward Open Government.

On December 15, in conjunction with the conference on Lift Off Open Government (see previous post), the European Commission issued its communication to to other European institutions (such as the Parliament and the Council) about the European eGovernment Action Plan 2011-2015. The subtitle of the communication is quite intriguing: Harnessing ICT to promote smart, sustainable and innovative government.

The WikiLeaks disclosure of US diplomatic cables highlights the need to secure networks and individuals from hackers, EU digital agenda commissioner Neelie Kroes has said. At the same time, the phenomenon stresses the need for governments to be "as transparent and open as possible," which entails the "practical advantage" of reducing the amount of information that needs to be secured, she declared.

As a consequence, the EU was now looking at criminalising the setting up of botnets and attacking information systems, she said. Also, the commission was aiming at rendering more effective justice and police cooperation in the cyber-area.