European 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.

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.

The anti-piracy ACTA agreement goes far beyond what is acceptable in the defence of intellectual property, threatening to internet users' privacy and allowing even legitimate websites to be blocked, says Ivaylo Kalfin.

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The anti-piracy ACTA agreement goes far beyond what is acceptable in the defence of intellectual property, threatening to internet users' privacy and allowing even legitimate websites to be blocked, says Ivaylo Kalfin.

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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?

Online activists across Europe are protesting against the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), which officially aims to protect intellectual rights but which critics say violates privacy. An online petition against the international treaty attracted more than a million signatures, EurActiv's network in Central Europe reports.

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Online activists across Europe are protesting against the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), which officially aims to protect intellectual rights but which critics say violates privacy. An online petition against the international treaty attracted more than a million signatures, EurActiv's network in Central Europe reports.

More »

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.

Security and Defence Agenda dinner, Brussels, 30 January 2012

OECD Insights blog: The Internet of Things

A new report entitled "Machine-to-Machine Communication: Connecting Billions of Devices" looks at examples of some of the uses of machine-to-machine communication today and its potential to enhance economic and social development. It concludes that to achieve such benefits, changes to telecommunication policy and regulatory frameworks are likely to be needed.

MEXICO: Telecoms reform would boost competition and growth in Mexico, says OECD

Mexico should quickly reform the laws and regulations governing its telecommunications sector to boost competition and investment and drive growth across the economy, according to a new OECD report.

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

The 5th Call for proposals of the AAL Joint Programme will aim at the development of ICT-based solutions which enable and sustain older adults to continue managing their daily activities in their home. This call aims also at ICT-based solutions which support informal carers in their assistance. It is anticipated that the call will be launched at the end of February 2012, with a proposal submission deadline at the end of May 2012. The information event will take place on 13 March 2012 in Brussels. All potential proposers are strongly advised to come to the information event, and those wishing to attend should register their interest by sending an e-mail to Jacqueline Teller before 24 February 2012.

This newsletter informs about ongoing and future activities in the field of Future and Emerging Technologies and presents some key results and achievements of ongoing projects and initiatives. This months issue focuses on these topics: Perspectives of FET under Horizon 2020, the new EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation; Results from the FET-Open commissioned study to boost exploratory power of open research; The FET-Flagship Pilots Midterm Conference held in Warsaw in November 2011; Findings from FET-Proactive consultation meetings feeding Work Programme 2013.

The European Commission is inviting European eHealth user and industry representatives to participate in a eHealth stakeholder group, to be set up in early 2012. The group will contribute to the development of legislation or policy related to eHealth, by providing for example reports, opinions and relevant data. Deadline to send your expression of interest is 30/01/2012.

This white paper was prepared to assess the opportunities and obstacles that confront us as Europe plans to make full use of the integration of genome-based data resources with resources detailing disease-based and other human phenotypes. The report represents the consensus outcome of Think Tank discussions among 17 invited experts in Brussels on October 2011. The report addresses prospects for the development and application of genotype-phenotype resources, considering them to be very promising. Establishing clear relationships (correlations) between increasing amounts of genotypic information available from clinical studies (e.g. as provided by genome wide association studies (GWAS)), and similarly of phenotype information at the population level, is still largely impossible today. This approach advocated also assists in “stratification” – instead of rejecting so many drugs during clinical trials, it could be that many deemed to be failures today will work well for sets of patients on genotypic/ phenotypic grounds.