Doc. 8092
24 April 1998

Digital technologies and their applications

Motion for a resolution

presented by Mr Beaufays and others

This motion has not been discussed in the Assembly and commits only the members who have signed it

1.       Digital technologies are assuming an increasingly prominent place in everyday life, both in the more traditional areas and in the field of new information and communication technologies.

2.       Digital is the common language for information, whether in the form of text, pictures or video images. Digitisation, ie the conversion of information into a string of 0s and 1s, provides a common denominator for telephone, television, radio, camera, camcorder or computer signals.

3.       The direct effect of digitisation is convergence, defined as the ability for different media to carry basically similar services. In other words, the various types of equipment used by the public at large, such as telephones, television and personal computers are merging to an ever greater extent. This may ultimately lead to a single terminal: a multimedia computer or home cinema.

4.       Compression is another aspect of digitised information. Any text, sound, picture or video image can be compressed to occupy less space and therefore be more easily transported physically or transmitted. Audio CDs have ousted vinyl; CD-Roms and DVD have become an increasingly popular means of access to text and/or image information. The Bibliothèque Nationale de France has over 100,000 digitised books and 300,000 digitised pictures and has almost 300 workstations available for use by researchers and the general public. Digital television, by cable or satellite, has enabled a larger number of channels to be transmitted over the same carrier, while offering improved sound and picture quality.

5.       Until quite recently, the use of images and sounds was purely passive, ie it were restricted to "off-line" products, a limited number of conventionally broadcast TV channels, vinyl records (and then CDs), video cassettes, CD-Roms. With the advent of the Internet (some 60 million users worldwide) and digital television, we have moved onto "on-line" products and entered the interactive era: e-mail, teleconferencing, electronic shopping, programmes à la carte, real-time and networked games, creation of Internet pages, discussion forums and, last but not least, teleworking.

6.       In view of the fact that Europe must take advantage of the opportunities afforded by the proliferation of digital technologies in order to put in place a favourable environment for job creation, growth, increased choice for citizens and promoting cultural diversity, the Assembly calls upon the governments of member states of the Council of Europe and the European Union:

-       to encourage convergence-related technological research and development efforts, based on the common application of digital technologies to service systems and networks;

-       to study the convergence migration process, from the technological level to the level of the market of services and of the industry, in order to identify how best to influence these developments in a positive way;

-       to put in place an appropriate legislative framework for firms and users, relating to developments in regulatory policies in the sectors affected by convergence.

Signed : ¹

Beaufays, Belgium, EPP/CD

Birraux, France, EPP/CD

Brunhart, Liechtenstein, EPP/CD

Ciupaila, Lithuania, LDR

Cunliffe, United Kingdom, SOC

Guirado, Spain, SOC

Hoffmann, Germany, SOC

Lengagne, France, SOC

Melnikov, Russia, UEL

Newall, United Kingdom, EDG

Olrich, Iceland, EDG

Prokes, Slovakia, NR

Raskinis, Lithuania, EPP/CD

Roseta, Portugal, EPP/CD

Steolea, Romania, EDG

Tiuri, Finland, EDG

Uroic, Croatia, EPP/CD

Wittbrodt, Poland, EPP/CD

Zissi, Greece, SOC