Proposal for a Council Decision adopting a specific research and technological development programme in the field of information technologies (1994-1998) (94/C 228/03) (Text with EEA relevance) COM(94) 68 final - 94/0081(CNS)

(Submitted by the Commission on 30 March 1994)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 130 i (4) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament,

Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee,

Whereas, by Decision . . ./. . ./EC, the Council and the European Parliament adopted a Fourth Framework Programme for Community activities in the field of research, technological development and demonstration (RTD) for the period 1994-1998 specifying inter alia the activities to be carried out in the field of information technologies; whereas this Decision takes account of the grounds set out in the preamble to that Decision;

Whereas Article 130 i (3) of theTreaty specifies that the Framework Programme shall be implemented through Specific Programmes developed within each activity under the Framework Programme and that each Specific Programme shall define the detailed rules for implementing it, fix its duration and provide for the resources deemed necessary;

Whereas this programme will be carried out mainly through shared-cost activities, concerted activities and preparatory, accompanying and support measures;

Whereas, in accordance with Article 130 i (3), an estimate should be made of the financial resources needed to carry out this Specific Programme; whereas the final amounts will be decided upon by the budgetary authority in accordance with the relative priority assigned to the area covered by this programme within acitivity I under the Fourth Framework Programme;

Whereas Decision . . ./. . ./EC (Fourth Framework Programme) lays down that the overall maximum amount of the Fourth Framework Programme will be re-examined by 30 June 1996 at the latest with a view to its being increased; whereas, as a consequence of this re-examination, the amount deemed necessary to carry out this programme could increase;

Whereas information technologies increasingly underpin industry, services and other economic and social activities; whereas they are essential for the emerging information infrastructure and vital for the competitiveness of all industry and services; whereas information technologies help to enhance the quality of life and improve working conditions; whereas they require major research and development efforts calling for transnational cooperation, measures to disseminate and apply the results and training; whereas software, component and subsystem technologies, multimedia technologies, open microprocessor systems, high performance computing and networking, technologies for business processes, integration in manufacturing and the corresponding long-term research were considered priorities in Decision . . ./. . ./EC (Fourth Framework Programme);

Whereas this programme may contribute appreciably to increased growth, competitiveness and employment in the Community, as indicated in the White Paper on growth, competitiveness and employment (1);

Whereas the content of the Fourth Framework Programme for Community RTD activities was established in accordance with the subsidiarity principle; whereas this Specific Programme sets out the content of the activities to be carried out in accordance with this principle in the field of information technologies;

Whereas Decision . . ./. . ./EC (Fourth Framework Programme) lays down that Community action is justified if inter alia the research helps to reinforce the economic and social cohesion of the Community and to encourage its harmonious development while at the same time meeting the objective of scientific and technical quality; whereas this programme is intended to help meet these objectives;

Whereas this programme will help to strengthen synergy between the RTD activities carried out in the field of information technologies by research centres, universities and enterprises, in particular small and medium-sized enterprises, in the Member States and between the latter and the corresponding Community RTD activities;

Whereas the rules for the participation of undertakings, research centres (including the JRC) and universities and the rules governing the dissemination of research results specified in the measures provided for in Article 130 j of the Treaty apply to this Specific Programme;

Whereas, in accordance with Article 130 m of the Treaty, it may be appropriate to engage in international cooperation activities with international organizations and third countries other than the countries covered by the EEA Agreement for the purpose of implementing this programme;

Whereas this programme also comprises activities for the dissemination and utilization of RTD results, in particular targeting small and medium-sized enterprises, and in particular those in Member States or regions which participate least in the programme, and schemes for promoting the mobility and training of researchers within this programme to the extent necessary for proper implementation of the programme;

Whereas provision should be made for measures to encourage the involvement of SMEs in this programme, in particular through technology promotion measures;

Whereas an assessment should be made of the economic, social and environmental impact and any technological risks associated with the activities carried out under this programme;

Whereas progress with this programme should be continuously and systematically monitored with a view to adapting it, where appropriate, to scientific and technological developments in this area; whereas in due course there should be an independent evaluation of progress with the programme so as to provide all the background information needed in order to determine the objectives of the fifth RTD Framework Programme; whereas at the end of this programme there should be a final evaluation of the results obtained compared with the objectives set out in this Decision;

Whereas the JRC may participate in the indirect activities covered by this programme;

Whereas the JRC will also contribute, through its own programme of direct activities, to the attainment of the Community RTD objectives in the area covered by this programme;

Whereas the Scientific and Technical Research Committee (Crest) has been consulted.

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

A specific research and technological development programme in the field of information technologies, as set out in Annex I, is hereby adopted for the period from (date of adoption of this programme) to 31 December 1998.

Article 2

1. The amount deemed necessary for carrying out the programme is ECU 1 911 million, including 7,2 % for staff and administrative expenditure.

2. An indicative breakdown of this amount is given in Annex II.

3. The amount deemed necessary for carrying out the programme, as indicated above, could increase as a result of and in accordance with the Decision referred to in Article 1 (3) of Decision . . ./. . ./EC (Fourth Framework Programme).

4. The budgetary authority shall determine the appropriations available for each financial year in accordance with the priorities set in the Fourth Framework Programme.

Article 3

Detailed rules for implementing this programme, in addition to those referred to in Article 5, are set out in Annex III.

Article 4

1. The Commission shall continuously and systematically monitor, with appropriate assistance from independent, external experts, progress within this programme in relation to the objectives set out in Annex I. It shall in particular assess whether the objectives, priorities and financial resources are still appropriate. Where appropriate, it shall submit proposals to adapt or supplement this programme depending on the results of this monitoring process.

2. In order to contribute to the overall assessment of Community activities provided for in Article 4 (2) of the Decision adopting the Fourth Framework Programme, the Commission shall, in due course, have an assessment made by independent experts of the activities carried out in the field directly covered by this programme, and of their management during the five years preceding the assessment.

3. At the end of this programme, the Commission shall instruct independent experts to conduct a final evaluation of the results achieved compared with the objectives set out in Annex III to the Fourth Framework Programme and Annex I to this Decision. The final evaluation report shall be forwarded to the Council, the European Parliament and the Economic and Social Committee.

Article 5

1. A work programme shall be drawn up by the Commission in accordance with the objectives set out in Annex I and shall be updated where appropriate. It shall set out the detailed objectives and specify the stages in the implementation of the programme and the corresponding financial arrangements.

The work programme may also provide for participation in certain activities within the Eureka framework.

2. The Commission shall issue calls for proposals for projects on the basis of the work programme.

Article 6

1. The Commission shall be responsible for the implementation of the programme.

2. In the cases provided for in Article 7 (1) the Commission shall be assisted by a committee consisting of representatives of the Member States and chaired by the representative of the Commission.

The representative of the Commission shall submit to the committee a draft of the measures to be taken. The committee shall deliver its opinion on the draft within a time limit which the chairman may lay down according to the urgency of the matter. The opinion shall be delivered by the majority laid down in Article 148 (2) of the Treaty in the case of Decisions which the Council is required to adopt on a proposal from the Commission. The votes of the representatives of the Member States within the committee shall be weighted in the manner set out in that Article. The chairman shall not vote.

