Summit Overview

Coinciding with the 20th Anniversary of ETNO, the Summit will look at the revolution that transformed the ICT sector in Europe and its players over the past 20 years and the evolution trends and challenges for the sector in the next 20 years.

Over the past 20 years, the rapid and successful growth of the Internet and of Internet-enabled services and applications has fundamentally transformed the economic landscape. For telecoms operators to continue meeting the huge investment challenge linked to exponential traffic growth, new business models are needed based on commercial cooperation with all players of the value chain. The 2012 ETNO-FT Summit will aim at fostering the dialogue towards a new and sustainable Internet ecosystem, for the benefit of all.

What will be the main trends in the ICT and telecoms sector over the next 20 years? What are the future business and co-operation models? How should the economic model for the Internet evolve to sustain huge traffic growth? What business models need to be developed to allow for investments and innovation? What are the e-services of the future that will drive high-speed broadband take up? What is the potential of ICT innovation to address upcoming societal challenges?

With the economy and planetunder increasing pressures, the ICT industry has a critical role to play in promoting economic development and transforming the way our society develops and the way people behave.

ETNO and the Financial Times' 2012 Summit, 20 years ago, 20 years ahead: Telecoms:A Smart Europe in a Smart World, will convene industry leaders, policymakers, regulators and influential thinkers to debate how policy and regulation need to adapt today in order for theICT sector to best harness this transformation and achieve real sustainable development for business, society and the environment.

Through a series of high-level speeches, debates, interviews and case studies, our distinguished speaker line-up will look at the enormous potential of ICT to boost economic development and restore Europe's competitiveness, by leading to new sources of growth and addressing key societal challenges we will all be facing.There will be a strong focus on how the industry can work with policymakers to promote this contribution.