It is with great
pleasure that I have accepted your invitation to address this very important
workshop on “Information and
Communication Technologies in the Horizon 2020 program − Opportunities and
Challenges for Cyprus”. I take this opportunity to express my warmest
congratulations to the University of Cyprus for organising this workshop and
thank our distinguished guests from the European Commission Mr Varghese and Mr
Malekos for participating as keynote speakers.
In times of
economic crisis and rapid technological developments, we cannot afford to
ignore one of our key strengths, the potential of our human capital, which will
help us achieve a sustainable economic development. I believe that in a country
like Cyprus, where there is a plethora of young and talented scientists in the
field of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), an important
resource for economic development lies unexploited.
The Horizon 2020
funding Scheme, of over €70 billion, for research and innovation can help us
exploit this resource and generate new knowledge for the benefit of the society
as a whole and for securing Europe’s global competitiveness. After all, our way
of living is in many ways shaped by the results of research and innovation in
ICT.
We are now in
the digital age and we are heading rapidly towards a fully interconnected
society. An era of convergence of what previously constituted different worlds and markets. The Internet provides a single platform
for new creative opportunities and we must use it as a tool to increase the
efficiency of our economy, enhance the quality of life of our citizens, promote
democracy and culture and adopt green technologies. Services are converging and
moving from the analog to the digital world and are commonly available - from
any location, any device and at any time. It is projected that by 2020 digital
content and applications will be distributed almost entirely online.
The EU firmly believes that this new programme for
research and innovation is part of the drive to create the conditions for new
growth and jobs in Europe by bringing together all existing EU research and
innovation funding and channel it through every stage of the innovation process
from basic research to market uptake, in line with the EU's commitments under
the "Innovation Union".
As part of the implementation of the Digital Strategy
of Cyprus, and taking into account the President’s Governance Programme which
aims to revive and restructure the economy and create new jobs, the Ministry of
Communications and Works has prioritized the six strategic objectives of
Digital Strategy of Cyprus. To ensure the successful and sustainable
implementation of our digital strategy it is critical that we also align our
research and innovation initiatives with the objectives set out in the digital
strategy as these evolve and change over time.
Our digital strategy includes the Digital
Entrepreneurship and Digital Modernization of the Public and Wider Public
Sector by providing effective and efficient electronic public services
accessible to all citizens, including electronic health. Digital
entrepreneurship is very important since small and medium enterprises (SMEs)
form the backbone of our economy and should be reinforced with specific funding
schemes for the use of Information and Communications Technologies and the
promotion of e-commerce which can significantly increase the turnover of
businesses in Cyprus.
At the same time, the modernization of the public
sector and the provision of electronic public services will not only benefit
each one of us as individuals, but will also play a very important role in
increasing the use of electronic means and broadband applications and services.
Broadband networks achieving high and ultra-high
speeds are the basis for the development of our digital economy and cannot be
offered without infrastructure services such as cloud computing, e-health,
smart cities, smart meters and
e-learning. The public and wider public sectors can benefit from cloud
computing services while SMEs can utilize cloud computing services to increase
their productivity and competitiveness.
The development and wide availability of electronic
services will give the incentives to invest in networks of high and ultra- high
broadband speeds. Our objective of increasing broadband penetration and
connecting the whole of Cyprus with networks capable of high and ultra-high
speeds is progressing. The first national target for universal broadband in
Cyprus at a speed 2 Mbps (mega bits per second) has already been achieved, and
by 2017 we expect to achieve our second national target for universal broadband
access at speeds of 30 Mbps (mega bits per second).
The Innovation
Union Scoreboard for 2011 positions Cyprus among the “innovation followers’’.
In spite of a steady improvement in our innovation performance since 2006, a
number of important research and innovation (R&I) indicators remain low or
very low.
Looking forward
we need to strive for a more focused approach to utilise the limited financial
resources available, target smart specialisation, increase the involvement of
SMEs in research and innovation activities and create more opportunities for
research careers by exploiting the large pool of talented, highly educated,
young people, thus bridging the gap between higher education and research.
Ultimately, this can be achieved by spurring new thinking, exploring new
possibilities and unleashing the creative potential of our academic community.
Ahead of us we
still have to change a lot. I would like to invite and challenge everyone to
join our efforts so as to take advantage of the opportunities offered through
the Horizon 2020 programme and embrace in ICT research and innovation
activities using our collective knowledge and talent to give Cyprus and Europe
the future it deserves.
I wish you all
every success in this very important workshop.
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