Brussels, 20/09/2004 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has selected the twenty winners of the European Information Society Technologies (IST) Prize 2004. Prize winners will each receive EUR 5,000 and be invited to exhibit their products in the European IST Prize winners Village at the 2004 IST Event in The Hague from 15 to 17 November. The IST Prize is Europe's most distinguished award for groundbreaking IST products. It is organised by Euro-CASE with the support and sponsorship of the IST Programme of the European Commission. "European IST Prize winners attract international recognition and great interest from venture capitalists. High standards and tough screening of candidates for innovation and market potential make this contest a breeding ground for technological excellence, and hence industrial competitiveness", Olli Rehn, European Commissioner for Enterprise and Information Society, said on Monday.
Independent experts from 16 European countries evaluated 430 candidate products from 29 countries. The winners come from Finland, France, Ireland, Israel, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom. Details of the 20 prize winners and the 70 nominees are available on http://www.ist-prize.org. The IST 2004 Event, at which winners will be invited to exhibit their products, is organised by the European Commission in partnership with the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs. It will include a conference, an exhibition of research results and networking facilities. The conference will examine ways of harnessing information and communication technology (ICT) to enhance prosperity, security and quality of life for all Europeans. The exhibition will show how ICT enables new ways of living, working together, communicating, and ensuring that every citizen benefits from the knowledge-based economy. Networking sessions will focus on project ideas, research activities and possible business partnerships. Three Grand Prize winners will be selected among the 20 IST prize winners. Each will receive EUR 200,000 as well as the European IST Prize Trophy at an Awards Ceremony in Brussels in early 2005.