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The fourth Information Society call within the 6th framework programme has been published on 25 November 2004 and opened since the 1st of December 2004. The total allocation to this call is 1.12 billion euros.

The IST Call 4 funds five types of projects:

- Integrated projects (IPs),
- Specific Targeted Research Projects (STREPs),
- Networks of Excellence (NoEs),
- Coordination Actions (CAs),
- Specific Support Actions (SSAs).

The areas addressed within this call include applied IST research addressing major societal and economic challenges, communication, computing and software technologies, components and Microsystems, knowledge and interface technologies, knowledge and interface technologies, IST future and emerging technologies.

A specific instrument called “Strengthening the Integration of the ICT research effort in an Enlarged Europe” will aim at developing and validating innovative and efficient ICT-based systems and services in key application areas for the societal and economical development of the enlarged Europe, with a view to strengthening the integration of the IST European Research Area.

It will particularly focus on:

1. eLearning: research and development on ICT-based systems for teaching and learning building on existing open platforms and tools and exploiting the collaborative use of learning objects and resources (including of cultural and scientific content),

2. eHealth: research and development on advanced ICT-based eHealth systems and services focusing on integrated health information systems, intelligent environment for health professionals and online health services for patients and citizens.

3. eGovernment: research and development on ICT-based systems to improve and innovate in the delivery of key public services, integrating interoperable systems for identity management, and to enable good governance (efficiency, inclusiveness, democracy, openness and accountability) in areas with strong potential for European collaboration and institutional reinforcement.

4. eBusiness: research and development addressing: e-collaboration enabling a particular cluster of SMEs to operate as a single business entity in the production of applications and solutions adapted to local business needs, B2B and B2C e-commerce allowing quicker response times and more dynamic business models at a lower cost, connection of CRM applications to back-office applications of both Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and supply chain. The regulatory, social, cultural and economic obstacles to e-business take-up within the enlarged Europe should be given special attention as well as the interoperability of proposed enterprise applications.

In this context, funded projects will be of the Specific Support Actions (SSAs) type. SSAs projects are designed to generate the knowledge required to improve European competitiveness and to meet the needs of society or Community policies through the improvement of existing products an the development of new products and through the viability of new technologies offering potential economic advantage. The target audience for these projects is the industry, including SMEs, research institutes and universities. The typical duration of such projects is 18 to 36 months.