EU ICT News

On Safer Internet Day tomorrow, 7th February, more than 100 events in 30 European countries will encourage children, their families and teachers, to discover the digital world together. This is the ninth annual Safer Internet Day, celebrated in more than 70 countries worldwide as part of a global drive to promote safer Internet for children and young people.

Where will e-Skills take you? How do you see the Digital Revolution transforming Europe? Put your creativity to the test today and win a cash prize. And chance to launch your career. Tell us a story. Create a campaign. Demonstrate how e-Skills can help people get a job, fuel innovation or drive creativity. How? That’s up to you, but we will accept any medium – from mobile devices, tablets, illustrations, digital design, story-telling, music, video, posters and social media – you can post your entry on Twitter, Tumblr, YouTube or whichever digital platform suits you best. Get going! Build a community of followers. And when you are ready, tell us about it. You could win thousands of euros in cash and more prizes sponsored by e-Skills Week 2012 partners. And all entries will be promoted by the official e-Skills Week channels. You might very well be on the first step towards launching your career. Get your thinking caps on quickly though. The deadline for entries is midnight March 4 2012.

The universAAL project is producing an open platform that provides a standardized approach making it technically feasible and economically viable to develop AAL solutions. The video explains how this platform works. UniversAAL is a project partialy funded by the seventh research framework programme.

Assistive Technology (AT) and accessible ICT can help people with disabilities and older adults enable a more independent life, better participation, more inclusion and improved services and support. The workshop aims of exchange and disseminate achievements and research findings in that area. It also intends to stimulate the communication both between researchers working in various areas related to ICT solutions and its use leading to further progress in that field and between researchers and practitioners who might take inspiration to implement their achievements. The workshop intends to launch the regular platform for academic and industry based researchers and practitioners and aspire to become constant event. We invite contributions related both to theoretical and more practical aspects of AT and ICT for disabilities. Deadline for Paper submission is April 22, 2012.

This market trends analysis looks at key barriers to entry for these technologies, including outlining trends in new technology incubation and development, and how technologies move effectively and efficiently from incubation to the marketplace, and how insurance and reimbursement structures may impact who can afford to adopt new technologies, and the size of the population these technologies may thus be likely to reach. BRAID is funded within the specific programme "Cooperation" and the research theme "ICT" of the 7th European Framework Programme.

The 2nd Congress, under the High Patronage of the French ministry of health, will gather together 450 international supporters of health 2.0 and social media services to share ideas and best practices, increase cooperation and optimize the learnings. One of the unique features of Doctors 2.0 & You is that its 400+ participants hail from the five continents and represent all walks of Health and Medicine, public and private, government and pharma. Topics include: connecting the ePatient and the 2.0 doctor, online patient communities, online physician communities, Social Media and Personal Health Records, Social Media Campaigns for Government, Hospitals, Pharma, Mobile Apps for chronic patients, Mobile MedEd, Quantified Self, Pharma Cases and Regulatory issues. To note: participation is 25%-50% less expensive, while still offering the highest quality of speakers and venue.

GOLDENWORKERS wants to identify emerging technologies and socio-economic trends, new models of extending professional active life and novel application scenarios in the area of ICT for active ageing at work, leading to the definition of a beyond the state-of-the-art research agenda, fully embraced by research and practice communities. It aims to build a roadmap for ICT adoption in the field of active ageing at work. GOLDENWORKERS has three main objectives: - Towards the research community: To define research directions in the field of ICT for active ageing at work. - Towards companies and public services organizations: To define an action plan going forward to adapt companies and society to the new demographic, economic and social reality. - Towards policy makers: To provide recommendations on policy and public service design to integrate ageing workers into society through the innovative use of ICT. The objectives of this first Dissemination Workshop are: - To present the results of the its first key output: Needs and trends of ICT for ageing at work, whose purpose is to provide a state of play on the fundamental trends affecting ICT for ageing at work; - To discuss with a panel of key experts from different fields future scenarios of ICT for Ageing at work; - To foster networking opportunities for stakeholders. The Goldenworkers project is funded by the European Commission under the 7th Framework Programme (Objective ICT-2009.7.1 ICT and Ageing).

