The political Manifesto for the Engage project was signed at the project conference held on 11th of September in Kauhajoki, Finland. The president of Harghita County Council, Mr. Csaba Borboly has also signed the aforementioned document.
The Engage project’s main goal is helping specialists of European regions to learn about the cost-efficient best practices of building high-speed broadband networks in rural and peripheral areas based on sustainable requirements and for strengthening the economic activity of the given region.
The ten-point document contains best practices that facilitate the technical conditions for local high-speed internet connections, as well as reducing the difference in quality between urban and rural regions regarding network connections. The Engage Manifesto’s penultimate point defines the role of local and regional governments. According to this, governments may help in the creation of a communication-link between the public and the private sector and may provide financial and technical support.
The political platform’s activity was not finalized only with the act of signing the Manifesto. Subsequently, the leading partners and local representatives talked about the development possibilities and promotion of best practices. In addition, it was unanimously voiced out that more attention needs to be focused on the representation of rural areas in the European Union. Mr. Csaba Borboly suggested the use of the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development toward the development of high-speed internet connection in more isolated locations.
Prior to signing the Manifesto, the representatives of participating regions held their presentations, during which they talked about the concerned region’s current situation. Mr. Csaba Borboly explained the county’s peculiarities in his presentation named Challenges and solutions in Romania, as well as Harghita County Council’s pursuit for development. In connection to the theme of the conference, he stated that less than 20% of the population in Harghita County has access to internet connection. He presented the Harghita Web program, through which the current infrastructure would be upgraded with high-speed internet connections in order to correspond to the requirements of the modern age, and the Telework programme, which targets the facilitation of the youth’s social integration. The county president emphasized also that by taking part in the Engage project, the county council primarily aims to foster the youth of the county to stay at their homeland. With a better internet connection new possibilities would be created such as managing financial matters and working from home, not to mention the possibilities of advertisement of self-made products through e-commerce.
At the end of his presentation, Mr. Csaba Borboly called the attention on three elements, which are essential to realize the high-speed internet network: creation of a proper infrastructure, promotion of the importance of this activity amongst the locals, and the availability of these online services. He added: one needs to find the partners who can work on the realization of these goals and who can give voice to their opinions and ideas at the right place. It is important from that point of view also that the county council president is member of the Committee of the Regions since September 2012.
Miercurea Ciuc, 11th of September 2013
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