'IST projects have a key role to play' - Liikanen talks to CORDIS News
On the occasion of the IST 2001 event, Erkki Liikanen, European Commissioner for Information society and Enterprise talked exclusively to CORDIS News about how IST (information society technologies) research can help businesses, citizens and science and highlighted how further assistance can be given to sector. CORDIS News: One of the criteria for the judging of the IST prize is potential market value. What is your opinion of the present rate of European IT projects making it to market. Are sufficient numbers making it, and if not, what can be done to help them? Erkki Liikanen: Significant actions are taken to try to ensure that every project is a success. IST projects are not simply launched and forgotten. Our project officers actively monitor the work being performed, and through a process of formal technical review conducted at least once per year, redirect or 'coach' the projects to help ensure their ultimate success. IST projects have a key role to play. IST has a critical underpinning role for the majority of science, research and engineering disciplines, and clearly we want to see these projects succeed. CORDIS News: Once in the market, one of the best forms of protection is a patent. But at present, there is still no single Community patent. How long do you think that this will take and what sort of impact do you think it will have on projects like those presented in the IST prize? EL: We are trying to ensure that all European companies, and in particular SMEs (small and medium sized enterprises) are accorded adequate protection. This was one of the elements called for during the Portuguese Presidency, which envisaged a knowledge-based economy. While there is currently no breakthrough on securing agreement over the conditions for a EU-wide Community patent, all players recognize the importance of providing protection for new ideas, such as those featured at the IST event. Innovation needs to be rewarded. Once the Community patent is in place, it will make patent protection for all innovations easier to access, simpler to acquire and cheaper. CORDIS News: Publicly funded research was prominent in last year's awards, with EU-funded projects featuring among the prize and Grand prize winners. What role can the private sector play in helping to encourage these and how important do you feel public/private partnerships are in this area? EL: IST benefits from the participation of all the major industries in the IT, telecommunications and multimedia sectors. Such public/private partnerships are essential for the success of the IST programme as measured by the commercial take-up of its results by the organisations taking part. All indirect EU research projects are covered by cost-shared contracts. That is to say that apart from direct research undertaken by the Joint Research Centre of the Commission, the IST programme only funds research to which the project participants are also contributing significantly, thereby providing an incentive for the private sector to invest in and profit from the IST event. It is essential to support the effort of European industry and research community in preparing for the future. This is the role of the IST activities in the Sixth Framework programme. Now, a new generation of IST is emerging that will enable all citizens and businesses to benefit from IST services. CORDIS News: The Commission recently called for more impetus to be given to the Risk capital action plan in Europe. What further funding help could be given to projects such as those in the IST prize and how can the Commission help? EL: The Information Society Directorate General helped to establish an investment forum that seeks to match promising and innovative ideas to the financial resources necessary for their implementation. This investment forum - taking place twice per year - has proved to be such a success that it is now run independently of Community support. The IST prize is not limited to projects or companies that have received EU funding but is open to application from all. But we recognize that once the idea has been formulated, a wide selection of resources is needed in order to help the projects become commercially viable. The availability of venture capital has increased four fold in Europe since 1998, but at the beginning of November, I called for more action to make its availability even wider, so that Europe's potential businesses can benefit from the same range of risk and venture capital services that the USA's potential businesses do. CORDIS News: What feedback have you received from the business community on the impact of the IST event, as a showcase for European IT? EL: One immediate conclusion can be drawn from the number and the seniority of the delegates who attend the IST conference, year in year out. The exhibition is a showcase for the projects in the programme and is always a very busy part of the event. The conference on the other hand tends to address the main technical, sociological and political issues influencing the environment in which research is conducted, rather than the work of the research programme itself. The conference is thus a valuable platform for checking that the strategic orientations given to the programme are in line with wider views as represented by conference speakers.