Brussels, 29/09/2003 (Agence Europe) - Following the initial call for proposals into the research and development domain into information technologies (IST programme), the European Commission is launching 236 new projects for total Community funding of EUR 1 bn. This amount has never been reached in previous research programmes.
These projects will support current web, internet and mobile communication technologies by transforming the supply and quality of services by diversifying them. They will focus on the way in which information and communication technologies (ICT) can be used to provide dependable and secure services that are more adapted to the people and organisations that use them, as well as the environments into which they are being inserted. The Commission considers that, “a new wave of technologies and infrastructure is essential for modernising the different services in the public sphere, such as health car, social welfare of an ageing population, the car security and road safety in general (see other article)”. The projects to be launched in application of the sixth framework programme represent an unprecedented pooling of efforts on crucial issues, given that they regroup 3-5 times more competencies and resources than previous framework programmes. Applications in the domain of health and transport will implement miniaturised mechanisms designed to gather information and data on the area in which they are rooted and send them to people or organisations for action or information according to requirements. Projects will aim to equip citizens with “ textile sensors” and bio-medical clothing” for distance health monitoring and fighting against cardiovascular disease. Other projects focus on car assistance systems that help detect the kinds of danger, their imminence and importance and propose interfaces and interaction adapted to the situation.