Commission urges IT start-ups to apply for European funding
European Commissioner Erkki Liikanen has urged players in the IT field to apply for Community funding from the EU's TEN-Telecom programme to support the deployment of new telecommunications services and applications. The TEN-Telecom (Trans-European Networks for Telecommunications) programme is uniquely placed to support innovative companies in the development phase, as unlike other EU funded actions, it focuses on supporting public and private organisations in the early, risky days of operating a service. Speaking at the recent TEN-Telecom Information Day held in Brussels, the Commissioner for Enterprise and the Information Society said: 'The opportunities are here for further innovation in our business practices, including public service management. 'The programme is there to help you to create viable businesses, providing pan-European services in the general interest of society. TEN-Telecom provides innovative business with the financial boost to turn their ideas into real commercial action.' TEN-Telecom is well placed to launch innovative services in the digital economy, delegates were told. The project model has four phases including research and technological development, business plan and market validation, initial deployment in the market and full market operation. The programme finances the second and third phases. Among other things, TEN-Telecom gives financial backing in the risky start up stages of trans-European telecommunication based services of general public interest, such as health, education, public administration and transport, and backs generic services of particular value to small and medium sized enterprises building network based values. The challenge for Europe, Mr Liikanen said, is to take advantage of the Information Society, particularly in the areas of mobile communications and digital TV where the European industry is the market leader. High communication prices and lack of innovation are big obstacles that need to be addressed if Europe is to succeed. Faced with this challenge the Commission launched the eEurope initiative, aimed at accelerating progress towards the Information Society, bringing together new and existing actions. Mr Liikanen said the TEN-Telecom programme had much to contribute in this area, particularly regarding security and confidence issues on the Internet, the availability of risk capital, participation for the disabled, healthcare, transport, and government and administration. 'The programme is pivotal in bringing the world class results of Europe's research and development into the market,' he said. 'There is a clear need for reliable institutions and services which can foster trust in electronic services. TEN-Telecom supports new services to ensure secure and trustworthy commercial operations over networks, particularly for small and medium sized enterprises.' The programme will help address the lack of an enterprise culture in Europe, where entrepreneurs must compete for scarce resources, the Commissioner said. In the future the TEN-Telecom programme will be involved with the provision of venture capital. 'TEN-Telecom will have a role to play, as its new legal framework allows it to explore participation in investment funds, and to provide risk capital for trans-European telecommunications based services.' Mr Liikanen also drew attention to the forthcoming changes in TEN-Telecom. The programme will begin a revision process at the end of the year, with the aim of tightening its focus. In the future, the Commissioner said, more attention will be paid to the trans-European dimension of the programme, which may also become more outward looking as the enlargement of the EU progresses. New services will also be funded through a general Commission framework for more flexible financing through partnership with risk capital. TEN-Telecom will operate within this framework by participating in investment funds and other comparable undertakings. At the information day, which was chaired by Spyros Konidaris, Director of unit F3 in the Information Society Directorate-General, public and private organisations received information from the Commission on how to participate in the latest TEN-Telecom call for proposals, published on 17 March 2000. The TEN-Telecom 2000 call is for proposals for telecommunications networks-based applications and services. It closes on 16 June 2000, and has an indicative budget of 43 million euro. Also open is a TEN-Telecom rolling call aimed at helping funded projects in preparing and improving their business plan. This call was published on 14 March 1998, and closes on 31 December 2000. The next evaluation of proposals will take place at the end of June 2000.