Brussels, 04/05/2011 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 4 May, the European Commission announced at the FET11 conference and exhibition in Budapest that six research projects had been selected to compete for two top spots in the area of research into future and emerging technologies (FET). The six contenders will receive around €1.5 million each to refine their proposal for one year, after which only two will be selected. Neelie Kroes, European Commissioner for the Digital Agenda, declared: “The finalists announced today will plant the seeds for tomorrow's innovation... By joining forces to address grand challenges, European, national and regional funding can lead to innovations that will tackle problems like neuro-degenerative diseases and climate change.” Future and emerging technologies are enjoying a star billing at the FET11 in Budapest. The Commission is delighted that this conference and exhibition on visionary, high risk and long-term research in information science and technology will sow new ideas across disciplines that will reshape the future.
This project selection follows the Commission's 2010 invitation to Europe's scientists to identify challenges and propose projects. From the 21 proposals received, an expert panel selected the six initiatives with the strongest potential for realising scientific breakthroughs, and with the greatest impact on Europe's social and industrial challenges. The six projects selected are as follows: - 1) FuturICT Knowledge Accelerator and Crisis-Relief System: ICT can analyse vast amounts of data and complex situations so as to better predict natural disasters, or manage and respond to man-made disasters that cross national borders or continents; - 2) Graphene Science and technology for ICT and beyond: Graphene is a new substance developed by atomic and molecular scale manipulation that could replace silicon as the wonder material of the 21st century; - 3) Guardian Angels for a Smarter Life: tiny devices without batteries that act like autonomous personal assistants, and which can sense, compute and communicate potentially even while travelling through your bloodstream; - 4) The Human Brain Project: understanding the way in which the human brain works can bring the benefits of brain-related or brain-inspired developments to computing architectures, neuroscience and medicine; - 5) IT Future of Medicine: digital technology has the power to deliver individualised medicine, based on molecular, physiological and anatomical data collected from individual patients and processed on the basis of globally integrated medical knowledge; - 6) Robot Companions for Citizens: soft skinned and intelligent robots have highly developed perceptive, cognitive and emotional skills, and can help people, radically changing the way humans interact with machines. (I.L./transl.fl)