Brussels, 02/11/2000 (Agence Europe) - The IST 2000 event "An Information Society for All" will take place in Nice on 6-8 November with the aim of enhancing a debate on the main challenges Europe is facing in the transition towards an Information Society. It is in line with the objectives of the European Commission's eEurope initiative of accelerating the take-up of the new economy in Europe. Access for all, the evolution of legislation, the impact on growth and competitiveness and the new technology challenges will be the main themes. The Commission has selected about 70 projects funded by the European Union that visitors will be able to discover during IST 2000: pure technology innovations, applications for citizens, e-business and technology developments in the fields of entertainment and multimedia. A European Investment Forum will bring finance and technology together. Young companies will be able to present their business propositions to over 400 international investors, industry experts and advisers.
The conference will be opened on Monday 6 November by Nicole Fontaine, President of the European Parliament. The participants will include Commissioner Erkki Liikanen and the French Minister of Research, Roger-Gérard Schwartzenberg. The IT specialists present will include Prof. Juhani Kuusi, Vice-President for Research at Nokia, and Vinton Cerf, Senior Vice-President of Internet Architecture and Technology at World Com.
The three Grand Prize Winners of the European Information Society Technologies Prize, worth Euro 200,000, will be awarded on Tuesday 7 November to the three best innovative products, selected by a group of experts from more than 200 submissions.
The IST event is organised every year in order to demonstrate the results of the Commission's IST programme (Information Society Technologies).