 | Issue: | Europe 2004 |
| Article no.: | 4 | |
| Topic: | Connectivity and European Development | |
| Author: | Gianfranco Tomaino | |
| Title: | Managing Director | |
| Organisation: | Telefonica Procesos y Tecnologia de la Informacion | |
| PDF size: | 108KB |
About author
Gianfranco Tomaino is the Managing Director of Telefonica Procesos y Tecnologia de la Informacion (TPTI), an information systems integrator and IT solution provider fully-owned by Telefonica. TPTI provides IT systems and solutions to over 20 different companies of the Telefonica Group. He is also Chief Technology Officer of Telefonica Ventures, Telefonica’s venture capital fund. As CTO, Mr. Tomaino participates in the definition of the investment strategy and he is leader of a number of investment project related to the networking, middleware and applications and services layers of the architecture. He is also Member of the Board of Catalana d’Inicatives, a private equity firm based in Barcelona, Spain. Before joining Telefonica, Gianfranco Tomaino worked as a Project Director for CSC Financial Services Group, Director of Information Systems and Member of the Board in Compañía Europea de Seguros and Director of Marketing for Communications Products & Services in Memorex Telex. He has also been Project Director in Ocaso and ICT Consultant in O.DATI Spain, the Spanish branch of the Italian consultancy firm O.Group. Mr. Tomaino collaborates actively with the Instituto de Empresa, the EOI and the Pontificia de Salamanca University in Spain, the IEC in the US, and with the University Simon Bolivar in Venezuela. Mr. Tomaino has university degrees in Analytical Chemistry and Physical Chemistry, PhD studies in Analytical Chemistry, a Master Degree in ICT, an Executive MBA by the Instituto de Empresa and Executive and e-Business Programs by IESE.
Article abstract
ICT has had an astounding impact upon EU development in recent years, due largely to the Internet and broadband access. Compared to the USA, Western Europe, with notable exceptions, has not invested in advanced broadband technologies. Among the reasons for this has been weak competition, the lack of strong government support of Internet adoption by SMEs or of the cultural transformation needed to join the Information Society. Regulators, telcos, businesses, and the public all share the blame for this.
Full Article
It is a commonplace that the Information Society (IS) contributes to economic and social development. Hugo Parr, chairman of the OECD ICCP Committee and General Director at the Trade and Industry Ministry in Norway, has declared that “ICT is a key driver of economic growth, and broadband is probably the single most important, cross-cutting development in ICT at this time. Choosing the right policy responses can have a huge impact both for the public and private sectors”.
