Objective
e-Power will establish a network of Pan European Regional Technology Centres (RTC) focused on motivating SMEs to take up best practice ways of working. Results are in the e-business domain and are targeted at SMEs in the Engineering and Manufacturing Sector (EMS). The results will be used as a base for dissemination and demonstration of National, Regional and European RTD. The RTCs, who serve a local SME community, will be aided by a web portal of best practice knowledge, e-business contacts, projects, ICT programmes, case studies and resources. This collaborative network of RTCs will offer a dissemination and exploitation route and channel of communication to the SME community for Project Teams, Project Clusters, Working Groups and Government Organisations.
Objectives:
e-Power aims to establish a European Network of Regional Technology Centres in order to disseminate and encourage the take up of e-business technologies by SMEs in the Engineering and Manufacturing sector. The project aims to encourage the use of the network as a channel of communication by national and EU programme and project teams. e-Power will establish a knowledge base of the application of e-business in the engineering and manufacturing sector. These activities will accelerate the development and delivery of e-business skills to the Technology Centres themselves. The project will hold two conferences on e-business in Engineering and Manufacturing and project workshops.
Work description:
e-Power will create a network of 80 Regional Technology Centres serving SME communities in the Engineering and Manufacturing sector. The Network will focus on the assessment of the take up of e-business and e-work technologies by the SMEs. These results will be documented in a Regional Profile for each Regional Centre in the Network. Special Interest Group (SIG) meetings will define methodologies for assessment, benchmarking and identifying the key ICT priorities for the future. Two conferences will be organised to consolidate the work of the SIGs; disseminate the results of the regional analyses; and to promote the technology centres and the Network as a whole. The Network will be supported by an information portal, which will provide the communications infrastructure and a knowledge base of the implementation of e-technologies in engineering and manufacturing. The portal will contain the Regional profiles, case studies, white papers, relevant projects at European, national and regional level. The dissemination and exploitation workpackage will promote the network, Regional Centres, knowledge base and the RTD activities of the e-Europe initiative throughout the regional network, web and press.
Milestones:
Milestone(M)1 at month 6 reviews the launch of e-Power and the Network Development Plan.
M2 at Month 9 reviews completion of the website and portal. The dissemination plan is issued and 2 SIG meetings will have been held. Conference plans are completed. The Network will be active and have 40 Members.
M3 at month 12 reviews the conference and recruitment status.
M4 at month 18 reviews the SIG success of the Regional profiles and portal data.
M5 at month 24 reviews the 2nd conference and final project reports. The Network will have been expanded to 80 Members from Western and Eastern Europe. Plans for the continuance of the Network will be approved.
Call for proposal
Data not availableFunding Scheme
THN - Thematic network contractsCoordinator
GU14 7LS FARNBOROUGH, HAMPSHIRE
United Kingdom