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Sent: 14 December 2007 15:57
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Subject: Information Society Newsroom Update - 14/12/2007


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              Europe's Information Society
                           Newsroom Update
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PRESS RELEASE
Commission advocates new approach to investing public money in risky
high-tech research (14 December 2007)The Commission proposed on 14
December a new strategy for harnessing the innovative potential of
public spending in Europe in the field of Research and Development
(R&D). Europe lags considerably behind the US in terms of R&D spending
and has made catching up a priority of the renewed Lisbon strategy.
Where Europe could do substantially more is at the pre-commercial stage,
where products and services are not yet ripe for the market, and where
investment is particularly risk-prone, but is key for research
breakthroughs. This is why the Commission decided today to advocate the
procurement of public R&D spending already in this pre-commercial phase.
For the Commission, such pre-commercial public procurement could tap
unused potential especially in high tech areas, such as research into
information and communication technologies for health care and medicine.
Important technological innovations such as the Internet Protocol or the
Global Positioning System (GPS) would have been unthinkable without
combined spending by the public sector and private companies. 


NEWS ARTICLE
Two new executive agencies bolster European research (14 December
2007)On 14 December two agencies to manage research projects funded by
the European Union budget were created. The "European Research Council
Executive Agency" will support the implementation of the Ideas Programme
of the 7th Research Framework Programme (FP7), which supports frontier
research. It will manage about EUR 7 billion. The "Research Executive
Agency" will administer the Marie Curie fellowships schemes, research
for the benefit of SMEs and parts of the Space and Security research
themes. It will manage research funding of EUR 6.5b and provide
evaluation and support services to all other parts of FP7. The creation
of these two agencies was put forward in the legal document setting up
FP7 and the plans have recently been approved by the Member States and
the European Parliament. These agencies are just one strand of
wide-ranging actions within FP7 to improve the efficiency of research
management, thereby supporting the aims of the European Research Area
and providing the best possible service to scientists.


The European Research Council awards its first grants:
http://www.europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/07/586&
format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en






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BROCHURE
SMEs in FP7 : A hands-on guide
The 7th Framework Programme provides financial support for transnational
research for and by SMEs wishing to innovate and improve their
competitiveness, by enhancing their investment in research activities to
acquire new knowledge for growth in Europe's knowledge-based economy.
Four specific Programmes comprise the major building blocks of FP7,
three of which have direct relevance for SMEs. These are: the
Cooperation Programme which will promote collaborative research; the
People Programme which will develop human potential; and the Capacities
Programme which will strengthen research capacity. This publication is
designed as a step-by-step guide showing SMEs exactly where and how they
can obtain funding to help their businesses grow.


FACTSHEET
Factsheet 63 : iCar - Raising awareness of ICT for safer, 
cleaner and smarter cars
The 'Intelligent Car Initiative' provides the policy framework for
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) solutions for smarter,
safer and cleaner road transport in Europe. It aims to reduce road
accidents, congestion and gridlock, and to lower fuel consumption and
CO2 emissions.

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