the voice of the belgian internet industryispa / activity report 2016 – 2017 4 | p a g e about...

The voice of the Belgian Internet industry

ISPA / ACTIVITY REPORT 2016 – 2017 2 | P a g e

ACTIVITIES REPORT 2016- 2017

Table of contents

Table of contents ...................................................................................................................................... 2

Word of the President .............................................................................................................................. 3

About ISPA ................................................................................................................................................ 4

ISPA: The voice of the Internet ................................................................................................................. 5

Market ........................................................................................................................................... 5

Engagement: Liaise with the institutions and key stakeholders..................................................... 5

Public relations and profile raising ................................................................................................. 5

Participation and Representation of the sector ............................................................................. 6

Be prepared: early warnings and lobby .................................................................................................... 6

Monitoring and exchange of information ...................................................................................... 6

Develop positions and lobby policy makers ................................................................................... 6

Europe: awareness and participation ............................................................................................ 7

Develop your Network: Events ...................................................................................................... 8

Future challenges & key values ...................................................................................................... 9

Secretariat .............................................................................................................................................. 10

List of ISPA Members – June 2017 .......................................................................................................... 10


Word of the President

This year ISPA celebrates its 20th year of existence as the representative body for Belgian Internet services provider. The association was established all those years ago with the aim of elevating the voice of the fledging Internet industry and ensuring Belgian regulation encouraged innovation in the exiting new sector. As we look back on the activities and achievements of ISPA in the past years, we clearly see that the founding members’ ambition bears more relevance than ever. “Digital Belgium”, an action plan which outlines the digital long-term vision for our country and translates this into clear ambition, has entered its second year. Based on five clear priorities, Belgian Minister of Digital Agenda, Alexander De Croo, wants to put Belgium more firmly on the digital map. In 2016, it’s safe to say that the Internet has continued to get further entrenched in Belgian society: we have reached over 4 million active connections. According to the 2017 Europe's Digital Progress Report (EDPR), Belgium belongs to the cluster of high-performing countries. It shows that with its 6th place, and in particular regarding connectivity and integration of digital technology by businesses, Belgium performs better than the EU average. Its coverage for fixed broadband connections represented 99,9% among the Belgian population and brings us to the top in European rankings. Belgians are regular users of the Internet, and possess, on average, good digital skills. In 2017, 61 % of Belgians reported having at least basic digital skills. This compares with 56 % in the EU. In the field of mobile internet there is a large coverage of 95% of the territory by 4G. However, the use of mobile connectivity in Belgium remains far below what is typical of other countries in the same cluster, and is less than half the level of the cluster leader. There are still some challenges ahead, such as to continuously improve its mobile connectivity. Although, the use of online services has become indispensable for many citizens, businesses and

governments, Belgian online buyers remain behind their neighbouring countries. In the context of the economic crisis, it cannot be stressed enough that the Internet is a force that is driving our economy in many sectors, by enabling innovative applications and business opportunities. The Belgian Government is committed to an ambitious digital agenda that is to grant users access to 1 Gbps connectivity by 2020 and to achieve a third rank on the Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI). These figures show that there is still much room in Belgium for the Internet to realize its full potential. In order to achieve this mission, ISPA will continue to work on initiatives that:

promote the role of our industry

provide the public with correct information on the internet sector, with its many players and technical complexity

inform our members on the latest policy and technical developments that affect their businesses

help our members to develop their business and invest with a sound legal framework ensuring the needed legal certainties for ISPs

remove barriers to innovation and protect the openness of the internet

gather our members in platforms where they can exchange best practices

promote innovative applications of the Internet

extend the reach of our members to other industries, sector organizations, NGOs, public authorities, trade associations, users groups and regulators relevant to the internet sector

In order to do so, ISPA will need the involvement of the entire Belgian Internet industry, including the incumbents, challengers and newcomers, to ensure a united front to voice our ambitions and concerns.

Henri-Jean Pollet ISPA President


About ISPA ISPA is the association of Internet Service Providers in Belgium. This non-profit organisation was created to promote the interests of Belgian companies providing internet services. Its members account for 97% of the internet connections in Belgium. By bringing together not only access and service providers but also hosting and transit providers, ISPA aims to serve as a rallying point for the Internet industry so as to ensure that the potential of the Internet is used to the full, from the point of view of both consumers and professionals.

ISPA considers it to be vitally important to take account of the opportunities offered by the rapid and ongoing expansion of the Internet sector, where the turnover amount to 7,2 billion euros in 2016 with a share of investments of 19,6%. In addition to the indirect contributions made to society, the Belgian Internet economy and the 1,554 million registered domain names are themselves a major source of activity and investment for the economy and employment. The Internet has become an integral part of our society through over 4 million active connections in Belgium, and it is in this sector, characterised by innovation and innovative technologies, that ISPA actively supports the role of the industry through its various activities. The day-to-day work of the association is run by the secretariat, providing members with continuous updates on the latest developments affecting their business and advocating for an innovative-friendly competitive regulatory environment that can allow the infrastructure to drive Belgian’s digitised economy forward.


