European ICT News

Neelie Kroes, EU Commissioner for the Digital Agenda will be opening the Digital Agenda Summit organised jointly by ETNO, the European Telecommunications Network Operators’ Association and the Financial Times. This event will bring together the Chief Executive Officers of the leading e-communications providers and ICT equipment manufacturers from Europe and beyond for a high-level dialogue with EU policy makers on the key challenges ahead in order to fully unlock the potential of the ICT sector for the economy and society and meet the targets of the Digital Agenda for Europe.

This workshop aims to encourage the sharing of good practice in the area of Inclusive eGovernment. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to: eGovernment policies targeted at groups at risk of exclusion; User segmentation in eGovernment services; Inclusive eGovernment in healthcare; Multichannel delivery services; eGovernment services: the ‘value chain’ dimension; Design, production, delivery, access and use of inclusive eGovernment services; “Inclusive by design” versus specific assistance - tailored services; Marketing, targeting and promotion of eGovernment services for specific disadvantaged groups.

The AAL Forum is the yearly conference of the Ambient Assisted Living Joint Programme, which aims to invest around €700 million in products and services between now and 2013. It provides a platform for all stakeholders – investors, researchers, policy makers, industry providers and end-users – to discuss smart solutions for improved quality of life in later years. Ambient Assisted Living Technology is a relatively new and vibrant field of investment, research and development. Policy makers are already exploring options and planning on future technology investments in this area. Several regional and national initiatives are emerging around Europe to support public and private investment. In support of this, the 2010 AAL Forum will now launch and host the first ever European ‘AAL Investment Forum’. The objective of the one-day Investment Forum is to improve communication between investors and researchers and introduce investors to projects which require immediate and/or long term funding. World leading entrepreneur, inventor and futurist Ray Kurzweil will be one of the keynote speakers at this event.

This workshop aims to encourage good practice sharing in the area of Digital competences of intermediaries and social actors working in the field of economic, social and/or digital inclusion of groups at risk of exclusion such as the elderly, disabled, migrants, youth, unemployed and low educated people.

Europeans throw out nine million tonnes of electronic and electrical waste a year, a potential boon for recycling companies who are teaming up with appliance manufacturers to turn waste into value added.

The 2011 WoHIT Conference and Exhibition will be held in Budapest, Hungary, in conjunction with the annual eHealth High Level Ministerial Conference – eHealth2011 – which is co-organised by the European Commission and the Hungarian Presidency of the EU. WoHIT has launched its call for papers on European IT development. Focus will be on proposals that are addressing the educational needs of professionals in various sectors of healthcare, enterprise solutions and practical approaches to healthcare IT issues. Three different themes in the area of eHealth and health IT have been named: eHealth Works: Here Is the Evidence; eHealth Market; eHealth Users’ Platform.

WORKPAD, an EU-funded ICT research project, has developed software applications that allow emergency teams responding to natural disasters to coordinate and communicate with each other quickly and efficiently, helping to save more lives. Coordination and communication is especially important when emergency teams from many different agencies, civil authorities and NGOs are on the ground at the same time. €1.85 million of EU funding helped the researchers to explore how dozens of databases from different organisations can be linked via peer-to-peer technology to improve response time and avoid duplication of efforts. One central dispatch point that receives and sends out information to all emergency teams can help save more lives in a quick and efficient way. The technology has already been tried successfully in Southern Italy and is available to be used anywhere in the world.

On 21 July 2010, Slovenia deposited its instrument of accession to the OECD Convention, thereby becoming a member of the Organisation. Slovenia was invited by OECD countries to open negotiations for membership in May 2007.

Based on seasonally adjusted monthly data, merchandise trade values remain approximately 20% below pre-crisis levels in April and May.

Today, the European Commission published calls for proposals that will result in projects worth €1.2 billion to be launched in 2011.

The EU is investing in the future of the Internet to ensure it will be able to support increasing demands from citizens, businesses and governments. The European Commission today made available €90 million under the Future Internet Public-Private Partnership.

On 16 September the European Commission and empirica, in cooperation with the Belgian Presidency of the EU, will present the final results of the eHealth Strategies study to a wider public. Commissioned by the EC in 2008, the eHealth Strategies study has surveyed the status-quo and assessed the progress made by EU Member States and EEA countries towards realising European eHealth Action Plan goals. The workshop will summarise key outcomes and feature presentations by representatives of national eHealth programmes on lessons learned from eHealth strategic planning and implementation. After a networking lunch and the presentation of good practice cases, policy recommendations for further eHealth diffusion will be discussed. The workshop is free of charge, but by invitation only.

South Africa should step up its efforts to detect, investigate and prosecute cases of bribery in international business deals, according to a new report by the OECD’s Working Group on Bribery.

South Africa should leverage the positive impact of the World Cup to improve living standards by boosting job creation and exports, said Secretary-General Angel Gurría at the launch of the Economic Survey of South Africa in Pretoria.

Commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn announces today nearly € 6.4 billion of European Commission investment in research and innovation. The package, the biggest ever, will advance scientific boundaries, increase European competitiveness and help solve societal challenges such as climate change, energy and food security, health and an ageing population. Around 16,000 participants from research organisations, universities and industry, including about 3,000 SMEs, will receive funding. The package is an economic stimulus expected to create more than 165.000 jobs. Grants will be awarded through "calls for proposals" (invitations to bid). Many calls will be formally published on 20th July. There is a €1.2 billion boost to Information and Communication Technology (ICT) research, which will help deliver the Commission's commitment in the Digital Agenda for Europe to maintain the pace of yearly increases in ICT funding.

Commissioner Geoghegan-Quinn's opening remarks

OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría has welcomed the call by ministers in France, Germany and the UK for Europe to adopt a 30% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions over 1990 levels by 2020.