The SESERV Coordination and Support Action (www.seserv.org) is surveying EC Future Internet projects in Challenge 1 in an attempt to gain a better understanding of the social and economic issues that have arisen, or may arise, from the sorts of technologies being developed. Challenge 1 projects are requested to respond to this survey as part of their obligations on concertation and cluster activities.
The survey available at the link below is targeted at projects funded by the European Commission to develop aspects of the Future Internet.
http://limesurvey.oii.ox.ac.uk/index.php?sid=68914
Information Days for Call 8, Objective 1.2
The upcoming FP7-ICT Call 8 will include another opportunity to propose research on software and services. Part of that call is Objective 1.2 “Cloud Computing, Internet of Services and Advanced Software Engineering”. The call will open in July 2011 and close on January 17, 2012 (tbc).
To give proposers the chance to interact with other proposers, to meet future partners, and to alert proposers of your expertise, three Information Days are being organised:
- On 19 May 2011, at the ICT Proposers' Day 2011 in Budapest (Hungary), a 1.5 hour slot is planned for Objective 1.2. During two days, thematic sessions on the Work Programme 2011-12 will be organised with presentations of proposal ideas, meeting points (thematic booths) animated by Commission officials, and information stands. A unique opportunity for you to network, free of charge! Please have a look at the call for presentations and RTD offers.
- On 14 June 2011, a Proposers' Networking Day will be held as a pre-conference event of the Future Network and Mobile Summit in Warsaw (Poland). The Networking Day is oriented towards Objectives 1.1, 1.2, and 1.4 of the ICT Work Programme 2011-12, and towards Celtic-Plus Call 2. The Day will provide an in-depth overview of these Calls. The afternoon session will be focused on project idea presentations that will be submitted in advance. It is envisaged that the afternoon session will be restricted to those participants who have submitted ideas to be shared focused on preparing proposals.
- On 27 September 2011, an Information Day on Objective 1.2 will be organised in Brussels. The website for this event will follow soon.
The HOLA! portal has been launched (beta version)
The CSA project HOLA!, supporting project collaboration, has launched the new portal for the SSAI FP7 projects.
It is available in beta with limited funtionalities at http://best149.best-center.external.hp.com/eu/
The first stable release is planned for the end of April. Stay tuned.
Expert workshop Services in the Future Internet
On February 28th 2011 an expert meeting was held in the European Commission offices, with the participation of reputable experts active in research and innovation in the software and services area. The objective was to identify future research needs in the field of software and services, in order to prepare the last workprogramme of FP7 (the one of 2013) and the next Framework Programme 8.
All experts provided a "position paper" to identify the key changes and challenges in European research and innovation and participated in a brainstorming session. The position papers are available here
and the final report will be available soon on this same webpage.
Consultation on Future Research
On the 9th of Fabruary, the Commission has adopted a Green Paper 'From Challenges to Opportunities: Towards a Common Strategic Framework for EU research and innovation funding' (COM(2011)48). This Green Paper launches a public consultation on the key issues to be taken into account for future EU research and innovation funding programmes. The outcome of the consultation will subsequently feed into the preparation of the Commission's formal proposals for these programmes, which are due to be adopted before the end of 2011.
The consultation website is available at: http://ec.europa.eu/research/csfri/index_en.cfm.
Submissions can be made until 20 May 2011.
Objective 11.3 evaluation
Even though Objective 1.2 is only open during FP7-ICT Call 8, several ongoing projects in the software and services area took the opportunity to extend their projects with new partners and new research topics by submitting to Objective 11.3 of Call 7. The evaluation took place in early March, and the coordinators will be informed shortly.
Change the IT procurement world. Promote standards!
The Digital Agenda Stakeholder Community on Procurement, IT & Standards will give a presentation at the EU's Digital Assembly on 16-17 June 2011. Join the community! Help shape the presentation!
The initiative is key to Digital Agenda's Action 23: Provide guidance on ICT standardisation and public procurement as well as the ongoing reform of the EU Public Procurement directives. Public authorities should make best use of the full range of relevant standards when procuring hardware, software and IT services, for example by selecting standards which can be implemented by all interested suppliers, allowing for more competition and reduced risk of lock-in. Detailed guidance is needed on how to analyse a technology buyer’s requirements to make best use of ICT standards in tender specifications, to help public procurers to properly refer to standards in their tender specifications. Please post advice, analysis, news, opinions, and work towards a public presentation at the Digital Assembly in June 2011.
We are rapidly lining up individuals and organizations behind this initiative, for now spearheaded by OpenForum Europe, with Sarah Biontino Consultancy, ECIS, APRIL and ESOP. http://www.epractice.eu/community/procurement.
