Latest News
- PRESS RELEASE
- Competitiveness Council: Pilot Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing
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(8 March 2011) The EU Competitiveness Council - meeting in Brussels on 9 and 10 March - is due to adopt Conclusions on the work undertaken so far in preparing the pilot European Innovation Partnership (EIP) on active and healthy ageing. This EIP is part of the EU's "Innovation Union" and seeks to improve older people's quality of life and to lead to more efficient care solutions and new business opportunities. The Council is due to agree on the four countries who will take part in this group at Ministerial level (Belgium, Spain, Hungary and Poland) joining other stakeholders across the sectors concerned. Between November 2010 and late January 2011, the European Commission ran a public consultation asking respondents to help identify current barriers to innovation and opportunities in the field of active and healthy ageing.
See also: Press release Commission launches consultation on active & healthy ageing
- PRESS RELEASE
- Don't take no for an answer - Neelie Kroes addresses gender deficit in ICT
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(7 March 2011) European Commission Vice President Neelie Kroes is marking the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day with a speech in Budapest, warning that the ICT sector must find a new gender balance if it wants to avoid underperformance in coming years. Even though women programmed the first computer Kroes challenged the audience: "Can anyone name a woman who set up and runs their own huge ICT company? No, of course not. In that hall of fame, the names you think of are Jobs, Gates, the Google guys, the Skype guys, Zuckerberg and his friends. I want to see a woman on that list." The Commission estimates the European ICT sector will face a shortfall of 700,000 skilled workers by 2015, partly explained by a lack of women engineering and computing graduates. "We need to tackle the problem early and from many angles," Kroes said while noting the Commission's Code of Practice for Women in ICT now has 60 signatories, and that leading companies such as IBM and Intel are taking "steps in the right direction." "Companies and governments need to do more than run networks and camps - the effort must range from better child care to a better balance of subjects in the school system." "From classrooms to boardrooms to garage start-ups: my message is the same. There is no point in getting half of Europe digital. There is no place for macho nonsense in our digital future. Until the whole sector understands this and acts on it, we will remain at risk of a massive skills gap and we will hold Europe back."
See also: The Commission's Code of Practice for Women in ICT (.pdf)
- NEWS ARTICLE
- Consumer Scoreboard finds cross-border shopping trusted more once tried
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(11 March 2011) The spring Consumer Scoreboard published today by the European Commission shows a growing gap between domestic and cross-border e-commerce: 36% of EU consumers have shopped online from national sellers in 2010 (34% in 2009), while cross-border e-commerce continues to grow at a sluggish pace (9% in 2010, compared with 8% in 2009). Efforts need to be stepped up to meet the Digital Agenda target (20% by 2015). Consumers' perceptions seem to be a major barrier to cross-border e-commerce, but once they have tried buying from a vendor in another Member State, consumers are much less worried about fraud or delivery problems. According to the Scoreboard, the proportion of retailers selling to other EU countries fell to 22% in 2010 (25% in 2009).
- NEWS ARTICLE
- Addressing the orphan works challenge
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(10 March 2011) European Commission Vice-President for the Digital Agenda Neelie Kroes today outlined her vision for massively increasing the number of European art and other creative works online, at the IFFRO intellectual property conference in Brussels. "Europe can offer much more to the cyber-world: by digitising and putting online our rich cultural heritage," Kroes said. However, from 20% of films to 90% of photographs, massive numbers of European creative works are missing from online collections because they are so-called "orphan works." Currently, it is very hard to know who owns the rights to these "orphan works", and the subsequent threat of lawsuits keeps these works from public eyes. To counter this Kroes is pushing for a Commission-backed project called "ARROW" to become Europe's official portal for "essential rights information." "I have a vision: One search in ARROW should be all you should need to determine the copyright status of a cultural good in Europe." "ARROW should become a one-stop shop for determining, easily and quickly, with full legal certainty, whether a work is orphan or not, out-of-distribution or not."
- CALL FOR TENDERS
- Study on Open platforms for Web-based applications and services in Europe, enlarging the stakeholders' community - SMART2011/0043
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(Deadline: 04/04/2011) Development of new generation of web-based applications and services requires a deep knowledge of the current web ecosystem and its foreseen evolution, including the identification of EU stakeholders groups involved, as well as the identification of technical, policy and economic challenges posed by future web platforms. Furthermore, an analysis of the social uses of the existing platforms and future trends is required. This is essential to prepare future EU R&I programmes to support this important economic area. Relevant documents can be obtained until 30 March 2011.