The Commission shall adopt the measures envisaged if they are in accordance with the opinion of the committee.

If the measures envisaged are not in accordance with the opinion of the committee, or if no opinion is delivered, the Commission shall, without delay, submit to the Council a proposal relating to the measures to be taken. The Council shall act by a qualified majority.

If, on the expiry of a period of one month from the date of referral to the Council, the Council has not acted, the proposed measures shall be adopted by the Commission.

Article 7

1. The procedure laid down in Article 6 (2) shall apply to:

- the establishment and updating of the work programme referred to in Article 5 (1),

- the evaluation of the RTD projects proposed for Community funding and of the estimated amount of project funding, where this exceeds ECU 2 million per year,

- the measures to be undertaken to evaluate the programme,

- any changes to the indicative breakdown of the amount allocated set out in Annex II that has not been the subject of a budgetary decision.

2. The Commission shall inform the Committee, at each of its meetings, of progress with the implementation of the programme as a whole.

Article 8

The Commission is authorized to negotiate, in accordance with Article 228 (1), international agreements with European third countries with a view to involving them in all or part of the programme.

Article 9

This Decision is addressed to the Member States.

(1) COM(93) 700 final, 5. 12. 1993.

ANNEX I

OBJECTIVES AND SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL CONTENT

The Information Technologies Specific Programme fully reflects the orientations of the Fourth Framework Programme, applying the criteria for selection and specifying the scientific and technological objectives.

Paragraph I.1.C of Annex III to the Framework Programme forms an integral part of the Specific Programme.

The new focus of RTD in the Information Technologies Specific Programme is the emerging information infrastructure, which will provide the basis of the information society of the future. The RTD areas proposed are those most vital to the development of the infrastructure, taking into account the need for selectivity and concentration of effort, and with the objective of improving the competitiveness of all industry and the employment situation in the European Union, and of enhancing the quality of life.

CONTEXT

Since the emergence of digital computing in the late 1940s, the use of information technologies has been extending ever further into economic and social life. For the first three decades this was largely a matter of individual computers with limited local networking, installed in companies and administrations to do specific tasks. They were small islands of information technology, difficult to use and expensive to run. In the last 10 years, with the emergence of the personal computer, digital communications networks, international standards, and open systems, all driven by the sometimes astonishing pace of technological advance, the islands have grown and are beginning to merge.

Information technologies now increasingly underpin all production and service industries, as well as the provision of societal services such as health, education, transport and entertainment. In addition to professional work-stations, servers, and mainframes, there are an estimated 140 million personal computers in the world today. But around three times as many embedded computers bring competitive advantage to conventional products like telephones, televisions, toys, cameras, cars and washing machines as well as to high technology equipment and enterprise processes.

We are at the beginning of the transition to a new information infrastructure of society and industry, a point which marks the onset of a qualitative transformation in the impact of information technologies after 40 years of quantitative growth. The information infrastructure is the set of services and technologies providing easy access to usable information to any citizen or enterprise, at any time, in any place. For the citizen it is the long-anticipated 'global village', for the enterprise it is the 'global workbench'. The infrastructure brings together information processing, information storage and retrieval, information transmission and the information content itself. The most crucial aspect of the infrastructure will be the usability and manageability of information: IT has enabled us to make very large amounts of information available - the next challenge is to enable us to make sense of it.

This new stage in the growth of the information society compares in some of its aspects with the transition in the 1930s to a new industrial-economic system based on cheap oil and mass production, and before that in the 1880s from craft production to cheap iron and bulk production. As on those two previous occasions, the transition is accompanied by economic downturn, unemployment, and drastic restructuring in industry.

The information technology industries themselves find margins squeezed and profits falling at the same time as the application of information technologies becomes ever more widespread. Boundaries are being eroded, between supplier and users, between the professional and the consumer markets, and between the IT industries and other industrial sectors. A new 'digital industry' is growing up.

The return to a strong economy and fuller employment, not just in the information technology sector but in all industries, will be heavily influenced by the speed and success with which structural transformation can be completed and the new information infrastructure can be put into place.

Behind the growth of information technologies, and of the information infrastructure of the future, lies a massive research and development effort. As technological development accelerates and competitive pressures increase, as the complexity and cost of RTD grow, enterprises and institutions need to look more widely to find the expertise and critical mass they need. The Community programme for RTD in IT, Esprit, has since 1984 helped address these needs at a European level.

Under the Fourth Framework Programme the IT programme proposes new approaches and orientations in order to meet the new requirements of the 1990s, while building on the past achievements of Esprit.

In the 1980s the programme followed a technology-push policy aimed at a growing IT industry. In the 1990s, with the new focus on the development of the information infrastructure and the emphasis on access and usability, the programme is to a greater extent be led by the needs of users and the market. The overall objective is to contribute to the healthy growth of the information infrastructure so as to improve the competitiveness of all industry in Europe and to help enhance the quality of life.

The IT programme needs to be focused and selective in order to ensure the cost-effective use of resources and to avoid dispersal of effort. Focus comes not only from a careful selection of technical content, but also from the way in which RTD is carried out. In terms of content the RTD areas chosen must be those which give most leverage in building up the information infrastructure, which emphasize access, usability and best practice, and which foster Europe's command of generic technologies. At the same time the programme must give the right stimulus to the European IT industries.

The new technologies, processes and techniques to be developed within the proposed IT programme are selected on the basis of their potential for contributing to competitiveness by helping increase the productivity of European industry. They have an indirect effect on productivity through their capacity for improving the working environment and so creating a more effective work force. They provide the basis for the transition to new business processes and new modes of industrial operation - a transition that European enterprises must master to remain globally competitive. The technologies and processes are an essential element in the creation of the high value-added economy. In addition, by stimulating technology transfer and the training of engineers the programme helps generate the skills and human resources needed for the emerging information society, and prepare Europe's work force for the jobs of the future.

Activities concerned with the analysis of technological and industrial evolution and of the socio-economic impact of IT RTD will be reinforced. They will provide a general framework of understanding permitting a better articulation of the relationship between RTD policy and industrial objectives and strategy.

The programme will have to be responsive enough to keep pace with rapidly evolving user needs and with the accelerating rate of technological development. It is difficult to predict in detail all RTD needs several years ahead, and consequently there has to be the flexibility to adjust and adapt.

The programme will seek to be cohesion-friendly by providing interfaces for the use of Structural Funds in RTD. To add the maximum value to its RTD activities, the programme proposes where appropriate to pursue coordination with Eureka, offering the scope to bring results closer to market, as well as with relevant initiatives in Member States.

RTD ACTIVITIES

To meet these changing requirements the IT programme proposes new orientations both in technical content and in implementation. Turning first to implementation, the programme proposes to put a greater emphasis on networks of excellence, and to make use of supplier-user collaborations and streamlined management procedures. It will introduce a number of focused clusters, a new RTD modality which builds on the experience of the Open Microprocessor Systems Initiative (OMI). In all RTD activities a strong commitment on the part of industry to exploit the results of collaboration will be expected.

A number of networks of excellence have already been launched as part of Esprit in the Third Framework Programme. A network of excellence brings together industry, users, universities and research centres with a common research objective. A network combines the critical mass of centres of excellence with the benefits for training and technology transfer deriving from geographical spread. Networks of excellence can be particularly beneficial for groups in outlying regions through the channel they provide for training, technology transfer, and access to expertise and resources.

