APSI ? A new hub for initiatives and the exchange of infor-       mation between public and private-sector players in the information society as

Are you part of the Information Society? That was the question posed on invitations to the opening conference of the newly founded Information Society Profes-sionals Association (APSI), held on November 29th at the Chambre de Commerce.

Mr Gary Kneip, president of the association, responded in his introductory speech, "Every individual, every company, every industrial and commercial sector, our whole country and, finally, Europe, must ask themselves this essential question. The answer is that each and every one of us has a part to play, whether we wish to or not. The speed and extent to which the technologies of the information society, the knowledge-based society, have progressed and even modified our perception of this world, should no longer take us by surprise."

Addressing some 120 people, among them key figures in Luxembourg's Internet, IT, telecommunications, new media and consultancy markets, he said these emerging technologies must become an integral part of our companies, our administrations and society at large, and defined the role that APSI will play. "We, the professional service providers, must act unequivocally and in partnership with our government and our clients to conquer new horizons."

In order to achieve this goal, the public and private sectors must cooperate more closely to evaluate Luxembourg's current position in the information society, assess present and future needs, stimulate initiatives to solve existing problems, encourage entrepreneurship and, generally, implement all necessary measures to ensure this country's competitiveness in the information age, both internally and in the broader markets of Europe and beyond.

This is APSI's raison d'être. The association, which already has more than 31 member companies, will form a two-way channel of communication and initiatives between the growing number of commercial businesses, tech companies, media people and other players in the Internet/IT-related sphere and the government. Its main objective is to create, support and actively participate in new initiatives in commercial, social, political and legal domains, with a view to developing the Internet market in Luxembourg.

To provide concrete results as swiftly as possible, APSI has set up workgroups to tackle, among other pressing issues, the legal and ethical aspects of e-commerce and the Internet in general, and how to develop the trained and competent workforce our rapidly evolving society so urgently needs. It also intends to publish documents, hold conferences on relevant issues and engage in dialogue with the government concerning matters of new legislation, and national and European regulations.

For its part, the Luxembourg government welcomes the creation of APSI. "What is at work here," said François Biltgen, Minis-tre délégué aux communications (communications minister), speaking at the APSI conference, "is the transformation of a whole society; a complete transformation of Luxembourg in all its elements." These radical changes need to be adjusted to,  not with some theoretical planning, but with the global will of the government. A National Committee for the Information Society has therefore been formed, consisting of six ministers from various departments, which is coordinated by the communications minister.

Close collaboration with the professionals of the private sector will help it to further define, implement and nurture its E-Luxembourg action plan. This plan is essentially Luxembourg's contribution to the broader vision of the eEurope 2002 Action Plan, adopted in June by the European Council at Feira. Cognizant of the fact that Europe as a whole is trailing some way behind the United States in most areas of the information society, the EU governments are keenly aware of the need to narrow the gap now or risk losing out tremendously. The Action Plan has three major focus points: provision of a cheaper, faster and more secure Internet; stimulation of Internet use, including e-commerce; investment in people and skills. The stated goal is that "Europe must become the most competitive and dynamic economy in the world'.

The man responsible for Luxembourg's part in this ambitious challenge, Mr Biltgen, outlined the main tasks of the E-Luxembourg action plan, which mirror those of the eEurope initiative but are specifically adapted to this country's requirements. His four key strategies are briefly described as follows:

Education and professional training - we must immediately begin to prepare the youth of today for the challenge of the employment market of tomorrow; increase the use of new technologies in schools; provide job-specific training relevant to the information society;

E-society - fight the digital divide; too many people in our society (the elderly, unemployed, handicapped etc.) are being excluded from information technology; they must be encouraged and given the means to get 'connected';

E-government - the administration must put information technology at the service of the citizens; online forms and procedural information; provision of a unique portal allowing access to all government departments; reorganization of internal administration; Intranet;

E-commerce - drafting of new laws on electronic commerce, data security and consumer protection; establishment of an e-commerce committee.

One urgent requirement that Mr Biltgen addressed is the challenge of reducing Internet costs. Alternative infrastructure must be put in place, the local loop must be opened up, broadband access must be made cheaper and connections to the major international communications backbones need to be improved. "It was the introduction of trains that opened Luxembourg up to the outside world in the 19th century," he explained, "Today, it is backbones that play that vital role." Also important, he says, is the need to heavily promote Luxembourg to businesses as a site where e-commerce is welcome. An essential first step was to set up an E-Luxembourg website, which is currently being finalized and is expected to go live before the end of 2000. This will provide a practical, informative and interactive service for citizens, businesses and foreign companies alike, to render their involvement in the information society here as easy as possible.

One man who has closely followed Luxembourg's adaptation to change is Norbert von Kunitzki, president of the Centre Universitaire de Luxembourg and the third key speaker at the APSI conference. He claims that the only logical explanation for Luxembourg's continued prosperity throughout the last 150 years or so is this: "God is Luxembourgish."

Implausible as it sounds, there is perhaps little else       to explain why a country that is rarely re-  presented on world maps as anything larger than a dot, that was the poorest region (along with Ireland) on the European continent until the mid-19th century, should today be ranked among the most prosperous countries in the world, at least in terms of GDP per head.

It was God, says Mr von Kunitzki, who put the iron ore in the ground that was to lead to Luxem-bourg's first incarnation as a wealthy state. That wealth, however, did not result from the industriousness or aptitude of the Luxembourgish people themselves, he points out. The ore would have remained forever unexploited had it not been discovered by foreigners, mined with foreign capital, by an Italian labour force, overseen by German engineers. It wasn't until after WWII, when the Germans were expelled and the Italians voluntarily went home, that Luxembourgers actually began to operate their own iron and steel industry.

Similarly, with the decline of the industrial era and the ascendancy of the services revolution, Luxembourg's rebirth in the second half of the 20th century as a financial-sector powerhouse was heavily reliant on people from abroad. Von Kunitzki demonstrates this in relation to Switzerland: there, all the bank directors are Swiss, the vast majority of their staff are Swiss, and the street-sweepers are Yugoslavs; here, almost all the bank directors are foreigners, the vast majority of bank employees are foreigners, and the street-sweepers, well, they're native public servants of the Ville de Luxembourg.

Vitally important today, he says, is this country's need to modernize its education, higher-education and professional-training programmes to make sure that its youth and the Lux-embourgish society as a whole has a firm understanding of the new technologies on which today's economy de-pends, or else it will once again play a subservient role. Second-ly, as a small country so reliant on   collaboration with foreigners at home and abroad, and with an acute shortage of homegrown qualified personnel, it needs to make itself as attractive as possible to outsiders, to boost the supply of competent staff and innovative business leaders.

In outlining the history of events that have engendered this country's current position in the international economy, he concluded, "It is evident that Luxembourg has extraordinary resilience and flexibility. Throughout history it has continuously resisted ill fortune and adapted by transforming itself and re-emerging with fresh vigour." Now, as it poises for its latest reincarnation as a key player in Europe's information society, he stressed the need for Luxembourg to adapt once again in the face of dramatic change, if it is to successfully reinvent itself in the world of the new information society.