For instance, Austria produced a CD-Rom, Italy published a comprehensive paper handbook and a CD-card, Norway produced a specific video and a multimedia presentation.

To implement these ideas the White Paper identifies five general objectives and a number of support measures: - to encourage the acquisition of new knowledge (a number of support measures are proposed: launching a European system for recognizing key skills, a personal skills card and a European skills accreditation system; facilitating student mobility; supporting the development of multimedia educational software), - to bring schools and the business sector closer together (opening up education to the world of work; involving busi ...[+++]nesses in training; developing cooperation between schools and businesses), - to combat exclusion (supporting "second-chance" schools schemes by concentrating resources and capacity in deprived areas; promoting European voluntary service initiatives), - proficiency in three Community languages (providing support for language learning at pre-school level and during vocational training through the use of systems for assessing and guaranteeing language teaching quality), - to treat tangible and intangible investment on an equal footing (by changes in the fiscal and accounting treatment of expenditure on training).

Let us consider the words of the chairman and chief executive officer of Canada's largest chartered bank who described the new frontier before us as a multimedia universe of converging services ultimately coming into the home through a single carrier, smart phones, smart TVs, smart computers, smart VCRs, smart faxes and smart cards that let us pay bills, transfer money, make investments, play games, show pictures, selected products and services, take college courses and maybe even vote.

This includes a clear perspective toward the establishment of the global electronic library network which interconnects local electronic libraries. v. Electronic Museums and Galleries - to accelerate the multimedia digitisation of collections and to ensure their accessibility to the public and as a learning resource for schools and universities. vi. Environment and Natural Resources Management - to increase the electronic linkage and integration of distributed databases of information relevant to the environment. vii. Global Emergency Management - to encourage the development of a global management information network to enhance the mana ...[+++]gement of emergency response situations, risks and knowledge. viii. Global Healthcare Applications - to demonstrate the potential of telematics technologies in the field of telemedicine in the fight against major health scourges; to promote joint approaches to issues such as the use of data cards, standards and other enabling mechanisms. ix. Government On-line - to exchange experience and best practice on the use of on-line information technology by administrations on the establishment of procedures for conducting electronic administrative business between governments, companies and citizens. x. Global Marketplace for SME's - to contribute to the development of an environment for open and non-discriminatory exchange of information and to demonstrate, particularly through EDI, the interoperability of electronic and information co-operation and trading services on a global scale, for the benefits of SME's. xi. Maritime Information Systems - to integrate and enhance environmental protection and industrial competitiveness for all maritime activities by means of information and communication technologies including applications in the area of safety and the environment, intelligent manufacturing and logistics networks._ * * *