The Lithuanian Free Market Institute (LFMI), with a group of European partners and a coordinating institution “ICEG European Centre,” have won a second tender announced and financed by the Institute of Prospective Technological Studies (IPTS), one of the seven scientific institutes of the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre, Seville. Its mission is to provide customer-driven support to the EU policy-making process by researching science-based responses to policy challenges that have both a socio-economic and a scientific or technological dimension.
Within the framework of this international project, 10 partner-organisations will conduct separate country-reports, and based on those, a comparative synthesis report will be prepared later by the “ICEG European Centre.” Project partners are organisations from Hungary, Malta, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Slovenia, the Check Republic, Slovakia, Poland and Cyprus.
The first study that will be made by the Lithuanian Free Market Institute, a representative of Lithuania, is entitled “Next Steps in Developing Information Society Services in the New Member States: the Case of eGovernment and eHealth.” The aim of this research is to collect relevant qualitative and quantitative data in the areas of eGovernment and eHealth, analyse it and develop a meaningful assessment of both areas state and trajectory of development, and derive relevant conclusions in terms of policy and research. The study will analyse the quantitative and qualitative description of the current institutional, policy framework as well as underlying trends and developments in Lithuania and focus its attention at the future policy options and R&D related challenges specific to eGovernment and eHealth. The study will clearly indicate the overlapping domains and issues common for both eGovernment and eHealth, while being specific in both topics.
The aim of the second study, called “Next Steps in Developing Information Society Services in the New Member States: the Case of eLearning,” is to collect relevant qualitative and quantitative data in the field of eLearning in Lithuania, analyse it and develop a meaningful assessment of the areas state and trajectory of development, and derive relevant conclusions in terms of policy and research. In this study LFMI will look into the factors inhibiting the development of eLearning in Lithuania, identify those factors which would promote its development and formulate recommendations.
Both studies will be completed by December 2006. The life of the entire international project will be 14 months, followed at the end by an extensive dissemination campaign at the EU level.
In 2003-2004 the Lithuanian Free Market Institute participated in an international research project “Factors and Impacts in the Information Society: a Prospective Analysis in the Acceding and Candidate Countries” financed and coordinate by the same institutions. During this project, LFMI conducted a study on factors and impacts in the information society in Lithuania (the study is posted online…).
