Worldwide shipping is on the agenda at a forthcoming conference looking at the state of the digital economy in Europe.

Billed as the "Davos of the digital economy", the e-Business Strategy Europe 2010 conference will be asking if parcel delivery is a human right.

The conference, to be held on October 20th, in Lille, France, will see leaders from across the digital economy discussing ways to push Europe's digital agenda forward.

One of the key areas to be looked at is that of new distribution models, which will include discussions on making parcel delivery more efficient and ensuring goods are delivered correctly first time round.

Paul Overydijk, strategy director at TNT Parcels for the Netherlands will be joined by Paul Donohoe of Switzerland's Universal Postal Union e-Business Programme to speak to delegates about distribution topics.

The importance of the event has been brought to the fore by new figures that show Europe is leading the way with the sale of goods online.

Global e-retail trade is worth some €550 billion (£456 billion) and Europe accounts for a third (35 per cent) of this.