The conference called Central & Eastern European Safer Internet Conference (CEE SIC) took place in Prague in November 5-6, 2007 under the auspices of Dr. Ivan Langer, Czech Minister of the Interior.  It was supported by the European Commission and launched in cooperation with INSAFE and INHOPE European networks. The general partners of the conference were Microsoft, Telefónica O2 and UPC Czech Republic.

“The Prague event is a form of "field trial" for the Commission's concept of "regional stakeholder meetings". In line with that concept, it was "invitation only" with a small delegation from each country - about 5 - drawn from the various stakeholders,” said Mr.Richard Swetenham, Head of the eContent and Safer Internet Unit, DG INFSO, European Commission.

Nearly 80 people - representatives of the operating regional SI projects, delegates of national  law enforcement bodies, industry, ISPs and mobile operators  - met in Prague where they had  an opportunity to have their say on common  tasks  on the road to a safer and more friendly Internet, new media and mobile communication.

In the 15th century the brains of our predecessors processed  a quantity of information in their  whole life time that we are processing within a single day now, remarked Jan Mühlfeit , Chairman of Microsoft Europe, in his opening address at the press conference organised in Prague in November 6, 2007. This conference was organised by the Czech Saferinternet.cz project on the occasion of the international conference “Safer Internet, new media and the European framework on safer mobile use by children”.  

For the first time in history the younger generation understands new technologies better than their parents but they can easily get lost in the sheer number of available information and communication channels. Many hidden threats are not perceived as dangerous. For instance one third of children in the Czech Republic think it is normal and safe to go to a meeting agreed with an unknown person via the Internet.

Issues related to safer mobile and online communication for youngsters were discussed at the conference. Mr. Richard Swetenham, Head of eContent and Safer Internet unit of the EC said - efficiency could only be as a result of  a common approach by industry, governmental bodies and NGOs. Jan Mühlfeit pointed out that Microsoft is introducing tools in the development of their software applications, which allow parents to control which sites are visited by their children and limit access to the sites being considered as unwanted or harmful. Microsoft is also participating largely in activities  and programmes at both national and international levels focused on better a understanding of the Internet, new media and possible threats posed by using them. For instance an educative brochure was published featuring Walt Disney’s popular Donald Duck characters, which deals with the issue of approaching the Internet more safely. It is distributed in Italy, Spain, and Czech Republic…

Roy Sharone of  Liberty Global Europe Company, which sponsored the Conference together  with Microsoft and Telefónica O2, brought information about UPC’s initiative which aims to inform children in the 6 -10 age group in an entertaining way with the help of stickers, colouring books and quizzes to raise awareness of the main principles of safer  use of the Internet. 

Telefónica O2, is supporting the Czech Safety line, said Jaroslav Kubista, Director of Public Affairs. They are preparing relevant information materials and taking part in the activities of a work-group of the Association of mobile networks, focused on the safer use of mobile phones by children and young people. 

Lars Kindervater of GSM Europe pointed out that safer use of new media will be supported by precautions in four main areas: control by parents, classification of content, education and fighting illegal content.  

Good examples of the above were introduced by Jürgen Bänsch of the ISFE (Interactive Software Federation of Europe).He spoke about PEGI (Pan European Game Information) – the system of interactive game classification. The system allows to rate the games by age and content. It was developed in 2003 and is now used in different ways in 27 European countries. More than 7500 games have been classified - 4 % of them are used for games for players above 18 years.

Vice-Minister of the Interior for European Affairs of the Czech Republic Lenka Ptackova Melicharova described how the Czech Republic was supporting safer use of the Internet. She mentioned current and planned events – among them a conference oriented on the safer use of the Internet in the frame of the Czech EU Presidency.   At the same time as a mother of a seven year old, she appreciated the usefulness of safer Internet oriented activities. Her son was able to connect to the Internet before he learned to sign his name and discovered easy access to porn sites when searching for Christmas gifts.  

For Pavel Vichtera, the coordinator of the Saferinternet.cz project, one of the most inspiring items during the two-day conference was the information gained about the Move-it national competition organised by the Austrian SI node. It is a contest of short movies taken by mobile phones.  Saferinternet.cz would like to investigate and implement their experience into a similar competition for young Czechs to be launched next year in the frame of the traditional Safer Internet Day.

ABOUT THE SAFER INTERNET PLUS PROGRAMME
The Safer Internet plus programme aims to promote safer use of the Internet and new online technologies, particularly for children, and to fight against illegal content and content unwanted by the end-user, as part of a coherent approach by the European Union. More at http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/activities/sip/index_en.htm.

ABOUT INHOPE
INHOPE is the International Association of Internet Hotlines and was founded in 1999 under the EC Safer Internet Action Plan. More at www.inhope.org.

ABOUT INSAFE
Insafe is a network of national nodes that coordinate Internet safety awareness in Europe. More at  www.saferinternet.org. 

ABOUT THE SAFER INTERNET PROJECT
Saferinternet.cz (Czech Safer Internet Combined Node) is a Czech project supported by the European Commission in the frame of the Safer Internet Plus programme. The objective of the project is to increase the awareness of Czech users, first of all children, as well as teachers and parents about possible threats brought by the World Wide Web. Its mission is also to initiate discussion which should help to define what unwanted or harmful content means, where the risk is and how to avoid possible dangers.
The Internet hotline is there to fight online crime, and the Internet helpline to help children overcome problems faced on the Internet. They were started in the framework of the combined node. More about them at www.saferinternet.cz.

CONTACTS 
Ing. Pavel Vichtera, Saferinternet.cz project coordinator, t. +420 257 329 315, m. +420 605 252 963, e-mal: vichtera@saferinternet.cz
Dr. Zdenek M.Zalis, Saferinternet.cz  project manager,    t. +420 222 011 283, m. +420 602 262 582, e-mal: zalis@saferinternet.cz