Tag Archive for 'european commission'

Cluster Discussion & Speak Brusselese: Details Outwit Strategies

Published
by
Guenther Krumpak
  on  October 29, 2008
  in  Austria
. 0 Comments

This post refers to more recent ones on clusters. I didn’t follow the usual comment path as this text is simply too long. Not only “Brussels” is speaking a lot about clusters, most European governments do as well without looking into the specifics of what “cluster” means for individual industries and what is to be expected by their creation.

A cluster is definitely not just a heap of companies piled upon each other in one spot under the motto “collaborate!”

Clusters are complex networks with different points of departure and different operative practices, depending on sector and target.

Continue reading ‘Cluster Discussion & Speak Brusselese: Details Outwit Strategies’

Mobile operators have another reason to hate Vivienne Redding

Published
by
Ladislav Kovac
  on  September 23, 2008
  in  Current events and Slovakia
. 7 Comments

EU Commissioner, Viviane Redding, has made few friends among mobile operators. They now have another reason to grumble, according eTREND magazine.

After her successful campaign for cheaper mobile voice roaming charges in Europe, Redding is preparing for another crusade. Her goal is to lower the European mobile operator rates for roaming text messages, e-mails and Internet.

Continue reading ‘Mobile operators have another reason to hate Vivienne Redding’

ICT to combat climate change

Published
by
Robert Nemeth
  on  June 2, 2008
  in  Current events and Facts, figures & trends
. 0 Comments

I am very glad to have the opportunity to be a nowEurope contributor. With my first article and warm welcome I would like to call your attention to global warming, in particular to the ICT aspects of the combat against climate change.

As part of its effort to combat climate change, the European Commission recently announced that it would promote the use of ICT (Information and Communications Technologies) to improve energy efficiency throughout the economy.
Continue reading ‘ICT to combat climate change’

Self organising SME cluster in IT to help each other in FP6 participation

Published
by
Szabolcs Katai
  on  June 29, 2006
  in  Case studies
. 0 Comments

There exists an interesting initiative of Hungarian IT companies in the field encouraging FP6 participation, which can serve as an example of how genuine sharing of information and expertise can benefit both information provider and receiver. Some 15-20 companies came together in December 2004, that were all interested in joining EU funded R&D projects within the framework of the FP6 program. Most of these were SME-s, some associations and some university research centers. Some of them already had experience in participating in EU funded projects while others came only to learn how to do this.

Continue reading ‘Self organising SME cluster in IT to help each other in FP6 participation’

Observations on Framework 6 in Hungary

Published
by
Steven Carlson
  on  January 14, 2005
  in  EU funding programmes
. 0 Comments

The goal of NETIES is to help small technology businesses (SMEs) get started with Framework 6 (FP6, and part of that mission, we’re working to identify barriers to participation.

The business people I bring together at my First Tuesday events here in Budapest are well aware of European Commission funding, but have little idea how to get started. Those who have describe a steep learning curve.

One First Tuesday attendee told me he had been approached by a Greek company to take part in an EU tender. The problem, he explained, is he doesn’t know this company and the relationship is open ended. Applying for the grant is an investment of time, but the return is unclear.

Others are baffled by the language of the European Commission, which includes calls, instruments, specific support actions, networks of excellence, and acronyms such as IST, EVA, FP6 and SME. (I found a useful FP6 glossary here.)

At my December First Tuesday event, we spent a good 45 minutes discussing step by step how FP6 works. Many people simply didn’t understand why the European Commission is offering money, and what they would be expected to deliver.

I was particularly pleased to have at my event, Dorottya Pék and her colleague Barbara from Care Consulting, who make a business of helping businesses apply for these grants. Dorottya was able to explain more of the specifics of the current calls published on Cordis.

As it turns out, there’s a whole network of people and institutions here in Hungary that provide information, training and consulting to businesses wishing to take part in FP6 and I’ll introduce some of these actors in future posts to nowEurope.

Implementation of EU laws

Published
by
Milo Kosterec
  on  December 17, 2004
  in  Current events
. 0 Comments

The European Commission will launch disciplinary proceedings against Slovakia over inadequate implementation of EU laws in the electronic communications field, EC spokesman Martin Selmayr told the TASR news agency December 6. The Commission has found several shortcomings in the implementation of electronic communication laws in Slovakia, despite the fact that the country adopted the legislation into its national legal framework one year before joining the European Union. Similar proceedings will also be launched against other new European Union members, the European Commissioner for Information Society, Vivian Reding, confirmed. These include the Czech Republic and Estonia, which have not yet even adopted the regulatory framework, as well as Cyprus, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland and Slovenia, which are encountering similar problems as Slovakia.

Source: The Slovak Spectator 

Improving the competitiveness of the European ICT sector: high level European workshop on good public national and regional policies

Published
by
Julie Koeltz
  on  November 14, 2004
  in  Current events, Innovation policy and eCommerce
. 0 Comments

The European Commission organised on Friday 12 November 2004 a high level workshop to present the results of the study on good public national and regional policies in support of the competitiveness of the ICT sector, in which LL&A participated as a consortium member along with Fraunhofer Institute Systems and Innovation Research (FhG-ISI - Germany) and the Strategy, Technology and Policy Institute of the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO-STB). Continue reading ‘Improving the competitiveness of the European ICT sector: high level European workshop on good public national and regional policies’