I. Introduction
 
The process of economic, social and political change that the world —and especially Europe— is experiencing at present is profound and implies new challenges for our society as well as opportunities and dangers. Information plays a crucial role in this process. The new technologies and the new information and communication systems are forging a new information society, which will have a significant impact on relationships between individuals, groups and countries.

The fields in which this change is most noticeable are those of communications and computerisation. In the course of the last twenty years, the capacity to store data has multiplied by twenty thousand times; the use of fibre optics in data transmission has increased working speeds by two hundred thousand times in the same two decades. Digitization of signals and new information and communications technology have made it possible for television, the telephone and computers to share the same input line and —thanks to the new techniques of signal compression— that line can carry a vastly increased volume of data.

We are just beginning to see the possibilities deriving from this transformation, with applications in such fields as education and culture, work and the working environment, relations between government and the citizen etc.

In order to try to measure the range of these changes, some countries, communities and international organisations have engaged in some reflections on the impact of the new technologies on the society of the future. Following the same line, the Government, with the participation of the Communes and representatives from the public and private sectors, has prompted a process of reflection on the opportunities and threats for Andorra in the light of these new circumstances. To study and focus this future is a task that requires an open reflection on the part of the experts and leaders in public life, but, above all, this is something that the citizen himself in his own particular sphere must also do.

With this objective a working group was formed, with representatives from the institutions and the public and private sectors, and it was this group that worked on the conclusions set out in this White Paper. This publication is designed to serve as support tool for all those persons, entities and institutions who in the near future must take decisions relating to the use of the new technologies.

Those in positions of political power must work towards a position where access to the new technologies and the new information and communications services is made available on the basis of equal opportunity for all, so that the advent of the information society can be a progressive factor for the whole of our society. This development has to be effected in conformity with the principles of independence, human rights, and pluralism contained in Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights, with special emphasis in respect of cultural diversity.

The Government of Andorra wishes to give emphatic support to the proposals contained in this White Paper because, in collaboration with initiatives taken by other institutions and the private sector, they can form the basis for easing Andorra’s transition to the new information age.
 

2. Organization and development of the project
 
Objective
 
The White Paper must serve to sensitise our society to the fact that we are at the beginning of a huge transformation, in which technology and digital information will converge to configure a completely new economy affecting practically every aspect of our daily lives.

The publication contains a strategic overview of the impact of new technologies on different aspects of our society, with especial regard for the ways in which these will affect the way we work, learn and use leisuretime. It includes concrete proposals for developing the objectives identified, which imply a concerted effort on the part of the public and private sectors.
 
 
Structure

The White Paper has been structured around five principal concerns, which are: