Structural Funds for regional ICT:

Reality and future programming period 2014 -2020

 

“ONE” Project Conference, Brussels – April 24, 2014

Luigi Reggi

Department for Economic Development and Cohesion

@luigireggi

•  Current financial support of Structural Funds to ICT policies

•  Regional strategies for ICT •  2014-2020 new programming period

•  Open Data on EU Regional Policy

2

Agenda

•  1994-1999 > Regional Information Society Initiative (RISI)

•  2000-2006 > 5.5 billion € (Source:Vincente and Lopez, 2011)

•  2007-2013 > 15.3 billion € (Year 2010. Source: Reggi &

Scicchitano based on EU Commission data. 14.6 billion in 2013. Source: EU Commission]

•  2014-2020 > Maybe higher?

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Financial support of Cohesion Policy to ICT policies

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What we buy with Structural Funds in the current period 2007-13

Broadband networks

15%

Information and communication technologies

(interoperability, security, etc.)

27% Services and applications for

citizens 34%

Services and applications for

SMEs 14%

Other measures for improving use of ICT by

SMEs 10%

Source: Reggi & Scicchitano, Are EU regional digital strategies evidence-based? An analysis of the allocation of 2007–13 Structural Funds. Telecommunications Policy, 2014 (in press).

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…and where we buy it

0  

400  

800  

1,200  

1,600  

2,000  

0%  

2%  

4%  

6%  

8%  

10%  

12%  

SK  

FI  

GR  

COOP   DK  

SE  

IT  

PO  

IR  

FR  

LV  

ND   UK   CK  

SL  

LT  

ES  

PT  

MA  

HU  

LU  

KR  

RM  

EE  

AT  

DE  

BG  

BE  

Milion

s  

IS  -­‐  Absolute  values   IS  -­‐  %  of  Total  Structural  Funds  

3,714  

Allocation of 2007-13 Structural Funds to ICT development (categories of expenditure 10-15)

Source: Reggi & Scicchitano, Are EU regional digital strategies evidence-based? An analysis of the allocation of 2007–13 Structural Funds. Telecommunications Policy, 2014 (in press).

6

Allocation of 2007-13 Structural Funds to ICT development (categories of expenditure 10-15)

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Regional Strategies for ICT development

Regional planning for ICT should be guided by effective Regional “digital strategies”:

1.  consistent with the EU policy framework (Digital Agenda for Europe)

2.  place-based, i.e. based on available evidence on the characteristics of local contexts in terms of IS development (Barca, 2009; Tsipouri, 2002) ⇒  based on available regional indicators!

3.  comprehensive and balanced

Telecommunication infrastructures vs.

eServices development

Supply vs. Demand of ICT

•  improve Internet penetration •  use of ICT services and

applications in households businesses and public administrations

•  digital inclusion •  citizen empowerment •  …

•  eServices provision •  availability of equipment,

infrastructures and applications

•  ICT professionals/practicioners

•  …

A balanced approach

-3.0 -1.5 0 1.5

-1.5

0

1.5

3.0

broadband

Dimension 1 - 36.90 %

CLUSTER 2

CLUSTER 3

SME2

SME1

ICT

e-Services

CLUSTER 1

Dimension 2 - 27.21 %

Regional Strategies for ICT development: 2007-13 allocations (CONV objective)

Cluster 1 = eServices provision (“back office”)

Cluster 2 = Public eServices (“front office”)

Cluster 3 = ICT in SMEs + Broadband

Source: Reggi & Scicchitano, Are EU regional digital strategies evidence-based? An analysis of the allocation of 2007–13 Structural Funds. Telecommunications Policy, 2014 (in press).

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•  Reggi & Schicchitano (2014) have compared the financial allocations in CONV regions (made in 2006 for the 2007-13 period) with the available indicators at the regional level (Eurostsat, 2006): •  Households with broadband access •  Households with access to the Internet •  Individuals who ordered goods or services over the

Internet for private use •  Individuals using the Internet for interaction with public

authorities •  Enterprises who have ERP software package to share

information on sales/purchases with other internal functional areas

•  Control variables:

•  Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita •  Number of local units •  Number of employees in local units •  Total intramural R&D expenditure in the higher education sector •  Rate of unemployment

2007-13 Regional ICT strategies …maybe not so evidence-based & balanced? :(

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2007-13 Regional ICT strategies …maybe not so evidence-based & balanced? :(

•  EU Regions investing in public eServices development (both “front” and “back office”, clusters 1&2) => significantly higher levels of uptake of public eServices (“Individuals using the Internet for interaction with public authorities”)

•  Regions investing in broadband + ICT in SMSs (cluster 3) => significantly higher values of ICT diffusion in SMEs (“Enterprises with ERP software”) and of Broadband penetration (“Households with broadband connection”)

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2007-13 Regional ICT strategies …maybe not so evidence-based & balanced? :(

Regions seek to further improve their strengths rather than focus on the weaknesses that emerge from the regional ICT context - WHY? -

-  Inadequate analysis of local context (qualitative vs. quantitative analysis, shortage of regional data)

-  Path dependence (e.g. multiannual plans on large telecomm infrastructures)

-  Automatic decommission rule of Structural Funds “N+2” (concentrating resources on on-going projects that ensure immediate spending)

-  …?

