The Information Society

This chapter explores the inception of the information society within EU policy. In response to escalating unemployment in the 1990s, the EU, under Jacques Delors, prioritised job creation, culminating in a White Paper that introduced transformative concepts, including advocacy for the burgeoning information society. The narrative details the integration of ICT into various public-interest applications through telematics programmes. The broader vision of the information society was later expanded upon in a report prepared by twenty industry leaders, known as the Bangemann report. In July 1994, the European Commission launched ‘Europe’s Way to the Information Society’, an action plan following recommendations from the White Paper and the Bangemann report. Under a unified strategy, it sought to consolidate various policy areas, such as ICT research, industrial policy, telecom regulation, and privacy. The plan’s implementation coincided with the G7 Ministerial Conference on the Information Society in February 1995. Simultaneously, the United States was advancing its National Information Infrastructure (NII). This initiative was popularised as the ‘information superhighway’ and emphasised private sector leadership. Japan, viewing the NII as both an opportunity and a threat, focused on multimedia. Surprisingly, the Internet received minimal attention at this point, a situation that would dramatically change within a few years. The chapter ends with how the Internet came to Europe and why its potential was not initially recognised.