miércoles, 24 de agosto de 2011

Information Society Newsroom Update Weekly - 24/08/2011

Weekly Issue - 24 August 2011

Latest News

PRESS RELEASE
Digital Agenda: EU funded research helps astronomers see the bigger picture

(23 August 2011) A groundbreaking technique to produce real-time, high-resolution images of distant galaxies has been developed by astronomers thanks to EU-funding. Radio telescopes around the world can now simultaneously observe the most remote objects in the universe and create high resolution images - a level of detail equivalent to identifying a football on the moon. The technique, called Electronic Very Long Baseline Interferometry (e-VLBI), helps to reveal clues on how galaxies are formed by allowing astronomers to receive and process data in near real-time as an experiment is running, thanks to high speed optical networks. This allows multiple radio telescopes throughout the world to work together to simulate one giant telescope. This not only improves the quality of observation results but also helps to maximise the return on investment in radio telescopes.

NEWS ARTICLE
ecancerHub - A New Approach to Cancer Communication

(4 August 2011) ecancerHub - a new, open-access, integrated approach to providing the whole cancer community with high quality and trustworthy information - has launched. Integrating the best of social media technology into one unique platform, ecancerHub enables patients, healthcare professionals and researchers to interact, connect and share. They have the opportunity to discuss, debate, generate new ideas, gather opinions and build knowledge not only within their own groups, but also cross-community.

See also: ICT for Health

EVENT ANNOUNCEMENT
'Health and Structural Funds - sharing good practice to prepare for the post 2013 period'

13 September 2011 - 14 September 2011 Maastricht

This course is intended to deal with practical know-how knowledge and is designed for officials and experts especially from the EU12 and EU15 MS with Convergence Regions who represent SF Managing Authorities at national and regional levels, national and regional MoH, regional and local health authorities, regional governments, NGOs, regional development agencies who are involved in managing, accessing and using Structural Funds (SF) in the current period and planning for the 2014-2020 period. For further details please see the course information on the dedicated website.

Contact: For more information about the seminar
See also: ICT for Health activities at the EC

NEWS ARTICLE
EU-funded scientists develop new approaches to fight Alzheimer's

(23 August 2011) Earlier diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease is one step closer thanks to a team of EU-funded researchers that has developed novel approaches for measuring biomarkers for diagnostics, and a sophisticated system for integrating the information analytically. The system, which offers researchers an objective method for measuring the patient's state, is an outcome of the PREDICTAD ('From patient data to personalised healthcare in Alzheimer's disease') project, which is backed with EUR 2.89 million under the 'Information and communication technologies' (ICT) Theme of the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7).

Contact: ehealth@ec.europa.eu
See also: Other project under "Virtual physiological human" topic

EVENT ANNOUNCEMENT
2nd meeting of the ITU-T Focus Group on Audiovisual Media Accessibility

15 September 2011 Geneva

The main objective of the Focus Group on Audiovisual Media Accessibility (FG AVA) is to address the need to make audiovisual media accessible for persons with disabilities. The Focus Group encourages participation of all standards development organizations (SDOs) working in this area. The FG AVA is open to ITU Member States, Sector Members, Associates and Academia. It is also open to any individual from a country which is a member of ITU and who is willing to contribute to the work. This includes individuals who are also members or representatives of SDOs as well as other interested stakeholders. The third meeting will be held on 17 November 2011 in Barcelona.

See also: Registration

EVENT ANNOUNCEMENT
ITU Workshop on "Telecommunications Relay Services for Persons with Disabilities"

25 November 2011 Geneva, Switzerland

One very important mechanism to provide equal access for persons with hearing disabilities are relay services, where an intermediary typically provides a conversion typically between voice and text or sign language. An increasing number of countries are adopting the UNCRPD and will need advice on the provision of relay services. Also, it is expected that more relay services will be deployed in Europe with the passing of new versions of the Telecommunications Framework Directives; similar regulatory activity and increase in relay service offerings are also expected in other parts of the world. In developing countries, where higher percentages of the population face disabilities, the need for relay services is greater. At the same time, it should be noted that, as the Internet infrastructure develops, it may be used to provide high-quality relay services without the need to build services using older technologies. Finally, relay services today entail operation costs higher than those of normal telephone calls; technical and regulatory solutions are needed to reduce those costs towards the equal basis access to telecommunication services prescribed by the UNCRPD. ITU-T Question 26/16 is currently studying relay services with an aim to advise in those areas through ITU-T Technical Papers and Recommendations. In this context, the workshop is intended as a forum where ideas, problems and good practices can be shared. Existing and future relay service suppliers will be able to share experiences with governments, regulators, standards makers, user groups and users; the outcomes will be fed into the Q26/16 studies.

EVENT ANNOUNCEMENT
Joint ITU/EBU workshop "How Can We Reach the Media Have-Nots of the Developed and Developing Worlds?", at the Internet Governance Forum

29 September 2011 Internet Governance Forum, Kenya

In 2011, ITU-T established a Focus Group on media accessibility, open to all interested parties, to bring together the requirements and systems across all the different media platforms - Internet, IPTV, and Broadcasting. The bold aim is to unify access system technologies across the world and across all media. The group will face many challenges to achieving its objectives. One will be to understand the different priorities of developed and developing nations. The focus group will also need to hear and act on the voices of those who will really use the access services, rather than the politicians. The session will bring together panellists from across the world and across the different media to help the dream of the Focus group a reality.