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ICT policy in 2014-2020 Programming Period

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1.  Research & innovation 2.  Information and communication technologies (ICT) 3.  Competitiveness of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises

(SMEs) 4.  Shift towards a low-carbon economy 5.  Climate change adaptation & risk prevention and

management 6.  Environmental protection & resource efficiency 7.  Sustainable transport & removing bottlenecks in key

network infrastructures 8.  Employment & supporting labour mobility 9.  Social inclusion & combating poverty 10.  Education, skills & lifelong learning 11.  Institutional capacity building & efficient public

administrations

Thematic objectives

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Research & innovation + Digital Agenda

Energy efficiency & renewable energy Competitiveness of SMEs

ERDF Thematic concentration

€100 billion

Less developed regions More developed regions

80%

20%

50%

Transition = 60%

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ERDF Investment priorities

Enhancing access to, and use and quality of, ICT by: (a)  extending broadband deployment and the roll-out of

high-speed networks and supporting the adoption of emerging technologies and networks for the digital economy;

(b)  developing ICT products and services, e-commerce, and enhancing demand for ICT;

(c)  strengthening ICT applications for e-government, e-learning, e-inclusion, e-culture and e-health;

Art. 5 Reg 1301/2013

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A strategic policy framework for digital growth, for instance, within the national or regional smart specialisation strategy is in place that contains: •  budgeting and prioritisation of actions through a SWOT

or similar analysis consistent with the Scoreboard of the Digital Agenda for Europe;

•  an analysis of balancing support for demand and supply of ICT should have been conducted;

•  indicators to measure progress of interventions in areas such as digital literacy, e-inclusion, e-accessibility, and progress of e-health within the limits of Article 168 TFEU which are aligned, where appropriate, with existing relevant sectoral Union, national or regional strategies;

•  assessment of needs to reinforce ICT capacity-building.

Ex-ante conditionalities: 2.1 Strategic policy Framework for Digital growth

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Ex-ante conditionalities: 2.2 NGA Plan

A national Next-Generation Access (NGA) Plan is in place that contains: •  a plan of infrastructure investments based on an

economic analysis taking account of existing private and public infrastructures and planned investments;

•  sustainable investment models that enhance competition and provide access to open, affordable, quality and future-proof infrastructure and services;

•  measures to stimulate private investment.

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Open data on EU Regional Policy

FORMAT: machine readable (XML, CSV…) ACCESSIBILITY: data accessible from a national portal LICENCE CONTENT: •  beneficiary name (only of legal entities; no natural persons shall be named); •  operation name; •  operation summary; •  operation start date; •  operation end date (expected date for physical completion or full implementation

of the operation); •  total eligible expenditure allocated to the operation; •  Union co-financing rate, as per priority axis; •  operation postcode; or other appropriate location indicator; •  country; •  name of category of intervention for the operation in accordance with point (b) (vi)

of the first subparagraph of Article 96(2); •  date of last update of the list of operations. •  The headings of the data fields shall be also provided in at least one other official

language of the Union.

New rules within the Information & Publicity Chapter

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Open data on EU Regional Policy

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Level of compliance to 2014-2020 rules on data publication of current Operational Programmes (December 2013, preliminary data)

Source: Study on Open Data & Structural Funds (ODSF), OpenCoesione team, 2014.

0%  

20%  

40%  

60%  

80%  

100%  

BG  

PL  

CZ  

FI  

LT  

HU  

GR  

SK  

DK  

SE  

NL  

Med

ia  UE   AT  

UK   PT  

FR  

IE  

EE  

LV  

MT  

RO  

SI  

IT  

LU  

BE  

DE  

CY  

ES  

2011   2013  

EU  AVERAGE  2013  

Open data on EU Regional Policy

Open data on EU Regional Policy in ITALY

www.opencoesione.it

www.ascuoladiopencoesione.it

www.monithon.it

23 Thank you! @luigireggi

Word cloud of 2014-2020 General Regulation Proposal