Blair calls for European ecommerce reforms

UK Prime Minister Tony Blair has outlined the reforms he claims Europe needs in order to build a thriving digital economy.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Blair said the need for reform in education is paramount. "In an economy dominated by information and knowledge, education is king. Not just in school or university but throughout life," he said.

He held up Britain as an example. "A whole network of adult learning centres are being established, with incentives provided to upgrade skills, and a new University for Industry established through the use of Internet technology to give adults the skills they need."

Blair went on to talk about shifting priorities in society as a whole. "Twenty years on from the oil shock of the seventies, most economists would agree that oil is no longer the most important commodity in the world economy: it's information," he said.

"The United States may lead the way, but it's quite possible that the next major development of the Web, m-commerce - or accessing the Internet on mobile handsets - will take off in Europe before it does in the US if we work at it.

"The coming explosion of business-to-business ecommerce could happen just as quickly in Europe as it does in the US, if we work at it," he added.

The World Economic Forum has never focussed so heavily on information technology. Today marks the start of a two-day special session devoted to the impact of technology on business and society. More than 50 CEOs from the world's IT giants will be on hand to discuss business growth in the Internet age.

Also on the schedule for today, Bill Gates, chairman and chief software architect of Microsoft, and Steve Case, chairman and CEO of AOL, will address the main forum, going head-to-head over the role of Internet in 21st century media.