Supplier-user collaborations supplement joint research projects. Supplier enterprises and users between them form a consortium to pursue demonstrably new RTD, with the users having a particular interest in taking up and exploiting the results of the collaboration. This can help circumvent the problems high technology companies with innovative products face in reaching customers.

Participation in the programme will be further facilitated by the introduction of streamlined procedures in accordance with proposals under discussion within the Commission. The aims will be to simplify the call and evaluation process, and reduce the cost of preparing proposals.

Focused clusters represent a major innovative modality in this specific programme. A cluster is a set of activities covering a number of technology areas but with a single well-defined goal. As well as collaborative research projects, a cluster may incorporate other kinds of activity, as its specific needs dictate. These may include networks of excellence, association of suppliers and users, cooperation with Eureka, coordination with national initiatives, international cooperation, dissemination of results, or training initiatives. Individual activities within a cluster may have a duration shorter than the life-span of the whole cluster. Activities initiated at the outset will terminate while the cluster is still active, and new activities will be started up. Flexibility will be provided, giving participants, industry, governments and the Community the opportunity to refine or redefine options in response to changing needs or a new understanding of needs.

The infrastructure and best practice approach that characterizes the new programme provides SMEs with readier and more open access to RTD activities. To make effective use of this improved access, specific procedures will be put in place to stimulate SME participation in the programme, taking into account the complexity and cost of forming consortia and preparing proposals, and drawing upon successful past initiatives aimed at SMEs, including CRAFT and grants covering exploratory phases of activities. Networks of excellence, supplier-user collaborations and focused clusters provide further stimulus for SME participation.

The technical content of the programme focuses on the areas which are most important for the development of the information infrastructure, and where, taking account of the principle of subsidiarity, Community action will make the best use of the resources available. The work of the programme is directed both at the more basic or underpinning technologies, and at selected topics which integrate technologies into systems. In addition long term research is proposed where effort at a European level has the potential to lead to future breakthroughs.

Software is a major element in the information infrastructure, and already represents over half the value of computers and embedded systems. The programme concentrates on techniques and best practice in a limited number of software technologies enabling the production of reliable, correct, efficient and usable software. Electronic components and subsystems are the physical building blocks of the information infrastructure needed for systems and applications across all industrial sectors. The programme concentrates on RTD into semiconductors in areas where European industry needs the capability and can be competitive, with a particular emphasis on advanced integrated circuits for specific applications; peripherals, and in particular the flat panel displays and compact memory systems; and the emerging field of microsystems. Multimedia technologies will provide the human interface of the future to the information infrastructure. The programme concentrates on the technologies needed for the creation, manipulation, display, and storage of multimedia information. Multimedia data transmission and applications will be covered in the telecommunications and telematics programmes.

The focused cluster technologies for business processes addresses the integration of enterprises into the information infrastructure, and the effective use of IT in business. This is an area where major gains in competitiveness are just beginning to be seen. RTD in ICT for integration in manufacturing and microsystems has as its objective the development of new ICT solutions for the support of advanced and innovative manufacturing and engineering processes. It draws upon and integrates basic IT technologies in software engineering, open systems, computer-aided design, data modelling, database design, and microelectronics. RTD in the Industrial Technologies programme draws upon information technologies as well as other generic technologies in an effort directed towards innovation and concrete application in specific manufacturing domains, and, in turn, provides inputs, knowledge and expertise for future RTD in information technologies. For the complementarity between the two programmes to be operationally assured, coordination and an active interface will be maintained throughout their execution.

The open microprocessor systems initiative continues the work begun under the Third Framework Programme on the development of standards and technologies for open microprocessor systems, an area also of major importance for embedded systems. The high performance computing and networking focused cluster aims at the enhancement of Europe's capability to exploit computing technologies offering the highest performance, a capability which is indispensable both for embedded systems in the infrastructure as well as for maintaining competitiveness in a growing range of industries.

The rationale and content for each domain is described in what follows.

SOFTWARE TECHNOLOGIES

The objective of work in this domain is to enhance Europe's software production capability, by stimulating the spread of software best practice with a view to improving productivity, quality and reliability, and by fostering European capabilities in emerging software technologies and in distributed information processing.

Software is increasingly becoming the major cost component in IT systems, a trend further emphasised by IT users, who produce 70 % of all software and exert a growing influence in this area. The demand for the development and monitoring of software intensive systems is growing much faster thanm the supply. In consequence all industrial countries are facing the need for improved productivity and higher quality. Methods and tools for the production of adaptable and evolving software intensive systems at an affordable price are now an essential requirement for all enterprises. Furthermore, all industrial countries are suffering a shortage of skills and a lack of well established industrial approaches. New applications introduce a continuing stream of new technical challenges for the professional software producer.

Modern information processing systems exhibit an increasing tendency towards the distribution of function and information, so as better to match the nature of the organizations that the systems serve. This evolution is evident not only in business data processing but also in industrial control and embedded systems. However the development of dependable, extensible and usable systems with these characteristics presents a special challenge. Such systems are already radically reducing the cost of computing for users. For hardware and software vendors and service suppliers, this segment of the IT market is now forecast to become a key battleground by the mid 1990s. It is an arena in which, at this stage, no company dominates and in which Europe has strongly developed capabilities. Action in this area will help position European industry in this highly competitive and strategic market, as well as providing essential elements of the European information infrastructure. It will contribute to bringing the benefits that can be offered by the progressive 'digitalization' of the social infrastructure to the individual citizen and to the less-favoured regions of the Community.

To address these issues work will concentrate on a number of areas: technology transfer and dissemination of software best practice; methods and tools for best practice; emerging software technologies; open distributed computing platforms; technologies for distributed database systems; and advanced techniques for human-computer interaction. There will be close coordination with related work in other specific programmes. According to needs work will be reinforced by accompanying measures to accelerate the take up of new technologies, to maintain awareness of new potentialities, to develop synergies with other European and national initiatives, to promote participation in the standardization process, and to establish international collaboration.

Technology transfer initiatives will be deployed to promote the take up of new software production technologies and to increase skill levels on a broad scale. Industrial experiments will be targeted at improving and upgrading software development practice through incorporation of new processes, methods and support tooling. Dissemination actions aimed at raising awareness of best practice by establishing communities of common interest across industrial sectors and national boundaries will also be put in place as will training for the introduction of new practice aimed, in particular, at the management level. The activities will be closely coordinated with, and complementary to, existing dissemination mechanisms, wherever possible.

In the area of methods and tools RTD will be undertaken to improve integration techniques for open and distributed systems, paying particular attention to quality, reliability and safety of software intensive systems. Techniques and tools will be addressed to support process modelling and rapid evolution of requirements and technologies. Work on emerging development paradigms such as concurrent engineering and cooperative development will be carried out to provide packaged methods and tools for enterprise wide software support. In addition work will be carried out on the organization of the software development process.

