Public Policy Blog

After more than a year’s work and five three-day meetings at the UN premises in Geneva the CSTD Working Group on Improvements to the IGF has published its final report.  I have been a member of this workgroup as a representative for the business community and my personal take-away is: Against all odds and criticisms this [...]

On 2 May the European Commission adopted the Communication for a “Strategy for a Better Internet for Children”, which aims to: Give children the digital skills and tools they need to fully and safely benefit from the digital world. Unlock the potential of the market for interactive, creative and educational content online. The strategy brings [...]

On next Thursday 10th of May the Internet Governance Forum Spain will meet in Madrid for its 2nd Annual Conference.

The workshop organized by ETNO and ITU last month, in the premises of Belgacom in Brussels, was attended by more than 100 delegates from European and US industry and also by a few European government representatives, some representatives from the European Commission. Amongst the speakers were several US industry and officials, and an operator but [...]

On 26th March the director of Telefónica’s International Office, Carlos Lopez Blanco, spoke at an evening debate about data privacy. In discussion with Viviane Reding, European commissioner for justice, fundamental rights and citizenship, Sophie in ’t Veld, Dutch MEP vice-chairwoman of the European Parliament’s civil liberties committee, Peter Hustinx, the EU’s data protection supervisor and [...]

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 [...]

As you all know, the review of the ITRs is a key issue in the ICT policy agenda for 2012 and highly debated in the international arena. Therefore, the association of the European Telecommunication Network Operators (ETNO), in co-operation with the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), have announced a workshop entitled ‘Revising the International Telecommunication Regulations (ITRs) – Preparations for WCIT 2012’ that will gather a range of high level speakers from across the globe, including speakers from the ITU, ISOC, the Council of Europe, the European Commission, USA and Telefónica, between others.

As indicated in a previous post, we were attending this meeting so here is a brief overview of the main discussions there. This meeting, opened by President Chinchilla of Costa Rica, attracted almost 1400 delegates from all parts of the world, being one of the most attended ever. The main topics discussed in Costa Rica [...]

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Bank, around one billion people – 15% of the world’s population – have some type of disability worldwide. According to the European Commission, “about 80 million people living in the EU have a mild to severe disability. The physical obstacles they face, such as gaining [...]

“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 [...]