A common cultural identity for Europe? Europeana, the European Digital Library (EDL), wants to collect a vast number of European scientific and cultural works and make the collection available for free at a single site with 2 million documents by 2008 and 6 million by 2010 (source: Bibliothèque Nationale de France). The project began to take shape back in 2005 in reaction to Google’s plans to digitize millions of works then charge fees to access them.

Long in Web limbo, the European Digital Library could soon become a reality, at least in France. Bibliothèque Nationale de France (BNF), the country’s representative on the project, has announced a March launch for the French EDL interface. Does Google Book Search finally have cause to worry?

Backstory of a long gestation

Google’s December 2004 announcement that it was launching Google Print elicited a reaction in Europe, namely fears that culture would be redefined through an Anglo-Saxon prism and deformed. In the January 23-24, 2005 issue of Le Monde, BNF President Jean-Noël Jeanneney published the article Quand Google défie l’Europe. He wrote this op-ed piece to wake up Europe, fight for preservation of the universal and inalienable right of access to knowledge, lay digital claim to the BNF collection, and organize European access to culture.

His appeal was heeded. In 2005, Jacques Chirac and the heads of state of Germany, Spain, Italy, Hungary, and Poland instigated a movement to digitize works held in European collections. Twenty-three national libraries throughout Europe joined BNF in signing the motion that it initiated. In September 2005 the European Commission took action, soliciting public comment and publishing i2010: Digital Libraries, an analysis of the stakes raised by the Internet in building a European cultural heritage. In a March 2, 2006 press release, the European Commission stated that Europe’s collective memory would be “put on the Web via a European Digital Library” using the TEL (The European Library) infrastructure, a platform that provides access to the catalog of every national library in Europe.

The digital library is finally becoming a reality!

As French Minister of Culture Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres announced on January 23 in his review of digital cultural projects underway (in French), the EDL project is, after a long delay, “now entering its operational phase.

BNF is putting the finishing touches on the beta version of the French building block of the EDL. The official launch—with access to 10,000 documents—is to happen in March, timed to coincide with the Salon du Livre book trade show. By the end of November 2007, 30,000 works should be available. From that point forward, another 100,000 are to be added to the online collection every year until the number reaches 500,000. Progress is less concrete in the rest of Europe, but 19 national libraries have already made their digital collections available through the TEL site, and the 45 member libraries of the Conference of European National Librarians

(CNEL) are expected to join the project over the next five years (source: BNF).

Europeana versus Google Book Search: free or fee?

With less VC firms in competition, a pool of talented entrepreneurs and a broadly connected consumer base, Europe is a wonderful place to be a VC right now, according to Frédéric Court (picture right). A veteran of corporate banking in London, Milan and New York as well as an entrepreneur in his own right, Court was recently in San Francisco, CA for the Web 2.0 Summit.

What major differences do you see between the way VC do business in Europe and in the Silicon Valley?

In Europe, there are less than 10 VC firms that have more than $200 million. There are four times as many in the US. Typically, a European VC will be on four to seven boards while an American one might have as many as 10. Because of bigger funds available and of time constraints, there is a temptation for an American VC to write bigger checks. But big and quick IPO are not as common as they were in the late 90s and it is harder to make a profit on your investments. Often American VC have to invest with no visibility. It took courage to fund YouTube in 2005 when it was essentially a video dating site. We prefer to put in a little bit of money on a good idea and then give more when the concept has proven itself.

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This Special Report on Europe contains the European Innovation Scoreboard results (France is keeping pace) and a progress report on the future European Digital Library (EDL).

- How many Europeans have triple play (broadband internet access, VoIP telephone and IPTV)?
- What are the desires and practices of today’s internet users?
- You want to go study and/or work in Europe but don’t know where to start?
- Will Germany get fiber optics?

This Special Europe Report provides answers.

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With its i2010 project, the European Commission hopes to establish an open and competitive, single information and communication market in Europe. It is therefore trying to battle against any kind of competition-hampering national or European monopolistic situation liable to stymie universal access to new technologies and paralyze the market. Deutsche Telekom, Europe’s telecommunications leader, recently experienced being the object of this scrutiny.

Already in financial difficulty and having just recently revised downward its 2006 and 2007 targets, the company was then hit by new tribulations that shake its leading position: On Monday August 21st, the European Commission endorsed a proposal submitted by the German telecom regulator Bundesnetzagentur (BNetzA) that requires Deutsche Telekom to immediately open up its ultra-high-speed network to competitors.

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What is the status of Internet usage in Europe? Are we on par with respect to new technologies? To find out, the European Commission recently commissioned a special survey of 25,000 households between December 7, 2005 and January 11, 2006. The results of this Eurobarometer survey, published on August 25, reveal certain facts about our usage of the Internet and other consumer communication devices. They also expose several disparities.

One key finding is that most households with Internet access use a high-speed connection: 23% of users—nearly one out of every four households—now have broadband, while 16% still have narrowband or dial-up. Of those with high-speed Internet, 80% have an ADSL line, while only 17% use cable.

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On August 2, 2006, Sony (sony.com) announced the launch of a new product that enables its digital camcorders and cameras to plot the location where every image is taken. The external, stand-alone GPS device, called GPS-CS1, is a compact 87 x 36 x 36 mm (about 3.4 x 1.4 x 1.4 inches), weighs only 55 g (2 ounces), and is designed so its center of gravity will keep the GPS antenna pointed skyward whenever possible.

The device is easy to use: just have it on when shooting. It will automatically record the geographical coordinates along with a date and time stamp. Later, when you connect your camera to a computer to transfer your photos, simply connect the SPS-CS1 at the same time with the supplied USB cable.

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How can British views on VoIP be assessed when most people in England don’t know what it is? What makes IPTV so promising even though some European countries are lagging behind, and which countries will take the lead? How can you confidently find the nearest free Wi-Fi access point? With the launch of Google Maps and Google Earth in Europe, should their competitors be worried? This special report provides answers.

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It’s finally here! With the launch of Google Maps France and Europe, the area covered by Google satellite images now reaches beyond North America. The first European versions of the search engine’s mapping and directions tool, Google Maps, are now available online.

Until now, the only Europeans to benefit from the Mountain View company’s mapping and satellite services were subjects of Queen Elizabeth. But the inquisitive eye of satellites has recently focused on certain swaths of France. Google Maps services work in metropolitan France, Spain, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands.

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Free-hotspot.com indexes all free Wi-Fi access points. In addition to their free hotline, the service now features new technology that makes it possible to know in real time which access points are available and which are not.

The technology is based on a heartbeat control that transmits the hotspot’s status to the service every two minutes 24 hours a day. When a user calls to request the location of the nearest free access point, Free-hotspot can thus ensure that it won’t be down when the person gets there.

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According to the Gartner research company, Europeans could be early adopters when it comes to Internet Protocol Television (IPTV). Gartner estimates the current number of IPTV service subscribers to be 3.3 million. By 2010, the number could be 16.7 million.

More and more providers are offering triple play service because of scenarios like the one in France where nearly one million households have gone with third-party providers for certain services.

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