CORDIS launches United Kingdom Council Presidency Research and Innovation service
The United Kingdom's Presidency of the EU is sure to have a full agenda, especially on research and innovation, following the failure to reach agreement on the European Union's financial perspective for 2007-2013, and with the process of approval for the proposed Seventh Framework Programme for research (FP7) ongoing. CORDIS users can follow the progress of the Presidency, running from 1 July to 31 December 2005, through the newly launched UK Presidency service on CORDIS, the European Union's official information service on research and innovation. Developed jointly by the Department of Trade and Industry's Office of Science and Technology in the UK and CORDIS, the service includes the latest Presidency news, forthcoming events, official policy priorities on research and innovation, details of the Innovation Relay Centre (IRC) network's activities in the UK, and useful contacts and links. The research and innovation policy priorities of the UK Presidency are laid out in a special section of the service, including the approval process for the Seventh Framework Programme for research and technological development (FP7). Also on the research and innovation agenda for the second half of 2005 are the proposed Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme (CIP) and the European Space Programme (ESP). The new service includes the latest news on British activities in the research and innovation sphere, and will feature interviews with researchers and policy makers, as well as coverage of the three meetings of the EU Competitiveness Council, scheduled for 11 and 12 July (informal), 11 October, and 28 and 29 November 2005. The events section highlights these meetings as well as the forthcoming conferences designed to contribute to the building of a Europe-wide research and innovation area. These will include conferences on the new i2010 strategy for information and communications technology in September, on the coordination of national research programmes in October and on research infrastructures in December. The new UK Presidency service replaces the United Kingdom's section in the CORDIS National Services on Research and Innovation, which cover all EU Member States, along with sections on Candidate and Associated Countries. As with other Member State services, it provides statistics, case studies and contacts for linking research and innovation, including the IRCs and relevant ministries. It also offers access to profiles of EU-funded projects coordinated from the UK, as well as exploitable technologies from UK participants in EU research programmes.
Countries
United Kingdom