A third area will aim to develop and experiment with emerging software technologies providing reasoning capabilities, allowing intelligence, flexibility and adaptation, and supporting modelling, reuse, and sharing of various levels of knowledge. Frameworks and integration techniques to build cooperating or distributed intelligent systems and to model enterprise wide or application sector knowledge assets will be addressed. This RTD midterm work will be driven by generic needs such as the development and demonstration of complex, distributed decision intensive applications which are present in every sector of human activities and which will have a positive impact on European competitiveness as well as on integration and cohesion.

Work on open distributed computing platforms will address the architecture of open distributed systems with particular reference to issues of portability, dependability, interoperability and standards; the development of key components, in particular, middleware components for the management of information, access, and distribution of function. Special attention will be paid to the development and promotion of packaged software. To complement the RTD activities, actions will be initiated to establish dialogues with key user and standards groups concerned with open systems, including X/Open and EWOS. Major applications demonstrators will be developed and impovements in the practice of building open, distributed systems will be achieved via specific themes in the Software Best Practice activity. The Open Systems movement is global and will be based on the establishment of internationally accepted standards. Links will be made with the key activities in both the USA and Japan. Cooperation with developing countries and those of eastern Europe will be promoted.

A further area is concerned with advanced technologies for distributed database systems. Activities will cover technologies for large-scale object based repositories; techniques for knowledge embedding in and extraction from such repositories; interoperability, resilience and recovery of distributed systems; and methods and tools for supporting and applying these advances. Work will be carried out on tools for the management of distributed statistical data and on the way in which advanced technologies could benefit the collection, analysis, diffusion and representation of data.

The final area addresses technologies that will offer increased human comfort and security in dealing with information technology systems. In achieving this new opportunities are opened up with the promise of increased and wider markets for IT based products. RTD work will be carried out to better understand the user-system interaction, such as cognitive modelling, interaction models, media and metaphors, and cooperative work. The development and consolidation of emerging technologies will be pursued. These activities will be closely related to upstream research, and will build on and contribute to standards and help maintain awareness of the potentialities of the new technologies.

TECHNOLOGIES FOR IT COMPONENTS AND SUBSYSTEMS

The objective of this domain is to provide European industry with the technologies and capabilities to design and produce components and subsystems in three key areas: semiconductors, microsystems, and peripherals.

The on-time availability of low cost, high performance and high reliability integrated semiconductor components and subsystems represents an essential requirement for system houses to develop competitive electronic systems in markets such as consumer electronics, data processing, and the automotive and telecommunications industries. In addition to providing the technology foundation for traditional electronic and electrical sectors, microelectronics is increasingly extending its impact to a wider range of processes, products and services in virtually all other industrial sectors, with important consequences for industrial innovation and competitiveness overall in the Community. The maintenance of European expertise is particularly important in the field of advanced integrated circuits for specific applications, where local sources of supply are vital for ensuring short design and production time scales and for protection of the applications know-how which gives competitive advantage.

The potential economic impact of integrated microsystems technologies rests both on the direct market segment it addresses and on the leveraging effect it creates on other industrial sectors. Products incorporating microsystems will range from hearing aids, analytical and medical instruments to CD players and automotive subsystems, and will cover both mass produced goods and a wide variety of specialized microsystems for high added value applications where the combination of performance, size, flexibility and robustness are critical factors of success. Medical diagnostic and delivery systems, artificial organs, environmental monitoring and control, safety and security issues, and reduced energy consumption requirements are the main systems application fields where the impact will translate into improved quality of life.

Flat panel displays have wide application in portable and high definition projection television sets, in graphic and multimedia systems, and in interactive CD. In the semiprofessional field, flat panel displays will be found in video phones, automotive applications and electronic workstations. They will become a fully integrated part of new products, requiring a close cooperation between components and device manufacturers. Memory subsystems represent a second field of peripherals technology which is crucial for the whole of the electronics industry. They are associated with all the applications mentioned above. High-resolution displays, graphics systems and multimedia systems in particular demand very high capacity high speed memories. Digital memory subsystems are currently used for audio, image and video information including in portable applications. In addition there will be selected activities in the field of home system peripherals, addressing the integration of home automation devices and appliances into a unified system, so for example helping to rationalize energy consumption.

Work on semiconductors will concentrate on those technologies likely to be in major use towards the end of the decade and to have a major impact on applications. These include silicon-based technologies and the most promising compound semiconductor technologies, in particular gallium arsenide. All aspects of the process, including design, packaging, testing, manufacturing and equipment, will be supported. Some work may be undertaken in conjunction with the Eureka initiative. Integration of advanced components into advanced integrated circuits for specific applications will be emphasized.

RTD tasks will focus on the following areas: generic technologies aimed at lower size, lower cost, higher functionality and complexity, as well as higher speed, lower power millimetric and microwave integrated circuits for high frequency applications; generic system integration technologies with an emphasis on electrical and optical interconnectivity and packaging, for systems consisting of active and passive components; advanced system design methodologies and tools, for digital, analogue and mixed applications; electronic device technologies and system integration, in particular for advanced peripheral and storage systems, communication networks, optical computers, and microsystems; effective manufacturability of next generation ICs for small and large volume production; concepts and technologies for flexible fast turn around manufacturing facilities for advanced integrated circuits for specific applications, in particular providing easy and cheap access for SMEs; integration of design and technology capabilities in pilot demonstrations aimed at specific applications of significant economic and social impact, or at extending the impact of microelectronics to more traditional industria sectors; microelectronics aspects of sensors and microsystems; and multifunction system applications.

Technology transfer and dissemination activities will be directed at the reinforcement of links between equipment/materials and IC manufacturers, through working groups, industrial associations or networks; and at the establishment of closer relationships between IC manufacturers and users, through a network of centres of competence in circuit/system design, manufacture and testing. In support of training, networks of enterprises, research institutes and universities will be established, providing qualified personnel to industry, for the fabrication and use of innovative manufacturing tools and methods, and in circuit and system design and testing. Training initiatives will also be established to increase the awareness of potential users of advanced integrated circuits for specific applications, notably SMEs, and to provide them with expertise in particular in the translation of their system requirements into hardware specifications. International collaboration will be established in specific fields, and there will be appropriate coordination with national initiatives in Member States.

Work on integrated microsystems will focus on the multidisciplinary design, manufacture and test of microsystems, and integration and packaging methods, in coordination with the programme on industrial and materials technologies and with other specific programmes concerned. RTD will be directed primarily towards the technological needs of three major application fields: automotive, where microsystems will have a key role in the realization of the clean safe car of the future; medical engineering, where microsystems are needed for portable intelligent medical diagnostic and delivery systems; and the monitoring and control of processes influencing the cleanness of the environment.

Work will address all phases of the realization of microsystems, from conceptual and detailed microsystems design, through the integration of existing basic technologies, to the demonstration of industrial prototypes. Small and large scale manufacturing aspects will also be addressed. Activities of special importance will include: design of microsystems; integration of components such as optical, biochemical, sensors, and actuators, with microelectronics subsystems and components; packaging and interconnection of integrated microsystems; interfacing to other micro- and macrosystems and to the physical world; software integration (system and application); specific equipment requirements; manufacturing requirements and routes; and testing and quality assurance. Know-how and experience obtained in the course of the focused RTD will be used as the basis for other application spin-offs.