See also: Tender documents
- NEWS ARTICLE
- European Energy Efficiency Plan: Commission gears up for more savings with smart meters
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(9 March 2011) The European Commission today adopted a plan for saving more energy through concrete measures, among them the roll-out of smart grids and smart meters which provide consumers with the information and services necessary to optimise their energy consumption and calculate their energy savings. Energy efficiency is a key tool for strengthening Europe's competitiveness and reduces energy dependence, while decreasing the level of emissions. The set of measures proposed aims at creating substantial benefits: It should improve the EU's industrial competitiveness and generate financial savings of up to EUR 1000 per household every year.
- EVENT ANNOUNCEMENT
- EU-US cooperation on eHealth: ongoing and planned action
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14 April 2011 CCAB - 36, rue Froissart, Brussels
Following the signature on 17th December 2010 of the MoU between EU and US related to ICT for Health activities, the EC is organising a workshop on the EU-US cooperation on eHealth to present "ongoing and planned actions" together with the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology in the US. Several EU stakeholders will also participate. Registration is free but compulsory.
Contact: eHealth@ec.europa.eu
See also: Registration (number of seats is limited) - CALL FOR PROPOSALS
- Safer Internet Call for proposals 2011
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(Deadline: 04/05/2011) The call for proposals under the Safer Internet programme was launched on 5 March 2011. Proposals may be submitted for the following actions: Safer Internet Centres (awareness centres, hotlines and helplines) in the following countries: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, Spain, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania and Slovenia, and Russia and their network co-ordinator. A thematic network of European non-government organisations representing children's rights and welfare. A pilot knowledge enhancement project to testing training programmes for professionals working with children at risk.
Contact: saferinternet@ec.europa.eu
- NEWS ARTICLE
- Facing the cyber-zombies - EU agency gets tough on Botnets
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(8 March 2011) The EU's 'cyber security' agency, ENISA, today published a comprehensive study on the botnet threat (networks of ordinary computers controlled by cybercriminals), and how to address it. The report looks at the reliability of botnet size estimates and makes recommendations for all groups involved in the fight against botnets. Alongside the main report the agency sets out the top 10 key issues for policymakers in 'Botnets: 10 Tough Questions'. Botnets are networks of computers used without their owner's knowledge for cybercrime such as spamming and the automated theft of valuable data such as credit card information and even politically motivated cyberattacks. The study will be launched at a conference in Cologne on Wednesday 9 March.
See also: Botnets: 10 Tough Questions
- NEWS ARTICLE
- Using voice to measure depression - OPTIMI project
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(7 March 2011) Major depression affects about 4-8% percent of the general population, causing the loss of the ability to work, to have close relationships, and to have a fulfilling life. Available treatments, though effective, have only modest response rates and, most disturbingly, the question of predicting treatment response in the individual patient is not answerable for any of the currently available therapeutic approaches. A considerable number of patients suffer from recurrent episodes of depression so that the early detection of relapse is key for prevention and the development of effective longterm therapies. Learn more on research done on Speaking Behavior and Voice Sound Characteristics.
Contact: OPTIMI project contact
See also: Other projects in the Personal Health Systems domain - EVENT ANNOUNCEMENT
- 'An EU of Opportunities' - workshop at conhIT
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7 April 2011 conhIT Berlin
The workshop will present the eHealth activities at European level and programmes at the European Commission. It will also address how German hospitals, industry and research organizations can get involved in digitizing Europe's healthcare.
Contact: More information on the workshop
See also: EC DGINFSO ICT for Health
New in the Library
- REPORTS AND STUDIES
- Consumer 2020 From Digital Agenda to Digital action
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7 March 2011
The consumer's role in achieving EU 2020 energy efficiency and environment targets has received little consideration to date. However ICT enabled innovative consumer services can rapidly and significantly contribute to reaching these targets. To engage consumers and generate contributions to the EU 2020 efficiency and environmental targets this report has been tasked to: 1. Provide a strategic framework for the novel use of existing consumer ICT capabilities. 2. Fill out the framework with a first set of innovative, simple to deploy and powerful initiatives. This report also: a) Shows how the initial set of initiatives will directly contribute to meeting EU 2020 targets b) Illustrates the implications for consumers, business and governments c) Shows how these initiatives can be implemented within existing legal frameworks and business models d) Shows how the initiatives can be implemented across the 27 EU member states e) Provides models for the enhanced use of existing consumer ICT technologies and services going forward The brief for the report asked for the opportunities to be identified on the basis of their technical practicality, rapid market applicability and capacity to support existing EU programs. The Consumer 2020 report also identifies new business opportunities using existing business models, technologies and consumer skills that will support significant consumer change up to and beyond 2020.
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