[FYI] Council adopts specific programme on user-friendly informa

[Horns@t-online.de (Axel H. Horns)]

CORDIS RTD-NEWS/c European Communities, 1998 

 Record Control Number : 12044 
                             Date : 1999-01-28 


Category : Legislation

General Information : 

The Council of the European Union has taken the Decision to adopt a
specific programme for research, technological development and
demonstration on a "User friendly information society" from 1998 to
2002. The Decision was made on the 25 January 1999 and the programme
will be one of the four Thematic Programmes under the Fifth Framework
Programme. 

The amount deemed necessary for carrying out the Programme is 3,600
million euro (see below for breakdown), including a maximum of 7.5%
for the Commission's administrative expenditure. Of the total amount
857m euro is for the period 1998 to 1999 and 2,743m euro is for the
period 2000 to 2002. 

The Decision says that the Commission shall draw up a work programme
specifying objectives and the RTD priorities. 

The strategic objective for the Information Society Technologies (IST)
Programme is "to realise the benefits of the information society for
Europe both by accelerating its emergence and by ensuring that the
needs of individuals and enterprises are met." 

The context, rationale and objectives of the IST Programme necessitate
a single, integrated programme, which reflects the convergence of
technologies and media and of industries and markets, together with
the increasing significance of content, and responds to the need to
integrate research and development and take-up actions. To this
effect, this programme consists of a set of four key actions centred
on the four specific objectives and a specific activity on longer-term
or higher-risk research on future and emerging technologies 

The coordination and integration of the activities through a single
work programme allows a "theme" that cuts across the programme to be
addressed in coherent manner in more than one activity, each
concentrating on and contributing from its particular perspective. 

The technological scope of the activities provides the flexibility to
re-focus over time, through the single rolling work programme, to
respond to changes in industrial and societal needs and the
technological context. 

Realising the full potential of the information society requires
technologies, infrastructures, applications and services, accessible
and usable by anyone, anywhere, anytime, whether it be for business or
individual use. Collaborative research and technological development
is needed to create both the critical efforts and the interoperability
necessary to ensure this in Europe. Pan-European research is also
needed to ensure that content, together with its creation and use,
properly reflects and exploits the EU's cultural diversity and many
languages. 

The outline of the IST Programme emphases the links and
complementarity with the other thematic programmes under the Fifth
Framework Programme. The nature of information society technologies
requires close coordination with other programmes and relevant policy
initiatives in areas where their deployment plays a critical role. 

Global cooperation will play a major role in the development and
take-up of information society technologies. This will be reflected in
the participation in and operation of this programme, including
support for international initiative. 

The breakdown of the budget of 3,600m euro for the IST Programme: 

- Key actions: 

-- Systems and services for the citizen - 646m; 
-- New methods of work and electronic commerce - 547m; 
-- Multimedia content and tools - 564m; 
-- Essential technologies and infrastructures - 1,363m; 

- Research and technological development activities of a generic
nature: Future and emerging technologies - 319m; 

- Support for research infrastructures: Research networking - 161m. 

Data Source Provider : Council of the European Union, Research
Secretariat

Document Reference : Document 5056/99, Council of the European Union,
Brussels, 12 January 1999 (not yet published in the Official Journal).

Programme Acronym : FRAMEWORK 5C; FP5-THEME2 C

Subject Index Codes : Legislation, Regulations; Information, Media;
Telecommunications