To support work directed towards the three application fields, additional activities will be carried out on the integration of a wide range of technologies which form the basis of microsystem production, among them microelectronics, microoptics, micromechanics and microchemistry, drawing on results developed elsewhere in the Framework Programme.

The potentially wide applicability of microsystems and the inherent difficulties in mastering microsystems technologies necessitate the creation of efficient Community-wide mechanisms for dissemination and technology transfer. Of particular importance is the stimulation of conditions for SMEs to develop innovative microsystems at low cost and to incorporate them into their products. These needs will be addressed by the dissemination and transfer of technology through technical interest groups and networks of excellence. Access to low-cost manufacturing and other assistance, particularly for SMEs, will be provided through the creation or enhancement of specialized mini-fabrication facilities combined with appropriate service mechanisms.

Interdisciplinary training for the development and utilization of microsystems is of key importance. Use will be made both of existing mechanisms in some of the contributing basic technologies (for example the VLSI design training action) and of new mechanisms. Industrial training schemes will be organized through the existing industrial and trade associations with the help of centres of excellence.

Work in the area of flat panel displays will build on results achieved in the Third Framework Programme, in particular in the field of Active Matrix LCD for applications needing large full- colour displays. Activities will be directed towards the development of low-cost high-resolution thin-screen display components, emphasising improvement in visual quality of displays, especially for portable equipment, and increased screen size and flatness. Active matrix LCD technology is of particular importance, exhibiting the most attractive features in term of colour and resolution, but other display technologies will also be addressed, such as field effect displays and ferro electric displays for very low cost and low power applications. Requirements will be defined through cooperation between the user and supplier industry. In the field of memory subsystems work will cover increased capacity, compactness and read/write performance to support multimedia systems and real-time high definition video. Technologies to be addressed include magneto-optic and magnetic disks. Work on home systems peripherals will concentrate on technologies for the devices required to link home appliances into a domestic system and for the peripherals needed to support user interactivity.

Supporting activities will include an industrial training programme in the field of display and memory subsystem design, a Special Interest Group involving industrial and consumer representatives, and a special action to encourage European production of strategic materials and components for the peripheral industry. Coordination with national initiatives will be established to increase the overall value to the Community. International cooperation will be particularly important in the field of display technologies, where joint ventures bringing together the interests of several industrial partners are essential for success.

MULTIMEDIA TECHNOLOGIES

The objective of this domain is to support strategic RTD in generic information technologies which underpin multimedia end-user systems and applications. Specific work will be undertaken on technologies for integrated personal systems, which represent one of the main market opportunities in the area of multimedia systems.

The emergence of a market for multimedia systems, allowing the seamless integration of voice, video, text, sound, animation and graphics, has been predicted for a decade. Only now have advances in microelectronics performance, software techniques, standards and digital communications allowed multimedia systems to become a reality. It is expected that multimedia systems will be taken up first in customised applications in business and the home, in education, manufacturing, financial services, medicine, transport, insurance, retail, tourism and entertainment, including games, films and television. New levels of productivity are expected to be achieved in business and education as a result of multimedia techniques.

The market for personal systems is just beginning to emerge and offers considerable scope for expansion. There are as yet no clear market winners. Europe is already strong in the technologies needed, such as smart-card technology, secure protocols, embedded systems and application-specific software, and has the lead in low-power components and in secure, smart encryption devices. This new market offers an opportunity for Europe to cover most of the production cycle, from micro-components through systems to applications development, providing a basis for boosting competitiveness in other application fields.

Activities in the domain will be coordinated with work in other specific programmes. Whereas the IT programme is concerned with work on tools and standards for basic multimedia processing, the advanced communications programme covers technologies for multimedia transmission and service management, and those relating to digital video services, and the telematics programme addresses the issue of integrating such research results into multimedia systems and services for selected applications areas. It is expected that over the period of the programme there will be considerable convergence of the IT, communications, consumer electronics, information publishing and entertainment industries, a trend which will be fully taken into account.

The domain will provide generic and enabling technologies to allow the creation, manipulation, display, and storage of multimedia information. RTD includes the specification of appropriate components, for example video compression/decompression chips, high capacity optical memory and processors, and liquid crystal displays, and their integration into advanced multimedia systems; standards for multimedia storage, representation, and compression/decompression; and generic multimedia software. The area of software includes multimedia extensions to existing system software and tools; creative tools providing software objects in the various media - video, audio, animation, painting and drawing; and authoring tools which allow multimedia user-friendly custom applications to be built from the individual media objects. The integration of hardware and software elements will be demonstrated in systems for a variety of end-user applications.

Work in the domain will build on strong European results already developed under the previous Framework Programmes, including CD-I, MPEG video standards, and multimedia systems and tools. Challenges are presented by intellectual property issues, including copyright of the media objects, ease of use, current network limitations, and the integration of technologies for multimedia applications, particularly with existing hardware and software.

Work on personal systems will concentrate on two topics: the development of technologies for multi-function, integrated user access devices capable of handling multimedia data, including the electronic wallet and personal and group communicators; and the application of technological advances in the information provider industry to enable them to satisfy the ever increasing user demand for efficient services. These two aspects cover the application sides of the complete system solution that, for its full deployment, will rely on existing wireless network and telecommunication infrastructures, and will take into account new development activities in these areas which are covered in the telecommunications and telematics programmes.

Supporting activities include the training of designers and authors of multimedia applications. A Special Interest Group involving both technology suppliers and the authoring industry will provide information dissemination in both directions to support industrial cooperation, and to achieve consensus on standards. Close links will be established with other generic technology initiatives, particularly those on peripherals, microelectronics, software engineering and microprocessors.

LONG-TERM RESEARCH

The intensive RTD effort needed to increase the turnover from the laboratory to the market, in a rapidly changing technological scene, engenders the risk of 'short-termism'. A long term industrial vision providing a frame of reference for shorter term research is essential but difficult to achieve when the pressure is great to bring the next product to market immediately. At the same time concentration on shorter term research risks depriving industry of those human resources which are needed to make the next wave of innovation possible and to respond to specific industrial needs for advanced research. A Community investment in advanced and long term research will promote strong and targeted industry/academia cooperation and will ensure that by improving our competitiveness in the short term we de not mortgage our medium and long term technological future. Activities will thus be aimed at ensuring that at any one time:

- the potential for 'the next wave of innovation' is maintained, compatibly with the shorter term views dictated by rapid technological change;

- scarce expertise underpinning European information technology RTD is replenished in those areas where it is most needed.

These goals will be achieved through networks of excellence and upstream RTD projects.

Thematic networks of excellence will ensure that, in any one theme, a framework for coordinating RTD, technology transfer, training, as well as a common infrastructure is dynamically maintained by the technological community itself (suppliers, users and researchers). These coordination frameworks, in which the vision of industry would be the key determinant, are expected to play a central role in focusing RTD activities of both long and short-term nature.

Upstream RTD projects will fall into two categories:

- Advanced projects involving a high but assessable technological risk whose success would have a direct impact on industrial competitiveness. Projects in this category would often contribute to the solution of specific problems identified in a framework of coordination with other parts of the programme - a short term action can provide an important contribution to a long term goal. A project does not in itself need to result directly in a product or service if it can contribute to such products or services being generated in several projects downstream.

