Benefits of Participating in the ICT programme
Participating in the ICT programme brings numerous benefits including, but not limited to:
- Benefits for all types of organisations:
- Considerable opportunity for generation and acquisition of knowledge in leading edge ICT through participation in international consortia with diverse, established and innovative partners;
- Opportunities to generate new intellectual properties.
- Benefits for companies, small, medium and large:
- Potential to increase competitive edge and create new business opportunities that leverage next generation ICT, and participating in the advancement of same;
- Potential to identify new international markets through new opportunities presented by project activities in diverse regions.
- Benefits specific for SMEs:
- EU financial contribution in FP7 for SMEs covers up to 75% of their costs (compared to 50% for other organisations participating in FP7 ICT projects);
- Simplification and rationalisation of programme procedures in FP7 reduces bureaucratic ‘overhead’ for SMEs participating in ICT research activities.
- Benefits for academic organisations:
- Exposure to new perspectives, ideas and approaches from other internationally established academic organisation, as well as from private sector partners in a consortium;
- Increased opportunities for contributing to, and organising of, respected international conferences;
- New opportunities for research to be published in internationally respected journals;
- Funding to hire new staff and secure necessary facilities for performing research.