A Spanish government and European Commission sponsored conference has published the ’Conclusions of Leon’, a statement on trust in the information society, which is intended as an input to the development of the European Digital Agenda.

The conference, entitled ’Trust in the information society’, was held in Leon, Spain, in February. Its stated aim was to focus on e-trust and on how information and communication technology can be a generator of trust, or can be adapted and used to generate e-trust.

The conference used as a springboard a report, also entitled ’Trust in the information society’, prepared by RISEPTIS, the Advisory Board for Research and Innovation in Security, Privacy and Trustworthiness in the Information Society, which was established with EU financial support. The report notes that for information society development, "it is clear that some issues are not simply technological, nor are they purely social. Their complex interactions mean that the promotion of trust in the information society requires a coordinated interdisciplinary approach, which is very much in line with the emerging Web Science".

The Leon conference considered five main themes: Digital Life and Trust; Trustworthy networking and computing services; Management of Digital Identities in the Common European Framework; Development of the Legal Framework of the EU with regard to the Protection of Data and Privacy; and International Cooperation and e-Trust.

According to the ’Conclusions of Leon’, policymakers should consider four main areas in terms of trust for stimulating information society development:

• Strengthen interdisciplinary research and technical development for trust in the information society;
• Stimulate ICT products and services based on ’trust by design’;
• Develop an EU framework for electronic identification in full respect of privacy and for broad societal use, including e-Government, e-Health and the private sector;
• Develop an ecosystem of technology and law preserving our societal values and creating trust in the society, all within a global context.

For further information:

The ’Conclusions of Leon’
RISEPTIS ’Trust in the information society’ report