[FYI] Inter-Regional Information Society Initiative (IRISI)

["Axel H. Horns" <axel.horns@fitug.de>]

CORDIS RTD-NEWS/c European Communities, 1998 

 Record Control Number : 11559 
                             Date : 1998-11-12 


Category : Publication

General Information : 

The European Commission, DG XIII, has recently published the final
report of the Inter-Regional Information Society Initiative (IRISI)
Network. Launched in late 1994, the IRISI Network was supported by the
European Commission and involved six of Europe's less favoured
regions: Central Macedonia (Greece), Nord Pas de Calais (France),
north-west England (UK), Piemonte (Italy), Saxony (Germany) and
Valencia (Spain). 

The aim of these IRIS Initiatives was to encourage the development of
consensus and partnership amongst key regional players around a
Regional Information Society Strategy and Action Plan. They also aimed
to promote inter-regional collaboration in Europe's first regional
Information Society network. Following a bottom-up approach,
comprising awareness-raising, partnership building, creating consensus
and the development of a regional strategy and action plan, the
regions could benefit through the exchange of experience and expertise
within the IRISI Network. 

The experience and lessons learned from this experimental pilot action
are now examined in the report from two perspectives. The first
concerned observant participation which collated, analysed and
synthesised the work of the regional initiatives. The second concerned
participant observation from external evaluators contracted by DG XIII
in an accompanying support measure. Both perspectives were designed
with a view to learning whether and how regions might use the
Information Society as a new paradigm for regional regeneration and
development 

This report presents and evaluates the main experiences, lessons and
conclusions of the IRISI Network. It is accompanied by a CD-ROM which
contains many of the basic documents, as well as accompanying reports
produced in the context of the IRIS Initiative. 

Data Source Provider : European Commission, DG XIII

Document Reference : Final report from the IRISI network.

Subject Index Codes : Information, Media; Information Processing,
Information Systems

Contact Person : 

For copies of the report or for further information, please contact: 

European Commission 
DG XIII - Telecommunications, information market and exploitation of
research Mr Luis Lozano 200 rue de la Loi B-1049 Brussels Fax
+32-2-2969131 E-mail: luis.lozano@bxl.dg13.cec.be