1Digital Agenda Assembly - ICT for the Single Market: e-Government driving innovation, 17 June, Brussels1

ICT for the Single Market: e-Government driving innovation

Enabling a greener single Enabling a greener single InformationInformation market market

Hugo DE GROOF

European Commission

Directorate-General Environment –

Chief Scientist, Research and Innovation Unit

2Digital Agenda Assembly - ICT for the Single Market: e-Government driving innovation, 17 June, Brussels2

Ministerial Declaration on eGovernment Malmö, Sweden, 18 November 2009

• “We recognise that Europe is currently facing serious economic, social and environmental challenges.

• As our governments move to face and overcome these challenges, there is a growing expectation from European citizens and businesses for their governments to be more open, flexible and collaborative in their delivery of public services across Europe “

3Digital Agenda Assembly - ICT for the Single Market: e-Government driving innovation, 17 June, Brussels3

Broader Policy Context Broader Policy Context

• Lisbon Declaration 2000• 2002-2012 6th Environmental Action Plan• EU 2020 Strategy

to become by 2010 the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the

world, capable of sustainable economic growth with more and better jobs and greater

social cohesion

Environmental policy-making, given the complexities of the issues, needs to be based on best available scientific and

economic assessment, and on knowledge of the state and trends of the environment.

Information to policy makers, stakeholders and the general public has to be relevant,

transparent, up to date and easily understandable.

Provision for access to environmental information for public participation in policy-

making will be important to the success of the Programme.

Smart growth: developing an economy based on knowledge

and innovation;Sustainable growth:

promoting a more resource efficient, greener and more competitive economy.

Inclusive growth: fostering a high-employment economy

delivering social and territorial cohesion.

4Digital Agenda Assembly - ICT for the Single Market: e-Government driving innovation, 17 June, Brussels4

Sustainable ? Where do we stand ?Sustainable ? Where do we stand ?

• State of Environment Report 2010 (SOER, EEA)

“the EU appears to be locked into a number of status-quo and downward trends, which are moving away from, rather than toward,

sustainability”

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Inclusive ? Open ? Transparent ?Inclusive ? Open ? Transparent ?

• EuroBarometer 2009/11

• SOER 2010

38% of the citizens feel badly informed about environmental issues with the greatest lack of

information related to the impacts of environmental change

63% of the citizens agree that policies aimed at protecting the environment are a motivation to

innovate.

only 3% of the citizens can be considered 'green pragmatists'..

Transforming green attitudes to green behaviour is therefore highlighted as one of the main

challenges revealed by the survey.

"a new information environment to address the widespread lack of accountability and transparency,

and the loss of trust among citizens in governments, science and business"

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eGovernment Action Plan 2011-2015eGovernment Action Plan 2011-2015

• eGovernment services – offer a cost-effective route to better service for

every citizen and business and participatory open and transparent government

– can reduce costs and save time for public administrations, citizens and businesses

– They can also help mitigate the risks of climate change, natural and manmade hazards by including the sharing of environmental data and environment related information.

7Digital Agenda Assembly - ICT for the Single Market: e-Government driving innovation, 17 June, Brussels7

eGovernment includes eEnvironmenteGovernment includes eEnvironment

• The use and promotion of ICTs as an instrument for environmental protection and the sustainable use of natural resources;

• The initiation of actions and implementation of projects and programmes for sustainable production and consumption and the environmentally safe disposal and recycling of discarded hardware and components used in ICTs,

• The establishment of monitoring systems, using ICTs, to forecast and monitor the impact of natural and man-made disasters

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Environmental phenomena do not Environmental phenomena do not stop at national borders!stop at national borders!

• 20% of the EU citizens (110 million) live within 50 Kms from a border.

• 60 million EU citizens live less than half an hour (25 kms) from a border

Near - boundary population importance

115M

82M 70

M64M

60M

60M

59M 45

M39M 23

M22M

16M

12M

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Natural Hazards - FloodsNatural Hazards - Floods

• In the period 1998-2002 floods comprised 43% of all disaster events in Europe– 100 major floods– 700 dead– Half a million displaced people– 25 billion Euros uninsured economic loss

• Along the Rhine, 10 m people live in areas liable to extreme flooding, potential damage estimated at 165 bn. Euros

• 101,000 kms of coastline, population doubled in last 50 years. Assets within 500 mt of coast = 500-1000 bn euros.

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Directive on the Directive on the Assessment and Management of Floods Assessment and Management of Floods

• A preliminary flood risk assessment – Including art.4 a-f

• (e) Likelihood of future floods and projected impact of climate change and land use trends

• Prepare flood risk maps by 2013 – with 6 yearly updates

• Flood risk management plans by 2015

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Floods Information ServicesFloods Information Services

Source: GMES BICEPS Report

12Digital Agenda Assembly - ICT for the Single Market: e-Government driving innovation, 17 June, Brussels12

Floods – FLAPP findingsFloods – FLAPP findings

• FLAPP* 'Flood Awareness & Prevention Policy in border areas‘

OBSTACLES TO COOPERATION BETWEEN AUTHORITIES IN FLOOD MANAGEMENT

• Different levels of experience and knowledge on both sides of the border may be an obstacle to successful cooperation. – Different levels of data availability between counterparts will also result in a

lack of meteorological and hydrological data for the whole river system.

– Another possible obstacle is the use of different, non-compatible models, monitoring techniques etc.

– In many cases it is not clear for water managers where to get specific knowledge and information.

– Valuable knowledge at private institutes may be (too) expensive for public water managers.

• Together, these problems can lead to the use of data of different quality on both sides of the border.

* FLAPP: EU- co -funded network http://www.flapp.org/sjablonen/flapp_public/index.asp?subsite=122

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Environment and HealthEnvironment and Health

• 20 million Europeans suffer from respiratory problems every day

• 10% of European children suffer from asthma

• In the EU in 2000, about 350,000 were seriously affected due to air pollution caused by fine particulate matter.

• Current levels of ground-level ozone cause more than 20,000 premature deaths each year and dangerous levels of 'smog', linked with high summer temperatures and nitrous oxide emissions, are on the rise.

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Environment & HealthEnvironment & Health

Assessment of Health Impacts

Exposure DataHealth Data

Socio-economic data

Geographical data

Environmental data

Air Pollution Cancer Cases

Directive on Ambient Air QualityDirective on Ambient Air Quality “Atmospheric modelling and measurements of air pollution demonstrate beyond doubt that the pollution emitted in one Member State contributes to measured pollution in other Member States. This shows that individual Member States cannot solve the problems alone and concerted action at the EU scale is required.”

15Digital Agenda Assembly - ICT for the Single Market: e-Government driving innovation, 17 June, Brussels15Source: GMES BICEPS Report

Air Quality Impact Information ServicesAir Quality Impact Information Services

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Noise Information ServicesNoise Information Services

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European Environment and Health European Environment and Health Action Plan 2004-2010Action Plan 2004-2010

EU Environment and Health Information System • Information on environment and health is scattered: not easily

accessible, often not comparable, and not of the right quality..

• Environmental data sets are generally not gathered for exposure and health purposes (i.e., with incomplete geo-referencing and little or no cross referencing to human exposure) and so are of limited direct use for health assessment purposes.

• Grass roots problem: Geo-traceability …..

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Marine Environment Information ServicesMarine Environment Information Services

Source: GMES BICEPS Report

Driving forces

Pressures

State

State

Impact

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ConclusionConclusionFeeds into discussion …Feeds into discussion …

• Is there a need for eEnvironment cross border services ?

• What are the critical factors for their full scale deployment ?

• Potential to deliver Innovation - opportunities ?