Opening Address : Eric BESSON, French Minister of Industry, Energy and Digital Economy

Introduction: Jean-Ludovic SILICANI, Chairman of ARCEP

Speaker: Stéphane RICHARD, President & CEO, France Télécom

RT 1. Regulation and growth: why, how and to what effect?

Where on the scale between an unfettered free market and State intervention does regulation need to be situated to ensure balanced and lasting economic growth? Regulation concerns different sectors and network industries in particular, but also the financial industry, for instance. It can be applied on a national or international scale and can take a number of forms, including public intervention through the actions taken by Parliament and the government; regulation in the strictest sense of the word, i.e. governed by independent regulatory authorities; co-regulation, self-regulation, etc. What are the cornerstones of economic regulation in terms of the different forms it can take and effects on growth, in both developed countries and emerging economies.

Moderator: Éric LE BOUCHER, Editor-in-chief, Enjeux-Les Echos
Introduction: Jean-Pierre JOUYET, President, AMF
Millie BANERJEE, Board member, OFCOM
Alain BAZOT, President, UFC-Que Choisir
Eric BROUSSEAU, Professor of Economics (Paris Ouest)
Nicole NOTAT, President, Vigèo
Bruno RETAILLEAU, Senator (MP)

Key Note: Jean-Bernard LEVY, Chairman, Vivendi

RT 2. Regulation and innovation: are they compatible?

Innovation drives growth. The innovation process is governed by mechanisms which, by the very nature, are largely unpredictable and cannot be mapped out ahead of time. Overly prescriptive and stringent regulation runs the risk of quashing creativity while, on the flipside, a total lack of regulation could lead to innovations that result in economic rent and social inequalities. Is there a terrain for flexible, adaptive and incentivising regulation between these two extremes, which lays the foundations of an ecosystem that enables and guides innovation but neither replaces nor inhibits it?

Moderator: Éric LE BOUCHER, Editor-in-chief, Enjeux-Les Echos
Introduction: Nicolas CURIEN, ARCEP Board member
Jacques CREMER, Researcher, IDEI, Toulouse
Marie-Anne FRISON-ROCHE, Professor
Paul KLEINDORFER, Professor at the INSEAD, Holder of the Paul Dubrule Chair for sustainable development
Henri VERDIER, President of the Cap Digital business cluster

Key Note: Xavier NIEL, Vice-president & Chief Strategy Officer, ILIAD Free.

Key Note: Martin BOUYGUES, President, Bouygues SA

RT 3. Building and financing the infostructure for the 21st century

Electronic communications in the era of convergence constitute an “infostructure” within which networks and content are tending to become inseparable, and fixed and mobile services are tending to merge. The swift and efficient deployment of the infostructure for the 21st century within a competitive ecosystem involves a host of technological, economic and societal issues: technical choices, spectrum allocation, infrastructure-based competition, how cost and revenue are shared between carriers and content, application and service providers, how the ICT industry will be reconfigured, what role should public-initiative networks play, what of network neutrality, what innovative uses can be made of ultra-fast broadband networks, what impact will this have on jobs and sustainable development?

Moderator: Philippe ESCANDE, Editorial writer, Les Echos
Introduction: Joëlle TOLEDANO, ARCEP Board member
Emmanuel GABLA, Member of CSA (French broadcasting authority)
Jacques de HEERE, President & CEO, ACOME
Tariq KRIM, President and founder of Jolicloud and founder of Netvibes.
Christian PAUL, Deputy (MP)
Olivier SICHEL, Partner in the venture capital firm, Sofinnova Partners.

Key Note: Pierre DANON, Chairman of the Management Board, Completel Numericable

RT 4. What regulation for the digital society and the digital economy?

The superfast electronic infostructure is just the crucible, just a loose framework for the future digital society which can only truly take shape through a process of co-invention to which market players, consumers and regulatory bodies all contribute. Although this process – which is by nature creative and decentralised – cannot be mapped out in advance, it can be “regulated” in the broadest sense of the word, which encompasses self-regulation and co-regulation whose chief aims include economic and social development, particularly with a view to fostering innovation and creation, working to achieve a balance between protecting fundamental civil liberties and satisfying legal and security-related imperatives. At the microeconomic level, this new form of regulation involves an engaged consumer as its co-creator, while also taking on a global dimension at the macroeconomic level.

Moderator: Philippe ESCANDE, Editorial writer, Les Echos
Introduction: Bruno LASSERRE, Chairman of the French Competition authority
Isabelle FALQUE-PIERROTIN, Vice-president, CNIL
Luc HINDRYCKX, Chairman of the Board, IBPT, Belgium
William KOVACIC, Commissioner, Federal Trade Commission, USA
Olivier FREGET, partner, Allen & Overy
Hervé MAUREY, Senator

Closing remarks: Jean-Ludovic SILICANI, Chairman of ARCEP