EU plans to move towards a low-carbon economy depend upon a transformed cross-border transmissions system that can integrate renewables and smart meters alike, offering energy consumption savings at source. But is Europe on track to meet the challenge?

European institutions and governments should throw their weight behind joint procurement of computing services to encourage the use of cloud computing, says Digital Agenda Commissioner Neelie Kroes.

The advent of cloud computing technology gives the opportunity to further strengthen the EU single market, but to capture its potential countries' laws must be sufficiently harmonised to let data flow easily across borders, writes Robert Holleyman, president and chief executive of the Business Software Alliance.