- Projects characterized by their potential to produce breakthroughs with long term but clear industrial implications and, therefore, by definition unconstrained by the downstream work carried out at any one time.

Projects in both categories will also be selected on their ability to induce the generation of human resources in fields with identifiable shortages, as well as on the complementarity of the skills brought together, especially in interdisciplinary fields.

The technological areas to be addressed will not be circumscribed because proposals will be expected to respond to opportunities and to needs as they arise in other parts of the programme. It is expected that many activities would be related to upstream aspects of RTD activities undertaken in other parts of the programme, ensuring their maintenance and expansion in time.

FOCUSED CLUSTER: OPEN MICROPROCESSOR SYSTEMS INITIATIVE

The objective of the Open Microprocessor Systems Initiative (OMI) is to provide Europe with a recognized capability in microprocessor systems, and to promote their broad acceptance in applications systems, both within Europe and world-wide.

Microprocessors with their associated software form the intelligence of electronic systems. Their application ranges from sophisticated control systems for aerospace, robotics, industrial control and telecommunications, to mobile telephones, consumer electronics, automobiles, and general-purpose computer systems from supercomputers to notebook PCs. The microprocessor market is currently dominated by US suppliers, who provide microprocessors based on CISC technology (Complex Instruction-Set Computing) used in more than 80 % of current systems and in almost all computers. However new markets are emerging in embedded systems, that is, systems not programmable by the end-user. Strength in advanced RISC (Reduced Instruction-Set Computing) microprocessing, the leading edge technology, represents a significant opportunity for European industry to improve its competitive position and provide new employment by the end of the decade, not only in the microprocessor and systems software business but in a broad range of user industries, and particularly in embedded systems.

OMI will build on work started under the Third Framework Programme, which itself draws on activities supported by a number of Member States, and on results in microelectronics, software, applications systems integration, and standards from all parts of Esprit and elsewhere. Its aim is to concentrate and co-ordinate efforts in microprocessor systems RTD throughout the Community in order to provide the critical mass which will enable European industry to compete effectively world-wide.

OMI aims to succeed by providing components for use in embedded systems applications, but with the intention also of eventually supporting the computer industry. The whole range of microprocessor systems, from very high performance to very low power, is addressed. OMI concentrates on an intercept strategy with existing non-European technology, as well as on the next generation of technology beyond (to year-2000). Given the major use by European companies of microprocessors, a viable European alternative should be provided as well as a smooth migration path from currently available to new technology.

OMI will make use of results from all parts of the Community's Framework Programme and elsewhere. Within OMI longer term generic RTD will address work in advanced microprocessor systems components and tools, both hardware and software. This includes high-performance microprocessors of a range of architectures, digital signal processors, fuzzy logic, analogue to digital converters and other on-chip functions; advanced technologies for new kinds of processors; design, debug and test environments for on-chip systems; systems software including software portability mechanisms; and standards.

Additional activities will integrate the results of the previous generation of projects started under the Third Framework Programme, aiming to speed uptake of OMI results through applications pilots of on-chip systems in user industries. The work will concentrate on the electronic and software subsystems needed for the application, and not normally on the entire application system. The latter may be supported by Eureka, ESA and other European research frameworks, Member State initiatives and other Community programmes. Applications pilots will be selected based on committed industrial interest and broad social and economic benefits.

Potential fields of application include automotive control systems for pollution and energy control, for communications and for geographic vehicle positioning; communications systems ranging from advanced switching to portable telephony; customized systems for process control and robotics in manufacturing; advanced multimedia systems; aerospace and other high performance embedded applications. User industry participation will be an integral part of all RTD work, so as to make user requirements known to technology suppliers, and to seed early uptake of the results in industry. The aim is to speed up the systems integration process, through 'vertical integration' (microprocessor producer, software supplier, systems integrator, all working together), leading both to stronger systems supplier and user industries and to more high technology employment.

Efficient mechanisms will be provided to disseminate and transfer results throughout the Community and world-wide. This will be achieved by conferences, technical interest groups and networks of excellence; by regional design and conformance testing centres to assist particularly SMEs in the exploitation of OMI technology; and by an OMI portability action, which will promote on-chip microprocessor systems standards as well as the virtual binary interface standard, demonstrating value in portability experiments. Activities will be coordinated as appropriate with initiatives in Member States.

Both industrial training schemes and training through the universities and centres of excellence, for example by enhancing existing mechanisms such as the VLSI training action, will be supported. International cooperation is envisaged, both in the USA and Japan, particularly in the field of open standards for supercell libraries and systems software.

FOCUSED CLUSTER HIGH PERFORMANCE COMPUTING AND NETWORKING

The objective of this focused cluster is to exploit the opportunities provided by high-performance computing and networking, to expand its application potential, and so to speed the pace of innovation and serve the economy as a whole.

Recent technological developments in computing and networking promise revolutionary qualitative and quantitative changes in the use of the new generation of computing and communications systems. Shorter time to market and better product quality will be the main motivation for uptake by industrial users. A thousand-fold improvement in the cost/performance ratio for computing and networking systems will make feasible an increasing number of new applications, previously impossible, and will emerge as major demand driver. Experiments will be substituted by computer simulation in an increasing number of industries, including traditional ones. Moreover, the use of HPCN systems for commercial applications is expected to be taken up vigorously in the second half of the decade. High-speed networking at affordable cost will allow distributed image-based applications and bring multimedia systems to full fruition. Existing scalar/vector systems will be complemented with parallel systems in the shorter term, and parallel systems and clustered workstation technologies are expected to converge to provide scalable heterogeneous multi-computer networks by the year 2000.

The priorities of the cluster are as follows:

- to overcome barriers to the exploitation of the underlying technologies, notably in the field of HPCN applications and software, by improving programmability, ease of use, and portability. Standardization will pay a key role for market acceptance of these new applications;

- to stimulate the development of the underlying information and communication systems technologies towards the provision of flexible heterogeneous multi-computer networks satisfying a broad range of user requirements, on the basis of the principles of scalability and interoperability;

- to build on existing European strengths in terms of application focus, human resources, and scientific and technological capability; to take advantage of existing infrastructures and programmes, and, where appropriate, to provide Community added value through catalytic action.

The work of the cluster will be organized around five coordinated sets of activities, where possible drawing together and building upon other activities in the Framework Programme, in the initiatives of Member States, and elsewhere. The first three sets address applications of major industrial relevance. The underlying generic systems and software technologies will be addressed in a fourth coordinated set. The fifth addresses complementary concerted actions. Cooperation between users and suppliers of systems and services will help to specify evolving user requirements for future generation HPCN systems. The essential RTD on communications and on network management is addressed in the telecommunications Specific Programme.

The first set of activities concerns simulation and design applications. The objective is to demonstrate new applications which need HPCN capabilities for cost-effective solution, and which have a clear impact on industrial performance, shorter time to market and better product quality. The emphasis will be on computational fluid dynamics, materials dynamics, electromagnetics, molecular modelling and other chemical-pharmaceutical applications. The rapidly increasing flow of skilled personnel able to use HPCN systems will make possible distributed applications in accordance with user requirements. A longer-term objective is to address advanced complex, and ultimately complete, simulation systems combining several disciplines.

