Research  The preparations for the ICT Proposers' day in September have already started as the online networking online networking for the event has been opened. Therefore you should already go and create your profile and get in contact with other proposers. Here you can also find put more about the Work Programme 2013 and present your project idea and browse others ideas as well as leave comments and upload presentations.  Millions of Europeans undergo abdominal surgery each year to treat a range of different disorders, from cancer and heart disease to obesity. EU-funded researchers are developing innovative micro-robotics and micro-system technologies to make such surgeries less complicated, invasive and costly. In the Araknes project (2008-2012) highly innovative devices and technologies that greatly reduce the invasiveness of surgical procedures, minimise scarring, decrease the risk of infection and speed patient recovery time at potentially much lower cost than existing commercial systems were developed. One of the results of Araknes is a teleoperated robotic system called the 'Single-port laparoscopy bimanual robot' (Sprint) that replicates with high precision the hand movements of a surgeon sitting at a console interface. The European Commission has announced the final Seventh Framework Programme and the biggest calls for proposals for research. Within this call 8.1 billion Euros are put aside for projects that can boost European competitiveness and tackle societal challenges such as issues on human health, protecting the environment as well as urbanisation and managing waste. The funding – which is open to organisations and businesses in all EU Member States and partner countries - makes up the lion's share of the EU's proposed €10.8 billion research budget for 2013. See also the European Commission's Participant portal for more information on calls. Challenge 5 builds on the previous research activities on health, ageing, inclusion, and governance. It aims to support innovation and activities closer to the market like pre-commercial procurement actions and platforms supporting social innovation. The focus will be on development of solutions that empower the individual, in a social context, to improve and manage personal life as a citizen, elderly, patient, consumer, civil servant or worker. The "ICT for Health activities" will address the "health management" continuum from lifestyle to disease management and the research in the computational modelling of human patho-physiology. The "ICT for Ageing and Independent Living" activities will focus on empowering people with age related dependencies or disabilities to live independently. "ICT for smart and personalised inclusion", will focus on the development of accessible solutions for personalised interfaces to smart environments and innovative services. Research in "ICT for Governance and Policy Modelling" will address collaborative governance supported by ICT tools empowering citizen and increasing transparency in decision making. A new activity will support collaborative, collective awareness ICT platforms for grassroots social innovation towards a more sustainable future. Efforts to increase the healthy lifespan of EU citizens by two years received a major boost today as 261 projects were submitted for inclusion in the European Innovation Partnership for active and healthy ageing. The partnership brings together more than 50 regions, technology companies and health providers to deliver solutions for: better adherence to medical treatment, prevention of falls, prevention of functional decline and frailty, integrated care models, independent living and active ageing, age-friendly buildings, cities and environments. The 261 projects were submitted by groups of stakeholders spanning the public and private sector. In addition, 54 regions and municipalities offered themselves as 'reference sites', to exchange good practice and to share knowledge and experience on past successes in this domain. The massive response from stakeholders shows a real drive in Europe to ensure better lifestyles, higher quality of care and recognition of the business potential of our ageing society. Mutations in a gene called KRAS are causally associated with acquired resistance to targeted therapies for colorectal cancers (CRC), according to new findings from EU-funded researchers from Italy and their research colleagues in the United States. Writing in the journal Nature, the team explain that patients often develop resistance to colorectal cancer drugs that target epidermal growth factor receptors (EGFRs). A European team of scientists is working on making new tuberculosis treatments a reality by developing better diagnostic imaging technology. The study is supported by the PREDICT-TB ('Model-based preclinical development of anti-tuberculosis drug combinations') project, which has clinched almost EUR 14.8 million from the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) under the EU's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7). Every year hundreds of thousands of people die because of infections that have become resistant to treatment. A new data-mining, clinical monitoring and decision-support system, developed by EU-funded researchers, offers a powerful new weapon in the war on resistance to antibiotics. According to the World Health Organisation, around 440,000 new cases of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis emerge annually, causing at least 150,000 deaths. The DebugIT project developed a system to monitor antimicrobial resistance using data from different hospitals, identify trends showing which types of bacteria are becoming resistant to certain types of antibiotics, and then use that knowledge to implement courses of treatment with more effective drugs. The main goal of the SAFROS Project is to explore whether robotic surgery carried out in accordance with safety criteria can improve the level of patient safety currently achievable by traditional surgery. Documents Read more... The second edition of this booklet, presenting the latest developments in EU-funded ICT research and innovation, reflects the way ICT currently helps in addressing and solving societal challenges: a powerful mix of continuity and new initiatives that leads to concrete results through multidisciplinary solutions. Documents Read more... | 
