First call for IST programme closed
More than 2500 proposals have been received following the User-friendly Information Society (IST) programme's first call which closed on 16 June 1999. The Commission has funds for roughly one sixth of these proposals, with a total of 800 million euro set aside for the first call. The Commission will begin contract negotiations with successful consortia before the end of the year, following the recommendations of the expert evaluation panel which began sifting through the applications on 28 June. The IST programme is part of the Fifth Framework Programme and has a total budget of 3,600 million euro. The programme continues and expands the achievements of the ACTS, Esprit and Telematics Applications programmes from the Fourth Framework Programme. For the first time, universities and organisations from Central and Eastern Europe, the EEA, Cyprus and Israel participated on equal terms with proposers from the EU. It was also possible to submit formal proposals electronically, following trials in ACTS and Esprit.