557 entries submitted to the 1998 EuroPrix
A total of 557 submissions, from 26 countries, have been submitted to the EuroPrix MultiMediaArt 1998 contest by the closing date of 30 June 1998. This new competition aims to identify the best in European multimedia production in six categories. The competition, an initiative of the Austrian Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs, is supported by the European Commission, DG XIII, within the framework of the INFO2000 programme to stimulate the development and use of multimedia content in Europe. The largest number of entries submitted came from Germany (140), followed by Italy (75), Austria (43) and France (40), with a comparatively high number of participants from Central and Eastern European countries (52 in total). The total number of entries per category, indicated in brackets, was as follows: - Knowledge and discovery (178); - Valorisation of European culture (130); - Support for SMEs in the market place (94); - Improving democracy with multimedia (51); - First steps in multimedia (59); - Student award (45). Commenting on the entries, the European Commissioner for telecommunications, Mr. Martin Bangemann, stated that he was deeply impressed by the abundance of high-quality submissions from all across Europe. He further stated that "the European multimedia industry has understood how to prove their skills in creating a wide array of high-quality products possessing strong potential for future development. The number and quality of the entries show that the European multimedia industry can play an important role within the worldwide competition." The first selection of candidates for each of the categories will be made before the Frankfurt Bookfair to be held in October this year, where the products will be on display. The winners will then be announced during the first European summit to be held under the Austrian Presidency at a EuroPrix gala event in Vienna, Austria, on 29 November 1998.