1.

Background

An Information Society for All - Sweden Version 1.0 was adopted thorugh the Government Bill 1999/2000:86.

Key governmental initiatives in the period 2000-2004:

• Funding - Broadband Infrastructure in Rural Areas, 2001-2006
• New Legislation on Electronic Communication, 2003
• ICT-policy Strategy Group – Coordinating Gov Activities
• Delegation for the Development of Public e-services
• Board for Electronic Administration – Standards for Information Exchange
• ITPS – evaluation of Swedish ICT-policy

2.

The policy goals

The present Swedish Government policy 'From IT policy for society to policy for IT-Society' Version 2.0 is founded on the new Government Bill (2004/05:175) adopted in 2005. In this bill  the Government maintains that the aim of the IT policy in Sweden is a sustainableinformation society for all. IT is considered to be a contributor to efficiency and quality in all the realms of society. Modern IT infrastructure and efficient e-services shall be available to men and women, the young and elderly, in all parts of the country in order to ease everyday life and increase the quality of life in a sustainable way. Children’s perspectives ought to be prioritized.

Three target areas related to this vision are quality, sustainable growth and accessibility.

Measures to be taken to achieve these targets are described in the Government Bill as well as the means to increase trust in Information Technology and to improve co-ordination of politics.

Suggested measures to be taken are:

• Activities to support disabled people taking part in the information society
• National patients’ summary
• Measures in school matters
• Benefits for small and mid-sized enterprises
• Action plan for increased equalities in the IT business
• Government agencies with their own IT infrastructure should contribute to IT development in the administration
• Inquiry into the appeals’ processes within the Electronic Communications Act
• Increased co-ordination
• Shared basic resources within the administration

3.

The policy document

Swedish Policy for the Information Society

4.

The gender dimension

• Swedish Royal Institute of Technology has carried out a national evaluation and presented an action plan that was taken into consideration in connection with the Version 2.0 of the Government Bill.
• The national project WOMENTOR was started up in December 2005.

WOMENTOR

Womentor pres Stockholm