Public Policy Blog

Within the framework of the European Instant Mobility project, Telefónica I+D is developing a series of applications designed to improve mobility in cities, for travellers and residents as well as for goods distributors and urban traffic managers. This activity is based on the use of technologies related to the so-called Internet of Things, applicable to [...]

“Government should lead by example instead of dictating European models of regulation that could stall US-based growth and innovation in our thriving tech sector.” This quote, from Congressman Marsha Blackburn’s response to the recent release of the White House Privacy Report, is a good example of the concerns generated among some stakeholders in the US [...]

After having announced the launching of “Telefónica Think Big”, Telefónica continues its bet on the future bringing now the Wayra initiative to Europe. Telefónica will be inaugurating in London the Wayra program, the catalyst for technology projects that the company unveiled about a year ago and which is already successfully operating in Spain (Madrid and [...]

The European Commission’s Vicepresident and European Commissioner for the Digital Agenda, Neelie Kroes, visited last week the facilities of the Wayra Academy in Madrid, accompanied by César Alierta, Chairman of Telefónica. As you already know, Wayra is an initiative boosted by Telefónica Digital whose main objective is to identify talents in Europe and Latin America in the [...]

The European Union has designated 2012 as the European Year for Active Ageing and Solidarity between Generations (EY2012). EY2012 will be officially launched at a high-level EU conference which will take place next week (18-19 January 2012) in Copenhagen (Denmark). At the event, the Stakeholders’ Coalition for the European Year 2012 will present its roadmap, [...]

Last week, the Danish government presented the programme of the Danish EU Presidency ‘Europe at work’ for the next six months. The programme includes the four fundamental priorities for the Danish Presidency – a responsible Europe, a dynamic Europe, a green Europe and a safe Europe – and the Council configurations.  The Transport, Telecommunications and [...]

Many are the predictions those days in the Net concerning our sector and its perspectives for 2012, from how the telecom sector will evolve, to which services and technological trends will be the winners for next year, or how social networks will be positioned, what will be the IT “super themes” for 2012, etc…
This is a difficult and somersault exercise in a very dynamic and evolving sector such as the ICT & Telecom one. However, it is sure that some trends could be already detected.

Concerning the ICT public policy area, we could see the following issues as relevant as they are present in several international and public institutions agendas for 2012. Here are some of them:

On 14 December, Commissioner Kroes met a small group of industry representatives concerning Cloud Computing policy. As members of this initiative amongst others, Oracle, Google, SAP and EuroCloud presented her a set of 10 Recommendations on how to boost Cloud services in Europe.

4G (or LTE – Long Term Evolution) is the fourth generation of cellular wireless technology. Some operators have already initiated their way to 4G worldwide. Telefónica O2 in UK is one of them and now provides the fastest possible wireless connections in parts of London as a trial.

Telefónica has been chosen by the OECD to represent the business sector at a workshop on December 7 on “Financing R&D&Innovation in the Current Macroeconomic Context” held at the OECD headquarters. Here are some ideas…