Commission plans for TIDE programme

In reply to a written question posed by a Member of the European Parliament on the future funding of the TIDE programme (Technology for the Socioeconomic Integration of Disabled and Elderly People), it was stated on behalf of the Commission of the European Communities (12.12.1...

In reply to a written question posed by a Member of the European Parliament on the future funding of the TIDE programme (Technology for the Socioeconomic Integration of Disabled and Elderly People), it was stated on behalf of the Commission of the European Communities (12.12.1992) that the Commission believes that a programme to develop telematics applications for the benefit of disabled and elderly people must have continuity. In this spirit it lunched the TIDE programme in 1991 with a budget of ECU 8 million on the basis of preparatory work carried out in the framework of COST action 219.

The objective of the exploratory programme was to evaluate the reaction of the Community market to the launch of development activities in the area concerned. Response was excellent. Following the 1991 call, 70 tenders were received for a total of ECU 70 million. Of these, 21 were selected and financed.

Of the ECU 10 million budget available in 1992, the Commission plans to allocate some 3 million to finance supplements to those contracts awarded in 1991 which had not been possible to take fully into account in the budget for that year. The remaining ECU 7 million is dedicated to the continuation of the 21 projects from the first phase of TIDE, the value of which was established following the 1991 call for proposals, plus additional preparatory work. These contracts will enable TIDE activities in industry to be maintained through 1992-1993.

Due to the difficulties posed by the lack of a legal basis, the corresponding budget heading will not be continued through 1993-1994. Instead, the Commission intends from 1993 onwards to initiate measures for disabled and elderly people under the Third Framework Programme within the specific programme "Telematics systems in areas of general interest", as provided for by the corresponding decision. This would give TIDE a legal basis and secure adequate funding.

These measures will then find their natural extension in the Fourth Framework Programme (1994-1998) under the planned heading "Science and technology against the struggle for exclusion".