ACTS programme: 97 proposals accepted for funding
A total of 97 proposals have been accepted for Community funding following the second call for proposals under the specific RTD programme in the field of advanced communications technologies and services (ACTS), launched on 15 September 1995 (OJ No C 240 of 15.9.1995 p. 7). A total of 172 proposals were submitted by the closing date of 1 March 1996, requesting total funding of ECU 690 million. Of these, 97 proposals were selected for funding amounting to a little over ECU 106 million. The 97 proposals selected are distributed across the various ACTS programme areas as follows: - Area 1. Interactive digital multimedia services: 33 proposals accepted; - Area 2. Photonic technologies: 9 proposals; - Area 3. High-speed networking: 8 proposals; - Area 4. Mobility and personal communication networks: 16 proposals; - Area 5. Intelligence in networks and service engineering: 16 proposals; - Area 6. Quality, security and safety of communication services: 5 proposals; - Area 7. Horizontal actions: 10 proposals. The majority of these projects (90%) were able to start work as of 1 July 1996, representing a delay of only four months between the submission of proposals and the finalization of contract negotiations. The projects selected involve over 1,900 participants from across the European Community and from the 18 other countries participating in the programme. In this context, it should be noted that 21 of the projects involve the participation of organizations from Central and Eastern European countries. The RTD work carried out by these organizations will be financed under the Community's specific RTD programme in the field of cooperation with third countries (INCO). The participation of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the ACTS programme was actively encouraged through the allocation of exploratory awards, providing SMEs with financial support for the preparation of project proposals (search for partners, market and innovation surveys, feasibility studies). As a result of these measures, SME participation was estimated at the relatively high level of 23% of overall participation. It is interesting to note that as many as 90% of proposals were submitted electronically, a large majority of proposers having used trans-European high-speed networks for the transmission of their proposals in electronic format. This is an innovative feature of the ACTS programme and one which has received the full support of proposers.