Activities in information management applications aim to demonstrate the economic viability of HPCN techniques in the fields of complex decision support and high performance online transaction. The focus of activities is determined by the need for complex multi-functional adaptable, highly reliable and safe solutions. Activities include the application of HPCN to complex data analysis, storage and retrieval of information in large and distributed bases and the application of image-based human-computer interfaces. Sensitivity to new solutions and approaches at management level need to be developed through specific actions.

The third set aims to promote the use of generic HPCN technologies for embedded systems applications of particular economic relevance, such as quality control, advance surveillance, complex control and intelligent machinery. Activities include complex signal processing, pattern recognition, image processing and understanding and applications with specific real-time requirements. Emphasis will be placed on the use of commodity components and subsystems and on the specification of architectures suitable for standardization.

A fourth set on software and systems technology will support the development of this new generation of user oriented HPCN systems. Work will draw upon activities in software, semiconductor and multimedia technologies. It will ease the use of a wide range of applications, user environments for the use of parallel, distributed and embedded systems, advanced systems architectures, and subsystems such as computation and information servers and advanced human-computer interfaces, generic system aspects of distributed database management and distributed processing. Proof of concept and of the economic viability of new ways of computing, including optical computing and neural networks, will also be addressed. The emergence of heterogeneous multi-computer networks will be stimulated by the development of computer-to-computer and computer-to-network interfaces, including their operational protocols, and associated demonstration and validation activities. Standardization and common practices amongst a widespread group of users and vendors will be encouraged.

Supporting activities will complement the work to support the development of a pan-European HPCN environment and infrastructure by achieving appropriate coordination with complementary activities and programmes. In this context, concerted actions will be organized in the form of networks which aim at spurring training by research and technology transfer to industrial users. Applications experiments normally building on existing infrastructures and requiring a Community dimension will be supported and will help users to evaluate the opportunities and facilitate the accelerated uptake of HPCN technologies.

RTD activities will be coordinated with relevant Eureka projects, and national and regional programmes. To accelerate the emergence of widely accepted HPCN products and technologies, links and, where appropriate, specific international cooperation will be established.

FOCUSED CLUSTER: TECHNOLOGIES FOR BUSINESS PROCESSES

To increase productivity and ensure competitiveness many enterprises are re-engineering their business processes, resulting in new work arrangements. A major feature of this re-engineering is the integration of business processes across the business functions such as sales, product development and finance. Another feature is more group working, often across departments. A third feature is a move from the high level of division of labour that has been common up to the 1980s, to an integration of tasks, with several of the tasks being carried out by the same individual. Information technology is an essential underpinning for most of these new arrangements, which are otherwise either not feasible or uneconomic.

The new business processes often involve complex decisions, are knowledge intensive, require rapid response, and are related to work flow. Many of the new processes need to be supported by new technologies or new combinations of technologies; integration of technologies is the central support required. Tools to support cooperative working and document management are of particular importance. Considerable scope exists for improvement in the efficiency of document management services in particular.

The objective of the focused cluster is substantially to increase the contribution of IT to the effectiveness of organizations by, first, improving the level of understanding of best practice in the use of IT in business processes, and second, developing the underlying technologies that will support the new organizational developments. The cluster will be application-driven, and will use this focus to integrate technologies from several areas of the Specific Programme, as well as developing complementary new technologies. Users will have a key role in the cluster, providing the orientation for the effective use of IT. The cluster builds on the work done on IT support for business processes in previous Esprit phases. There will be close coordination with work carried out in the telematics and telecommunications programmes.

Research into IT for business processes is multidisciplinary, and includes modelling of business processes, organization 'engineering', architecture of information and communication processes in the enterprise, integrating software components for business requirements, and integrating document management into multilingual organizations and administrations. Differences between countries in business organization and business practices as well as in styles of organizing IT will also be incorporated into the research.

RTD on technologies supporting business processes will have an application-driven approach, which will result in the integration of several technologies. Methods of integration with companies' existing applications and data will also be pursued. Complementary research will be done on computer-supported cooperative work and document management.

New approaches to integrating and developing software are required to support the new forms of business process automation, including the integration of object-orientation, knowledge-based systems, graphical user interfaces, and distributed computing. The integration with other technologies of tele-conferencing, of spatial information systems such as geographical information systems, and of mobile technologies, is also required. This necessitates a strong relationship to the work on methods and tools and on knowledge-based systems in other parts of the IT programme. Work will also be done as appropriate on standards.

In the area of computer-supported cooperative work (CSCW), research aims to apply IT to the enhancement of interpersonal interaction and collaboration in the business enterprise. CSCW applications support users working jointly on projects in a distributed environment, on heterogeneous hardware and software systems, simultaneously or sequentially. The RTD covers tools, standards, and object libraries for the generation and tailoring of CSCW applications, taking into account user mobility, flexible forms of working, and the use of existing information systems. Specific fields of research include collaborative authoring, group decision support, electronic meetings, and shared distributed work.

A number of research activities will be undertaken in the area of document management. Work on document creation will address the creation of multimedia documents in a cooperative and distributed manner, using disparate tools and systems, incorporating existing documents including conversion of old paper documents to electronic form, and building composite documents. Aspects of software development techniques are relevant for version control, consistency management and concurrent engineering. Work will also address flexible and just-in-time document production and printing, and the relationship between documents and distribution mechanisms such as electronic mail and fax services. In the area of document storage and retrieval, new more user-friendly forms of access will be developed, along with new ways of organising the storage, archiving and clustering of documents, and techniques for the retrieval of parts of documents, such as illustrations, citations, subparagraphs, and annotations.

Pilot experiments will be undertaken, together with activities in the field of best practice. The work will aim at speeding up learning on the optimal forms of integration of the various technologies in business processes. Learning both by users and by technology providers is envisaged, with the users playing the leading role. Methods of minimizing the user's perceived risk in adopting and deploying the new technologies will be investigated.

FOCUSED CLUSTER: INTEGRATION IN MANUFACTURING

For a high-wage economy, employment in the productive sector relies on the rapid shift towards technology-based products of high engineering content or added-value, and on the ability of manufacturers to operate in an optimal way in a dynamically changing global network of business partners, suppliers, customers, and researchers. The profound restructuring which is taking place throughout industry creates both the climate and the opportunity for change. New manufacturing paradigms are emerging to support a more lean and agile approach: collaborative supply chains, intelligent manufacturing, collaborative working. All are predicated on the availability of advanced IT and Communications.

Previous work was based on the concept of the integration of traditional engineering functions. These 'computer integrated' technologies of the 80's are now sufficiently mature to be able to be exploited downstream in an industrial environment. A new culture of work is emerging which pervades all business processes including manufacturing and engineering; this needs advanced ICT and, correspondingly, determines new upstream ICT developments. Advanced ICT developments must be influenced at their inception, so that European industrial competitiveness and the quality of life for the industrial worker are well-served.

The objective of activities in this domain is, through the development of advanced information technologies, to act as a catalyst in these changes and, in coordination with the programme on industrial and materials technologies, to contribute to increasing competitiveness in the manufacturing, engineering and process industries through improvements in product quality, cost and time-to-market, while meeting the environmental challenges of the 21st century.

