Brussels, 21/04/2009 (Agence Europe) - The European Union, with its investment in research in information and communication technologies (ICT) lagging behind other regions', is seeking to catch up with its competitors worldwide. On Tuesday 21 April, the European Commission unveiled a new strategy to boost high-risk research on future information technologies in Europe, with a proposal to double European and national investment by 2015. “Combining efforts of the 27 EU countries and stepping up cooperation with global partners is essential for Europe to take the lead in future information technologies that can yield radically new solutions,” said Commissioner for the Information Society and Media Viviane Reding at the first European Future Technologies Conference in Prague.
New technologies are key to meeting current and future challenges, such as climate change and the ageing population. They also offer possibilities in sustainable development, security and health and can bring huge improvements to people's daily lives. European research has, for example, brought us the thought-navigated wheelchair, computer technology that copies the way the brain processes information and more secure computers that can work faster than the speed of light. In order to drive high-tech research forward and catch the United States, Japan and China, the Commission has called on member states to double their investment in this area by 2015, by ensuring that national and European programmes work with one another and by launching new flagship research initiatives that can drive large and sustained effort of several hundred millions of euro. For its part, the Commission will increase its spending on research on future information technologies year on year from €100 million in 2010 to €170 million by 2013. It also aims to launch at least two flagship research initiatives by 2013 that combine efforts across borders and scientific disciplines to achieve research breakthroughs - the development of biocomputers, for example. The Commission also proposes initiatives to encourage the most talented young researchers and also research-intensive high-tech small and medium-sized enterprises that can turn early research results into new business opportunities. (I.L./transl.rt)