2003 IST Prize underlines contribution of SMEs to Europe's growth, says Liikanen
With a total of 80 per cent of applications for the 2003 IST Prize originating from small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), it came as no surprise that all three of the IST Grand Prizes awarded in Milan on 2 October went to small companies. Having acknowledged that the participation of SMEs in the first IST call for proposals under the Sixth Framework Programme (FP6) was lower than he would have liked, the EU's Commissioner for Enterprise and the Information Society, Erkki Liikanen, said that the IST Prize confirmed the importance of SMEs as drivers for growth in Europe. 'I hope that the result of the 2003 IST Prize serves to encourage innovative SMEs to continue their research efforts, and continue to turn their research into viable products and markets,' said Mr Liikanen. The first Grand Prize winning product to be announced was developed by CEDES, the Swiss centre for electronics and microtechnology. Their ESPROS camera is the first miniaturised, solid state camera able to capture real time, three dimensional images at video speeds. According to CEDES vice president Peter Seitz, ESPROS has the potential to vastly improve safety systems in areas such as transportation and heavy engineering by providing drivers and machine operators with an accurate picture of their surrounding environment in three dimensions. 'Winning this prize is a triumph for all the engineers and scientists who jointly developed ESPROS - this is their triumph,' said Mr Seitz. ePAGE, the brain child of UK company Picsel Technologies, is a mobile content delivery platform that enables a wide range of electronic devices to view, edit and print any form of electronic content, from Internet pages to spreadsheets and videos. The ease of use of ePAGE means that it is particularly relevant for non-technical users, and its makers describe it as one of the first 'beyond PC' applications. 'Having already achieved commercial success with ePAGE across the world, and near celebrity status in Japan, what's most important for Picsel in winning this award is to be recognised at home in Europe,' said chief scientist Dr Majid Anwar. Widely tipped for a Grand Prize by visitors to the IST Prize village in Milan was Israeli company InSightec, for their ExAblate 2000 surgical application. Described as the surgery of the future, ExAblate 2000 delivers focussed ultrasound energy into the body in order to completely eradicate tumours without cutting the skin or affecting surrounding tissue. With no need for hospitalisation and no recovery times, patients are able to resume their daily activities within hours of receiving treatment. 'I wish to express my gratitude in winning this award,' said InSightec's Dr Dov Maor. 'But my real gratitude goes to the [employees] who were responsible for creating this Star Trek like product.' Addressing all 20 IST Prize finalists, Italian Minister for Innovation and Technologies Lucio Stanca concluded by saying: 'The future prosperity of Europe is based on our ability to innovate, and today we recognise a group of people and companies totally committed to innovation.'