The Third European Digital Cities Conference took place in Berlin on 1-2 December 1997, and the Telecities Annual General Meeting followed on 3 December 1997. Full proceedings are available on the EDC website:

http://www.edc.eu.int/events.html

European Digital City and Telecities events include:

• 4-6 March 1998, Amaroussion in Greece: Telecities Seminar and Urban Transport Telematics Forum
• 22-23 June 1998, Manchester in UK: Telecities Seminar

http://www.edc.eu.int/events.html

East-West Telematic Congress and European Workshop for Best Practice in Urban Telematic Development, 26-27 March 1998, Vienna City Hall, Austria.

In spring 1998, the EU will start negotiations for membership with some Central and Eastern European Countries. Thus, the European integration process will achieve a new political and economic dimension. The rapid and mutual exchange of information and the intensive flow of communication play a leading role in the process of enlargement and cooperation. In this context, efficient telematic-systems will provide an important basis for developing new economic and cultural prosperity within an enlarged European Union. Within the framework of the “Global Village ‘98”, “Vienna Calling” can be considered the core of the conference. Two main objectives are deemed to be the most important:

1) “telematic country-profiles” should give a detailed overview of the current infrastructural situation in the Central and Eastern European Countries with a special view towards communication media.

2) experts and decision-makers from all over Europe will have the opportunity to inform themselves about the latest developments in special subjects such as cross-border programmes dealing with telematic issues, business promotion or networking.

Another event held within the framework of this congress is called the “European Workshop”. This event aims to put telematic experiences and possibilities of how to use telematics in the most effective way, into concrete terms, utilising the future-oriented “Best Practice in Urban Development” method. In this context, the primary aims are:

• to gain a general idea of the various working methods of telematic-supported information management in different European cities
• to compare the different forms of local participation and decision-making management on a municipal level.

The well-respected journal, Public Network Europe, published this interesting article in the November 1997 edition, and argued that, although city authorities have long been considered junior partners to national governments, they tend to go further along the curve in terms of projects for the Information Society. Citing examples such as ANCARA (Advanced Networked Cities and Regions Association, founded in May 1996 by Eindhoven, Stockholm, Silicon Valley, Orlando, Singapore and the Kansai Region of Japan), the COLT and WorldCom initiatives in Zurich, and the AB Stokab initiative in Stockholm, the article assesses the many projects being executed in Europe’s cities. These are leading to a situation in which it is often the case that city officials are gaining more practical experience about what does and does not work than the national authorities who are advising them. The journal is published by the Economist Newspaper Ltd. and its email address is: pnedial.pipex.com

A brochure produced in Spring 1996 by Chris Jensen-Butler of the FORADA project based on the experience of the ORA Programme in the Commission’s Third Framework Programme. The brochure aims to show:

how the specific advantages of urban areas can be combined with the advantages of telematics to create new conditions for growth and improved quality of life

• why telematics is a key ingredient for the success of European towns and cities
• how telematics is used today in a number of European cities

Available in English, Danish, Finnish, Dutch, Portuguese, Spanish and Swedish

http://www.rural-europe.aeidl.be/forada/download.htm