EVENT ANNOUNCEMENT
Dynamic Coalition on Accessibility and Disability workshops at the Internet Governance Forum

28 September 2011 Internet Governance Forum, Kenya

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) established a Dynamic Coalition on Accessibility and Disability. The Dynamic Coalition on Accessibility and Disability will facilitate interaction between relevant bodies, and ensure that ICT accessibility is included in the key debates around Internet Governance in order to build a future where all sectors of the global community have equal access to the Information Society. It organises two workshops at the Internet Governance Forum: "Mainstreaming the disability perspective for an inclusive society" and "Implementing good practices in accessibility for an inclusive society".

EVENT ANNOUNCEMENT
Virtual Physiological Human Institute for Integrative Biomedical Research - first General Assembly

28 September 2011 Barcelona, Spain

The VPH Institute aims to develop a new approach, which makes possible the integration of information, and simplifies its transformation into integrated knowledge. The meeting is open to anyone interested in getting more information on the newly established Institute and its future activities. The participation is free of charge, but due to logistic reasons, registering is mandatory. If you are interested to attend, please send an email to the VPH Institute Manager: manager@vph-institute.org. A draft agenda of the meeting will be released shortly.

See also: VPH Network of Excellence

NEWS ARTICLE
Meeting the challenge of an ageing Europe

(22 August 2011) The headline findings of the 'European Demography Report 2010' reveal a population that is larger, older and more diverse than ever. A version of the report is published every two years by the European Commission. The aim is to provide data that can be used by EU Member States and the EU to develop policies and initiatives that address demographic change.

See also: European Demography Report 2010

Reminders

EVENT ANNOUNCEMENT
FET Proactive Information Day on Call 8

12 October 2011 Brussels, Belgium

During this event, information on FET-Proactive initiatives under this call will be provided, as well as contractual, legal and administrative modalities. In addition, the creation of consortia and synergies will be facilitated through an open exchange "Proposers Forum". Registration is free of charge but mandatory.

Contact: Jean-Marie Auger

New in the Library

AUDIOVISUAL
Meet Kompai, your robot friend

22 August 2011

Kompai is a robot companion to humans who need one. Born in a workshop near Biarritz, France, Kompai is the fruit of the FP7 project MOBISERV to explore how machines can help the elderly and disabled. The result is a blend of watchdog, care assistant, and everyday computer. Vincent Dupourque, the president of Robosoft, the company behind the venture, explained the idea: "A robot is certainly one of the best answers, the best technological answer to help people who are housebound." One of Robosoft's robotics engineer, Arnaud Lago, gave more details: "It's a mobile robotic platform which is able to move around an apartment automatically. It is equipped with a laser and distance sensors for navigation and security. There's a tablet PC with a tactile interface that allows it to interact with the person who'll be using it, two directional microphones in order to speak to it, and a camera to allow the person to speak to others." Kompai should be able to go where you tell him, help with the shopping list and even play games. Kompai's creators argue that the growing number of elderly people in Europe means there is an emerging market for robotic home help. Not just practical help either, but as Vincent said, also companionship: "Most people find they're really, really comfortable with the robot. We saw with the first tests with real patients that after a few minutes they forgot it was a machine and talked to him as if he was a person."

See also: Mobiserv project

BROCHURE
New brochure on EU funding possibilities to promote active ageing, EU support to local and regional actors

22 August 2011

The Committee of the Regions, AGE Platform Europe and the European Commission have issued a brochure presenting EU funding possibilities for regional and local initiatives to promote active ageing and solidarity between generations. The brochure aims to make a particular contribution to the European Year for Active Ageing and Solidarity between Generations 2012. The majority of initiatives to promote active ageing - throughout 2012 and onwards - will be taken without financial support from the EU, but in some cases EU funding will play a role. The brochure shows what resources are available and invites regional and local stakeholders to make the best possible use of them, preferably working in partnerships involving several countries. The brochure presents numerous examples of projects which have received EU funding. It also includes short presentations of the most relevant EU funding programmes to support new active ageing projects.

FACTSHEET
VPH NoE July Newsletter

22 August 2011

This very rich newsletter is providing, among others, information on new Virtual Physiological Human Projects, the VPH Institute, the ARGOS project: toward a transatlantic policy for the long-term sustainability of the VPH Infostructure, the VPH Training in Action: MeDDiCA, VPH NoE News FP7 Health - Orientation Paper with Indicative List of Topics, etc. It also focuses on the PredictAD project that deals with Alzheimer's disease and features a comprehensive interview with I. Iakovidis on the VPH related research in the area of ICT for Ageing in the future.

Contact: ehealth@ec.europa.eu
See also: Other VPH funded projects

AUDIOVISUAL
PAtient Specific Simulation and PreOperative Realistic Training for liver surgery

19 August 2011

Short 2mn video: From Medical imaging to 3D modelling

See also: ICT for Health Research

AUDIOVISUAL
The P-Medicine project - data sharing and integration for personalised medicine (video presentation)

19 July 2011

Dr Simona Rossi - Swiss Institute for Bioinformatics, Lausanne presents P-medicine, a 4-year project co-funded under the EU's 7th Framework Programme aiming at developing new tools, IT infrastructure and VPH models to accelerate personalized medicine for the benefit of the patient.

Contact: ehealth@ec.europa.eu
See also: P-medicine EU funded project

FACTSHEET
Scientists find brain waves can predict epileptic seizures

21 October 2010

Scientists from the Bernstein Center at the University in Freiburg in Germany have taken a step forward in the quest to predict epileptic seizures by monitoring the pre-seizure changes in sufferers' brains. The research study was funded in part by the EPILEPSIAE ('Evolving platform for improving living expectation of patients suffering from Ictal events') project, which received nearly EUR 3 million under the 'Information and communication technologies' (ICT) Theme of the EU's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7). The research was recently published in the journal Epilepsia.

Contact: ehealth@ec.europa.eu
See also: Other projects under "Risk assessment and patient safety" topic

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