ICT Finance MarketPlace is an initiative to improve access to finance for innovative Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) in the information and communications technology (ICT) sector. SMEs, coaches and investors are invited to attend the events which will be run in conjunction with Tech Media Europe 2012 at the same venue. The Venture Academy consists of a one-day, coaching event where experienced coaches from relevant industry areas will help SMEs pragmatically to develop their pitching skills towards potential investors. The Investment Forum offers SMEs the opportunity to showcase their business in front of an international network of venture capital and corporate investors, strategic partners and expert advisors.

eHealth and Health related information by interesting worldwide spotters brought to you via the eHealth Infso Daily. Enjoy the reading!

This event will focus on challenges within the ICT domain that relate to the segment of consumer electronics. The aim is to stimulate discussions on the issues of energy labeling, e-waste, the potential of telework and the diffusion of broadband which all comprise contradictory aspects relevant for policy-making. The event aims to foster networking and knowledge exchange between policy-makers and experienced researchers in the field.

This event will focus on challenges within the ICT domain that relate to the segment of consumer electronics. The aim is to stimulate discussions on the issues of energy labeling, e-waste, the potential of telework and the diffusion of broadband which all comprise contradictory aspects relevant for policy-making. The event aims to foster networking and knowledge exchange between policy-makers and experienced researchers in the field.

This event will focus on some of the most relevant topics to boost international collaboration. What is the future of Internet and its many applications? How to combine the interests of platform developers, application and service providers and future customers? Which applications will generate new business opportunities? How can Internet be used to tackle challenges such as environmental change, healthcare & ageing and transport?

This event will focus on some of the most relevant topics to boost international collaboration. What is the future of Internet and its many applications? How to combine the interests of platform developers, application and service providers and future customers? Which applications will generate new business opportunities? How can Internet be used to tackle challenges such as environmental change, healthcare & ageing and transport?

The FP7 project FI-WARE, part of the Future Internet Public Private Partnership, announces its first Open Call for new project partners. FI-WARE will deliver a new service infrastructure, building upon generic and reusable building blocks called “Generic Enablers”. FI-WARE develops open specifications and reference implementations of Generic Enablers. This open call asks for organizations that can contribute or develop the Generic Enablers related to middleware and business models. Total funding available for new partners is up to 2 Million Euro, and the call closes on 25 April 2012 at 17h00. For further information, please refer to http://www.fi-ware.eu/open-call/ or email fiware-opencall-help@lists.fi-ware.eu.

The FP7 project FI-WARE, part of the Future Internet Public Private Partnership, announces its first Open Call for new project partners. FI-WARE will deliver a new service infrastructure, building upon generic and reusable building blocks called “Generic Enablers”. FI-WARE develops open specifications and reference implementations of Generic Enablers. This open call asks for organizations that can contribute or develop the Generic Enablers related to middleware and business models. Total funding available for new partners is up to 2 Million Euro, and the call closes on 25 April 2012 at 17h00. For further information, please refer to http://www.fi-ware.eu/open-call/ or email fiware-opencall-help@lists.fi-ware.eu.

Over the past 12 months, the Arab Spring has brought about unprecedented political changes across the region. The right to communicate is increasingly recognized and asserted, and now needs to be complemented by opportunities to be educated and employed, and to contribute to the development of the economy and wealth of the region. Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are the drivers that will make these opportunities a reality. This summit will bring together government leaders and ICT experts from the region and beyond to develop strategies to drive broadband deployment and mobilize the human, financial and technical resources needed to bridge the digital divide in countries right across the Arab world.

The Award Categories for 2013 are: SMART GROWTH: Connecting universities to regional growth; SUSTAINABLE GROWTH: Supporting resource efficiency in SMEs; INCLUSIVE GROWTH: Social innovation: creative responses to societal challenges; CITYSTAR: Integrated approaches to sustainable urban development; INFORMATION & COMMUNICATION: Promoting EU Regional policy with short videos. Applications should be sent by 20 April 2012. The selected finalists will have the opportunity to showcase their projects before an independent jury during the tenth annual European Week of Regions and Cities - OPEN DAYS 2012. The Award ceremony itself will take place in Brussels in early 2013.

Security and Defence Agenda dinner, Brussels, 30 January 2012

Security and Defence Agenda dinner, Brussels, 30 January 2012

“Fuelling the European Economy” event, Microsoft Executive Briefing Centre, Brussels, 30 January 2012