ISPA: The voice of the Internet

MARKET ISPA’s aim is to be the voice of ISPs and therefore publishes a quarterly market survey on the development of the Belgian Internet market. In 2016, ISPA’s Market survey reported a net growth of 153.956 active fixed connections in Belgium compared to last year, which 1.06% over the third quarter of 2016. Access to the Internet continued to steadily grow over 2015 and early 2016 reaching 4.165.082 connections in Belgium.

ISPA continues to communicate quarterly the aggregated figures of the Belgian Internet to its members. Additionally, a series of key figures are communicated to the press and to the Ministry of Economy in order to give the wider public a correct view on evolutions in the internet market. With regards to the number of domain names, the trend is also a continuous growth. Almost 250.000 new domain names were registered over the past year reaching a total of 1.554.475 .be domain names registered in June 2016.

ENGAGEMENT: LIAISE WITH THE INSTITUTIONS AND KEY STAKEHOLDERS Throughout 2016, ISPA has engaged with policymakers and stakeholders to further develop contacts by attending over 25 meetings with government departments, cabinets, stakeholders, regulators and the European Commission. Also, relevant debates and hearings in the Parliament were covered by the Secretariat and reported back to members.

PUBLIC RELATIONS AND PROFILE RAISING

Since its launch in 1997, ISPA continuously increased the outreach to key stakeholders, media and decision makers. In a year’s time, more than 287 followers and 293 tweets interacted with the @ispa_belgium account to gather insights from the Belgian Internet Association regarding official press releases, regulatory updates and key facts and numbers regarding the sector.


The ISPA website was regularly updated and 7x2 news articles were updated on the website and shared with the media, resulting in 5 press references including regional, national and specialized press.

Press releases (ISPA awards, Data Retention, Market Survey, …)

Twitter (+280 followers, 6340 impressions per month, which is an increase of 57% in comparison with last year)

Website (7x2new articles, monthly activity: 589 visits, 503 unique users, 1 220-page views)

PARTICIPATION AND REPRESENTATION OF THE SECTOR ISPA continues to be represented in the Board of DNS Belgium, the Industry Involvement Working Group of the Belgian Better Internet Consortium project (B-BICOI&II) coordinated by Child Focus, and the Consultative Committee for Telecommunications (RCT/CCT). Furthermore, ISPA also participates in initiatives launched by various political cabinets; on e-privacy matters within the Privacy Platform organised by Secretary of State for Privacy De Backer, on e-commerce issues within the e-commerce platform launched by Ministers Alexander De Croo, Kris Peeters, and Willy Borsus and within “Digital Minds for Belgium" launched by Minister for the Digital Agenda.

Also, in 2017, ISPA participated in FOD/SPF Economy’s Council for Intellectual Property to provide IPR experts with ISPA’s technical expertise regarding online IPR enforcement. In the field of cybersecurity, ISPA collaborated with the Centre for Cybersecurity Belgium and CERT.be on several occasions. (Botnet eradication policy note/ law proposal, National awareness campaign, following the worldwide cyberattack in May 2017).

Be prepared: early warnings and lobby

MONITORING AND EXCHANGE OF INFORMATION Workgroup mailing lists continue to inform our members of the latest policy and technical issues affecting their business. Also, in 2016, several ad hoc policy discussions took place, providing ISPA members with legal and technical experts’ insights on emerging topics of interest such as data protection or web blocking. Monthly newsletters, finally, allow members to follow ISPA’s activities and current issues that might have an impact on their business.

DEVELOP POSITIONS AND LOBBY POLICY MAKERS Throughout the year, ISPA and its members closely followed all Belgian and policy developments impacting their businesses. Together with the members the association prepared positions on priority topics to influence at an early stage.


EUROPE: AWARENESS AND PARTICIPATION Thanks to the dynamic nature of the Internet sector, and the continuously evolving national and European legislative environment, EuroISPA’s national membership base reached an unforeseen level in 2015. The association now represents the interest of more than 2500 ISPs across the European Union and the EFTA countries.

“In the last year EuroISPA faced down many challenges, and through our successes we reaffirmed the importance and value of engaging in regulatory debate at EU level. Our sector was at the centre of a number of sensitive political debates in 2016, particularly with respect to terrorism, hate speech, and most recently the phenomenon of so-called ‘fake news’. In these and other debates, the voice of the European Internet infrastructure was essential to ensure policymakers considered the whole Internet value chain when crafting legislation to respond to specific downside problems. Indeed, a large focus of EuroISPA’s activities in 2016 centred on educating and providing technical insight to EU-level policymakers.

