On 9 February 2010, the Austrian Internet Declaration (Österreichische Internetdeklaration, in German) was presented and handed over to the Federal Chancellor Werner Faymann, and Minister of Finance Josef Pröll by the leading representatives of the Austrian Internet industry.  

On the same day, the Council of Ministers decided on the creation of the 'Centre of Excellence for the Internet Society' whose main purpose will be the coordination of the national ICT policy, based on the Austrian Internet Declaration.

Almost two years ago, the 'Austrian Internet Initiative' (Die Internetoffensive Österreich, in German) started a joint effort of the ICT stakeholders of Austria to develop a national ICT strategy. 400 experts, approximately 170 companies and organisations and more than 35 Chief Executive Officers (CEO) and executives of leading IT companies joined forces to create the 'Austrian Internet Declaration' as a basis for an ICT strategy for Austria.

The newly established 'Centre of Excellence for the Internet Society' will coordinate the measures and activities of the Austrian ICT Policy on the basis of the results of the Austrian Internet Initiative. The latter will be represented in the Centre's Board of Directors by members who will have an advisory function.

Throughout the drafting process of the strategy paper, numerous policy proposals were submitted, discussed in working groups, prioritised and evaluated. The experts identified 60 measures that Austria needs to adopt in order to strengthen its market position among the top ranking countries in the ICT sector. The Austrian Regulatory Authority for Broadcasting and Telecommunications (RTR) collected the proposed contributions and created the Internet Declaration.

The decision of the Council of Ministers to establish the 'Centre of Excellence for the Internet Society' was welcomed by the stakeholders who said that this is an important step towards the further development of a knowledge society and the future security of Austria's business sector.

The domestic ICT sector will invest more than €2 billion in the coming years, despite the current difficult economic situation, with the ICT companies making their contribution towards strengthening Austria's business location internationally. One of the most important prerequisites for building a knowledge society is the availability of high-performance ICT infrastructure. Investing in broadband infrastructure for the future is a considerable factor for economic recovery in the short term and for sustainable growth in the long term.

Further information:

• Original Press Release - Internetoffensive Österreich (in German)
• Austrian Internet Declaration (in German)