Press Invitation to IST 2002
IST 2002 comprises conference workshops, networking sessions and an exhibition of innovative research projects from across Europe. It will bring together representatives of industry, universities, national and European public authorities, SME and users to discuss future visions of the Information Society and build the partnerships required to realise them through the EU's Sixth Framework Programme for Research and Development (FP6), which is to be launched at the end of 2002. IST 2002 is a first in many ways. The Exhibition Projects and Conference Workshops were proposed and defined by the participants themselves, through Call for Ideas published on the IST event website (http://2002.istevent.cec.eu.int(opens in new window)) earlier this year. The conference workshop call attracted over 350 submissions from all over the world, while the Exhibition Call was open to all innovative Information Society projects. Exhibits therefore include major demonstrations from industrial and national research projects as well as the EU's IST research programme, reflecting the FP6 goal of developing a European Research Area. It is also the first IST event to feature networking sessions, which bring together people from around Europe to discuss research ideas in areas they themselves have agreed as important. While the Calls for Ideas for conference workshops and exhibits closed last June, the networking sessions are still being proposed, debated and defined on-line via the IST event website. The first 15 sessions were have just been confirmed and another 26 are currently taking shape on-line. More proposals continue to arrive. Finally, IST 2002 also features the award ceremony for the most successful European IST Prize to date. On November 4 Commissioner Erkki Liikanen will announce the three Grand Prize winners from among the 20 Winners of this prestigious prize for new IT-driven products. All 20 Winners will be exhibited at IST 2002, and were selected by Euro-CASE from entries submitted by 437 innovative companies and institutions from 27 countries - the highest number of participants since the inception of the Prize in 1995. The 20 European IST Prize Winners this year come from Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Israel, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Whatever the issue - egovernment, nanotechnologies, multimedia, ehealth or elearning - IST 2002 will bring together Europe's research leaders. They will be available to meet the press during all three days of the event. Commissioner Erkki Liikanen will give a press conference on November 4, while a press lunch with the IST Prize winners will take place on November 5. For further information and registration, visit our IST 2002 web site. We are looking forward seeing you at the IST 2002. Pierrette Pelhate,Head of Unit, Information & Communication,European Commission - DG Information Society