Background
The Commission on Information Society was established at the 34th UBC Executive Board meeting in Viljandi on 7-8 June 2002, and the City of St. Petersburg was appointed as the lead City of the Commission. In preparation for the establishment of the Commission, the City of St. Petersburg organized a seminar “Electronic Unionof the Baltic Cities” on 25-26 April 2002. The seminar included presentations on Information Society programmes from the UBC member cities, discussion on cooperation opportunities and visits to local ICT companies in St. Petersburg.
During last few years Information Society development has emerged as one of the priority sectors for cooperation in the Baltic Sea Region, and the Region is developing into a European model region of Information Society and ICT. eEurope, eRussia, the Northern eDimension (NeDAP) and various national e-initiatives offer a financial and policy framework for the cooperation, and accordingly for the UBC Commission on Information Society as well. Baltic cities have been active in Information Society development, and various local e-initiatives and programmes have been launched. Joint projects, networking and exchange of experiences and information between the UBC members cities and their respective e-programmes contribute significantly to the Information Society development in the Baltic Sea Region, and to the objectives of European and national Information Society strategies and programmes.
Based on the above background and framework, there is a strong rationale for the active UBC contribution to the Information Society Development in the Baltic Sea Region through its Commission on Information Society.
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