The project started the first of January 2005 and it will be finished end in June 2006. The project duration is eighteen months.

The Project Total budget 750 000 €. Project is financed by Northern Periphery Programme (60%), The Ministry of Interior in Finland and partners own money.

The primary target groups (beneficiaries) of the project are SMEs / businesses including microbusiness, residents, 3rd sector community groups and R&D units. In addition secondary target groups are public-sector organisations, company/ institutions using broadband to serve their clients and the owner of the broadband networks.

The overall objective of the project is to develop information and communication technology and information society services for NPP areas. The purpose of the project is to analyze and compare the provision of broadband and associated services across the different regions. The result of this analysis will be the basis of developing a model similar to the EU e-adoption ladders but focused on regions as opposed to individual SME’s. The eLadders tool will show the position of that region in comparison to others and propose a framework to allow a progression of each region to the next step.

The result of the project will contribute to the social and economical equality of the people living and working in these rural communities and be a basis of implementing cost efficient delivery of services to SME’s and private citizens and to work closely with the integration of plans by the local authorities including health services for each area. The project will also contribute to the implementation of an equal eSociety in rural areas by developing local framework plans which will allow the measurement of the current status and a plan to move each area upwards in stages through a broadband adoption ladder.

The project is organized in six work packages. Each of the work packages has a different focus to complement the overall targets and outputs. Work packages have objectives and activities of their own which support the project’s overall objectives.

• Project management
  The Project Coordination work package is responsible for the administrative and technical coordination of the project.

• Analysing of technologies and costs
  This work package will inform and look to solve both the problem of defining the structure of future telecommunication networks in sparsely populated areas, and the question of how these infrastructures should be developed and maintained in the long term, especially where there are questions of sustainability through weak commercial demand.

• Regional eAdoption Strategies and Initiatives
  This work package will focus on the current situation to find strategic tools for the future.
  What are the enterprises attitudes to ICT-tools?
  What are the barriers to a higher e-adoption?

• Learn from best practices and models in other countries
  This work package will focus on ‘orientation’ to help the participating members to understand and plan their participation in the different activities leading to sharing of “best practice” between the relevant members in the participating countries.

• Development plan (one step on NPP Ladders)
  The development plan will draw on the previous research and analysis work packages to establish an aspirational e-ladder to allow partner organisations to plan for and measure progress in maximizing access to and use of broadband technology and services in their areas.

• Dissemination
  This Work Package is concentrates on spreading information on the project and its results.