Highlights included a workshop training on the Internet architecture and content control at the EuroDIG Internet governance conference, and a closed-door training session for European Parliament and European Commission policymakers on intermediary liability and notice-and-action. This educational theme found a focal point in the various legislative files within which our efforts were instrumental in 2016. Indeed, EuroISPA interventions proved crucial in ensuring a balanced resolution to the EU Terrorism Directive, a forward looking General Data Protection Regulation, and the maintenance of the E-Commerce Directive liability safe harbours.” Oliver J. Süme, EuroISPA President As European legislation increasingly determines the Belgian legal framework, it is crucial to follow and support EuroISPA’s work voicing the message of the Belgian industry within the EU Single market.


Topics Followed by ISPA via EuroISPA

Intermediary liability McFadden case at the EUCJ Digital Single Market strategy

Data protection GDPR EPrivacy Directive Privacy Shield Commission free-flow-of-data initiative

Cybercrime & security NIS Directive Revenge Porn

Innovation & Growth Copyright Reform Directive EC content portability Regulation AVMS directive Satellite and Cable Directive

International Affairs Internet Governance Forum 2016

Net Neutrality Implementation guidelines of the Single Telecoms Market Regulation (2015)

Market and Services Telecoms package revision Roll-out 5G technologies

Safer Internet Blocking of illicit content Online hate speech Notice and Takedown

DEVELOP YOUR NETWORK: EVENTS In 2016 ISPA partnered with key actors from the Belgium Internet landscape aiming at creating a discussion field and supporting conferences. ISPA organized two its InterNETworking cocktails for its members and their contacts; one in October 2016 in the framework of the Digital Week 2016, with guest speaker Philip Du Bois, Director of DNS Belgium and one in March 2017 with guest speaker Miguel De Bruycker, Director of the Centre for Cyber security in Belgium.

ISPA was happy to hold its Summer Reception in the offices of our member Microsoft in July 2016. A welcoming speech by ISPA Chair Henri-Jean Pollet, was followed by keynote speeches by Secretary of State responsible for the fight against Social Fraud, Privacy and the North Sea Philippe De Backer and Alexandre Pluvinage, Head of the Cybercrime Awareness Team at ING Belgium and was concluded by Jan Nuetze, Director of Cybersecurity Policy EMEA at Microsoft.


In January 2017, ISPA Belgium awarded the first Internet Student Paper Award (I.S.P.A): a prize for the best thesis linked to the Internet and digital issues. The jury was composed of professionals in the sector. The winner, Lise Frehen, of the Université Catholique de Louvain (UCL) won the award and received a cheque of 1000 EUR for her work on the role of the EU in the internet and telecommunication governance. After a first successful launch, ISPA is planning on relaunching the prize next year.

FUTURE CHALLENGES & KEY VALUES More widespread use of the Internet and better quality: ISPA takes action to narrow the digital divide and ensuring for even more users to access to the Internet. ISPA achieves this by promoting an improved infrastructure, stressing the need for better knowledge and use of the Internet. This is the context in which ISPA supports and promotes innovative technologies and innovative applications linked to the Internet, such as e-health, e-government, smart mobility systems, etc., which offer added economic and social value for our society. A safe Internet that users trust: More and more private individuals and companies are using the Internet for all types of communication. They need to be sure that their information is processed securely and in private. Therefore, ISPA works to support initiatives aimed at protecting privacy on the Internet and to adopt a consistent cyber security policy. The fight against illegal content on the Internet and justified responsibility for the ISPs: Ever since it was first established, ISPA has tried hard to work for a safer Internet, in particular by adopting a cooperation protocol with the authorities to fight illegal activities on the Internet. ISPA acknowledges that ISPs have a role to play in the actions taken against illegal content and activities on the Internet. However, under no circumstances can the ISPs be asked to filter or actively monitor the content of websites, emails and social networks. This in fact goes against the opening up of the Internet and the protection of the privacy of users. Efficient cooperation between ISPs and the judicial authorities: ISPs work with the police and the judicial authorities at a number of levels in the context of investigations and criminal proceedings. However, the efforts made by the ISPs in this field have a cost. This is why the cooperation needs to take place efficiently and the ISPs must receive a fair remuneration, in order to be able to maintain the quality of the responses that the ISPs give to the judicial authorities. Competitiveness and consistency in a European context: ISPA draws attention to a consistent approach to the Internet in Belgium, in accordance with European legislation. The Internet does not stop at national or language borders and the various political authorities therefore have to harmonise their Internet policies as much as possible. Correct information concerning a complex sector: In the context of discussions on innovative technologies, such as IPv6, DNSSEC, the Internet of Things, etc. ISPA makes available its technical expertise, which aims to create a representative and accurate image of the Internet sector, its many players and its technical complexity.


Secretariat

List of ISPA Members – June 2017

the voice of the belgian internet industryispa / activity report 2016 – 2017 4 | p a g e about...

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