Basic generic technologies in the field of ICT are evolving separately at high speed and their uptake will be limited by the speed with which they can be integrated in a business environment. The architecture of future systems must be continuously redrawn in order to enable users to reap the benefits of advanced ICT developments while at the same time migration paths must be defined in order to protect the investment already made up to the present. Work will draw on and integrate basic technologies in software engineering, open systems, computer aided design, data modelling and database design, microelectronics, microsystems and selectively mechatronics.

For individual companies, implementation of business strategies based on new manufacturing paradigms requires a redefinition of the building blocks used to develop ICT support systems for the manufacturing and process industries. Cross-sectorial and multi-disciplinary initiatives will be supported in order to tackle generic problems, while at the same time taking account of specific industrial requirements and the quality of life. These will result in benefits across the full spectrum of industry.

Work will concentrate on new ICT solutions in three technical areas supported by prenormative and cooperative activities.

Work on the enterprise integration framework will concentrate on the provision of methods and tools to support modular system design for the ICT systems supporting manufacturing and production enterprises. Users and vendors will be encouraged in their efforts to reach consensus on requirements and functional specifications for the components for such systems, and support will be given to advanced implementations aimed at validating and testing the results.

Work in the field of integrated product data modelling will concentrate on formalizing and standardizing the data structures used to describe products and their components, thus extending the functionality of product data modelling systems to a higher level of semantics, including knowledge representation and sharing. This will enable the engineering functions of the entire life-cycle of products and processes to be supported from a common platform.

Both the productivity of manufacturing and production systems and their ability to operate safely and without hazard to human life or the environment depend on the quality of their control systems. Work on intelligent control will concentrate on the development and integration of distributed hierarchical control systems, beginning at the level of sensors and actuators, extending through the control of the production process, and at a higher level dealing with the flow of goods and orders through complete factories or plants and also through the entire logistics supply chain.

The rate of uptake of the technology developed in the three areas above is largely dependent on the speed with which agreement can be reached on standards for the use of emerging technologies. Measures will be taken to enable experimentation with emerging standards, and a close linkage between users and vendors will be established to accelerate this process. Measures to support the diffusion of best practice to all regions of the Community will be undertaken in order to support European enterprises collaborating and competing internationally. Coordination and collaboration with Member States and international initiatives will be established as appropriate.

ANNEX II

>TABLE>

KEY:

ST Software technologies

TCS Technologies for components and subsystems

MT Multimedia technologies

LTR Long term research

OMI Open microprocessor systems initiative

HPCN High performance computing and networking

TBP Technologies for business processes

IIM Integration in manufacturing

The table shows the indicative allocations to the underpinning technology domains, long term research, and the focused clusters.

The left hand column gives the indicative allocations to the underpinning technology domains. The five central columns show for each focused cluster the indicative allocation of funds to work with an application focus, and for each cluster and for long term research the indicative allocation to work related to each of the underpinning technologies. The totals for each cluster and for long term research are in the bottom row. The right hand column shows the overall totals for the work with an application focus, and for work related to the underpinning technologies.

The breakdown between the different headings does not exclude the possibility that projects could come under several headings.

(1) Including expenditure on staff totalling 4,2 % and administrative expenditure totalling 3 %.

(2) At least 2 % of the total appropriations will be spent on training activities carried out as part of the programme.

(3) An amount of 19 MECUs from the total appropriations will be spent on dissemination and optimization activities carried out as part of or in conjunction with the other activities of the programme.

(4) An amount of 21 MECUs, which is the difference between the amount deemed necessary for the present programme and the amount foreseen for Information Technologies in the Fourth Framework Programme, is allocated to the 'specific RTD programme implemented by means of on the one hand direct actions and on the other hand S & T support activities carried out in the framework of a competitive approach.'

ANNEX III

DETAILED RULES FOR IMPLEMENTING THE PROGRAMME

1. The detailed rules for the Community's financial contribution are laid down in Annex IV to the Decision on the Fourth Framework Programme.

The detailed rules for the participation of undertakings, research centres and universities, and for the dissemination of results, will be laid down in the measures provided for by Article 130 j of the Treaty.

However, for the purpose of implementing this programme, the following exceptions shall apply:

1.1. Participation in this programme is open, with financial support from the Community:

(a) to all legal entities, established and regularly carrying out RTD activities

- in the Community, or

- in a third country associated, wholly or in part, with the implementation of the relevant programme through an agreement concluded between the Community and the said third country

(b) to the Joint Research Centre.

1.2. Participation in this programme is open, without financial support from the Community, and on condition that their participation is in the interests of Community policies:

(a) to legal entities established in a country which has concluded a scientific and technical cooperation agreement with the Community relating to activities covered by the programme, provided the participation accords with the terms of the agreement,

(b) to legal entities established in a European country,

(c) to international research organizations.

1.3. The participation of European international organizations may be financed on the same basis as that for Community organizations in duly specified cases.

2. This programme will be carried out in the form of:

2.1. Financial participation by the Community in RTD activities carried out by third parties or by JRC Institutes in association with third parties:

(a) Shared-cost activities:

- RTD projects carried out by undertakings, research centres and universities, including consortia for integrated projects with a common theme;

- technology stimulation seeking to encourage and facilitate the participation of SMEs through an award covering the exploratory phase of an RTD activity (including the search for partners) and through cooperative research;

- support for financing the infrastructure or installations necessary for coordinated action (closer coordination).

(b) Concerted action, which consists of coordinating, particularly with the aid of concertation networks, RTD projects already funded by public authorities or private bodies. Concerted action can also include the requisite coordination of thematic networks bringing together manufacturers, users, universities and research centres to work on the same technological or industrial objective under shared-cost RTD activities (cf. first paragraph of Section 2.1(a)).

(c) Specific measures such as measures to encourage standardization and to provide general tools to research centres, universities and undertakings. The Community's contribution covers up to 100 % of the cost of the measures.

2.2. Preparatory, accompanying and support measures:

- studies in support of this programme and in preparation for future activities;

- conferences, seminars, workshops or other scientific or technical meetings, including intersectoral or multidicisplinary coordination meetings;

- use of external expertise, including access to scientific databases;

- activities for the dissemination and utilization of the results, including scientific publications (in coordination with the activities conducted under the third area of activity);

- studies to assess the socio-economic consequences and any technological risks associated with all the projects under this programme, in close collaboration with the targeted socio-economic research programme;

- studies to assess the environmental impact of the activities in this programme;

- pilot and preparatory activities in collaboration with third countries;

- training activities related to research covered by this programme;

- independent evaluation (including studies) of programme administration and of the implementation of the activities;

- measures in support of the operation of networks for providing information and decentralized assistance for SMEs in coordination with the Euromanagement RTD audits scheme.

3. The activities relating to the dissemination and utilization of results carried out under this programme will complement those carried out under the third area of activity and will be implemented in close coordination with the latter. The partners in RTD projects are excellent vehicles for the dissemination and utilization of results. Back-up will be provided via publications, conferences, promotion of results, studies of technical and economic potential, etc. To ensure optimum exploitation, factors liable to encourage the subsequent utilization of results should be taken into account from the outset and throughout the RTD projects.