[OECD Ministerial Meeting] Objectives

The Internet is a key economic and social infrastructure for the world’s economic growth and social development. Guiding principles for the Internet economy over the next decade are needed.

The OECD Seoul Ministerial represents an opportunity for government, business, technical community and civil society to consider the social, economic and technological trends shaping the development of the Internet Economy, and to discuss policies which can provide an enabling environment for the future.

The Internet has greatly expanded our capacity to create, compute, communicate coordinate and innovate, toppling barriers that constrained so many economic and social activities in the past. It has led to increased productivity, lowered costs and raised living standards in ways unimaginable just a few years ago. Such creative activities are generating new software and hardware products, sensor technologies, new ways of organizing global business, employment creation and development of digital content across the economy and in research, government, health and education. In the meeting, The theme on Promoting Creativity will consider △How to enable innovation and encourage new co-operative models for growth and employment △Enabling maximum access to public sector information and content and its re-use by the private sector △The value of e-science in innovation policy and in the OECD’s innovation strategy.

There is a need to build an appreciation, among all stakeholders, of the key reasons behind the successful cases and the opportunities that Internet access can bring for developing countries. Ministers will endorse findings of analytical work that identifies key enabling factors for competition and communication services to flourish in developed and developing countries. Also they will take stock of where the OECD stands regarding the official development assistance it commits to ICT capacity building, ICT infrastructure and other donor ICT assistance.