The meeting was opened by Martin Stasek, Press Officer of the European Commission in Prague, and the meetings were held at the Representation of the European Commission in the Czech Republic The visit was split into three pre-arranged group discussions in the morning and plenary presentation and discussions in the afternoon. 
CZ expectations of the visit Jiří PRŮŠA (Ministry of the Interior) gave a presentation of the CZ country profile and in particular pointing out that 90% of all businesses in CZ use eGov, compared with an EU target of 80%. He also indicated that the following points were also of key interest to CZ: - eGovernment services for the citizens - Data Boxes system (priority) – (developed by CZ) - Cross border services (eDelivery) 2 - One-stop shop (register) for public services.
For 2014+, the use of EU programmes (SF, H2020/CIP, CEF) CZ has developed a ‘Data Boxes system’ which is obligatory for all SMEs and large companies to use, whilst being on a voluntary basis for the citizens. At present over 20,000 citizens are using it. CZ considers this is important for the provision of ‘seamless service’. CZ is also a participant in the STORK2.0 (Large scale pilot under ICT-PSP) proposal which is under negotiation, which is expected to be concluded in November, with a start date of the project of 1st January 2012. The project is about interoperable electronic identity management in EU for persons and legal entities. CZ is keen to bringing their expertise of the ‘data book system’ into the project.
CZ reservations of DAE: CZ had some reservations/criticisms of DAE: according to them 101 actions are too many and most of them involving the Commission, while not involving the Member States. CZ is more interested in financial tools that support relevant actions. They are also concerned that education is not mentioned in the whole of DAE (Commission remarked that this is the competency of the MS, although there could be EU-level awareness actions).
Some highlights
CZ is very eager to promote its "Data BOXES system" at European level. They call on INFSO to support them.
CZ has one of the highest eGovernment take-up by business in Europe
CZ has the highest number of mobile phones per person in EU, and CZ citizens are one of the highest users of Skype.
CZ stressed the need for services with a cross border usage and value. Today CZ has no such a list of services and expect it from the Commission.
CZ is planning for Digital Dividend Auction next year (Jaromir Novak, Ministry of Industry and Trade). Public consultation (text in EN on their website) is ongoing at present. At present they are focussing on 2Mb/set for broadband (digital TV), however there will be a review in the near future. The winner of the auction will have to deploy broadband in low density areas before deploying in high density areas. CZ anticipates using the Connected Europe Facility through PPP to fill the gaps.
Specific topics eSignature CZ law on e-signature is at the forefront of national e-signature legislation in EU. Indeed, in addition to e-signatures, CZ law adopted in 2000 and updated several times (2004, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010) also covers electronic marks and time stamping. Several eGovernment services rely on electronic signatures. The most significant are e-Delivery services, public e-procurement, eHealth, eJustice as well as tax declarations and the electronic services of Czech Social Security Administration. CZ recommends harmonizing the eSignature Directive and Services Directive in the internal market in order for the single electronic market to benefit from secure and trustworthy recognition of electronic signatures. Regarding building the Digital Single Market, CZ expects the revision of the eSignature Directive to remove the causes for eSignature market fragmentation, such as the barriers faced by the certified authorities established in one member state willing to operate in 3 another. CZ also has some issues on the cryptography used for eSignature, and they are keen to address eSignature at international level. Commission referred to the discussion between Member States and the Commission planned in Warsaw on 9th November 2011, as well as the eSignature conference organised by the Polish EU Presidency on 9-10 November 2011 in Warsaw to discuss such issues.
Safer Internet Jiri Palyza from the Online Safety Institute discussed the safer internet. He suggests to include education on safer internet in the school curriculum. There is currently a lack of cross-generation communication between children (digital natives) and adults, and younger people do not seem to make the distinction between real and digital on-line world. The Institute have good relations with some private companies (eg. Google), and some companies, under their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), provide modest financial support (e.g. antivirus vendors). According to Mr. Palyza, CZ should increase efforts to raise awareness for a safer internet. The Institute give seminars in schools, which is considered useful. However, statistics/test cases on cyber groomers are hard to obtain because the police cannot disclose information on a given case until the case is closed. The Institute works with the financial support of the European Commission (Luxembourg), which also supports all 27 MS on awareness centres. The Hotline on safer internet (CZ was the first country with such a hotline) is run by the Ministry of the Interior.. The involvement of more stakeholders in the future would improve the quality of the service even further. Czechs are intensive users of Facebook (20% of CZ population), and the local social media Seznam is also very popular (one of the few countries with Russia, South Korea and China where Google is not the number one portal). In general parents are asking for practical information: Facebook and chatrooms are their concerns. The Institute has given seminars on safer internet in 26 municipalities and provided materials on how to chat safely, exchange information on internet, etc.
Digital awareness of civil servants EPMA participated in the EC supported project (eInclusion), Cemsdi, which has five partners. One of its concerns, that is being researched in the project, is on digital awareness and knowledge of civil servants in Europe. According to EPMA, more training provision for civil servants on digital awareness would be necessary in CZ.
European Computer Driving Licence (Olga Stepankova) ECDL has been in operation for more than 20 years. Currently it is established all over the world. 10 million persons have been certified by independent bodies. ECDL is self supporting at present. Registration fee is 17€ in CZ. 30% of all schools in CZ are customers. An objective way of testing the efficiency of the tasks/certification is needed. ECDL as a benchmark will be useful. Olga Stepankova suggested that ECDL should be recognized and used for training supported by the European Social Fund.
Large Scale Pilots CZ is participating in epSOS (LSP on patient records - www.epsos.eu), eCodex (LSP for exchange of judicial information - www.ecodex.eu) and STORK 2.0 (LSP on Interoperable electronic identity) under negotiation.