1999/168/EC: Council Decision of 25 January 1999 adopting a specific programme for research, technological development and demonstration on a user- friendly information society (1998 to 2002)
Date: 1999-01-25
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: EU programme, access to information, pluralism in the media, research programme, technological change, testing

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COUNCIL DECISION

of 25 January 1999

adopting a specific programme for research, technological development and demonstration
on a user-friendly information society (1998 to 2002)

(1999/168/EC)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

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

Having
regard
Commission (1),

to

the

proposal

from the

Having regard to the opinion of
Parliament (2),

the European

Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and
Social Committee (3),

fifth

framework

programme

(1) Whereas by Decision No 182/1999/EC (4), the
European Parliament and the Council adopted
the
the
European Community (hereinafter referred to as
the fifth framework programme) for research,
technological development and demonstration
(hereinafter
activities
for the period 1998 to 20002 setting out the
general outlines and scientific and technological
objectives of the activities to be carried out in
the field of user-friendly information society;

referred to as RTD)

of

the

framework
through

programme
specific

(2) Whereas Article 130i(3) of the Treaty stipulates
be
shall
that
programmes
implemented
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 means deemed necessary;

(3) Whereas,

Decision No 1110/94/EC of

in accordance with Article 4(2) of
the European

(1) OJ C 260, 18.8.1998, p. 16.
(2) Opinion delivered on 15 December 1998 (not yet

published in the Official Journal).

(3) OJ C 407, 28.12.1998, p. 123.
(4) OJ L 26, 1.2.1999, p. 1.

research,

technological development

the Council Decisions on the

Parliament and of the Council of 26 April 1994
concerning the fourth framework programme of
the European Community activities in the field
of
and
demonstration (1994 to 1998) (5) and Article 4(2)
of
specific
programmes implementing the fourth framework
programme, the Commission has arranged for an
external assessment to be conducted which it has
the
transmitted to the European Parliament,
Council,
the Economic and Social Committee
and the Committee of the Regions together with
its conclusions and comments;

(4) Whereas, in accordance with Article 130j of the
Treaty, Council Decision
1999/65/EC of
22 December 1998 concerning the rules for the
participation of undertakings, research centres
and universities and for the dissemination of
research results for the implementation of the
the European
fifth framework programme of
(hereinafter
Community
for participation
rules
referred to as
to this
and dissemination’) applies
specific
programme; whereas
rules allow the
these
participation of the Joint Research Centre in the
indirect
specific
covered
programme;

(1998 to 2002) (6)

actions

(cid:28)the

this

by

(5) Whereas, for the purpose of implementing this
programme, in addition to cooperation covered
by the Agreement on the European Economic
Area or by an Association Agreement, it may be
appropriate
international
engage
cooperation activities, in particular on the basis
of Article 130m of
the Treaty, with third
countries or international organisations;

to

in

(6) Whereas implementation of this programme will
also comprise activities and mechanisms aimed
stimulating, disseminating and exploiting
at
in particular vis-a` -vis small and
RTD results,
medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and activities
to stimulate
the mobility and training of
researchers;

(5) OJ L 126, 18.5.1994, p. 1. Decision as last amended by

Decision No 2535/97/EC (OJ L 347, 18.12.1997, p. 1).

(6) OJ L 26, 1.2.1999, p. 46.

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it

that

is
and

important
user

the scientific,
(7) Whereas
industrial
should
contribute substantially to the definition of
activities
to be undertaken and should be
involved, as appropriate, in the implementation
of this programme;

communities

(8) Whereas

fifth
research activities under
framework programme should also be geared
towards innovation in order to contribute, inter
alia, to the objectives of the first action plan for
innovation;

the

Article 2

In accordance with Annex III

1.
to the fifth
framework programme, the amount deemed necessary
for carrying out the specific programme is EUR 3 600
million,
the
Commission’s administrative expenditure.

including a maximum of 7,5 % for

An indicative breakdown of this amount is given in
Annex I.

2. Of the amount in paragraph 1

(9) Whereas special emphasis should be placed on

encouraging the participation of SMEs;

— EUR 857 million is for the period 1998 to 1999,

(10) Whereas the equal opportunities policy of the
Community must be taken into account in the
implementation of this programme;

(11) Whereas efficient and transparent management
contributes to a more effective and user-friendly
programme;

(12) Whereas administrative expenditure should be
included in the Community budget
in a
transparent fashion;

and

— EUR 2 743 million is for the period 2000 to 2002.

In the case referred to in Article 2(1)(c) of the fifth
framework programme, the Council shall adapt the
latter figure in accordance with Article 2(1)(c), second
indent of the fifth framework programme. Pending a
decision by the Council, this specific programme shall
not be implemented beyond the provision of the first
indent.

(13) Whereas the implementation of this programme
should be monitored with a view to adapting it,
where appropriate, to scientific and technological
developments; whereas
there
should also be an assessment of progress with
the programme by independent experts;

in due

course

(14) Whereas the Scientific and Technical Research
Committee has been consulted on the scientific
specific
content
and
programmes,

technological

the

of

The budgetary authority shall,

3.
in compliance
with the scientific and technological objectives and
the
laid down in this Decision,
priorities
appropriations for each financial year taking into
account
resources within the
multiannual financial perspective.

the availability of

set

Article 3

the

The

general

outlines,

and
1.
technological objectives and the priorities
for the
specific programme are set out in Annex II. They are
consistent with the principles and the three categories
of selection criteria indicated in Annex I to the fifth
framework programme.

scientific

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

2.
In accordance with these principles and criteria
the selection criteria indicated in Article 10 of the
rules for participation and dissemination shall be
applied for the selection of the RTD activities to be
carried out.

In accordance with Article 3(1) of the fifth framework
programme, the specific programme on a user-friendly
information society;
(hereinafter referred to as the
specific programme) is adopted for the period from
25 January 1999 to 31 December 2002.

In addition, any participation of industrial entities in
industrially-orientated shared-cost actions should, as a
general rule, be appropriate to the nature and purpose
of the activity.

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All
these criteria shall be complied with in the
implementation of the programme, including the work
programme referred to in Article 5(1), although they
may be weighted differently.

(d) where necessary,

the selection criteria and the
arrangements for applying them for each type of
indirect RTD action.

The rules for participation and dissemination

3.
shall apply to the specific programme.

4.
The detailed rules for financial participation by
the Community in the specific programme are those
referred to in Article 4 of
the fifth framework
programme.

indirect RTD actions

The
specific
programme are defined in Annexes II and IV to the
fifth framework programme.

under

the

The work programme shall

2.
take account of
relevant interests, in particular the scientific, industrial
and user communities. It shall serve as a basis for
implementing the indirect RTD actions according to
the procedures set out in the rules for participation
and dissemination.

3.
The work programme shall be updated where
appropriate and be made available by the Commission
to all
in a user-friendly form,
including in electronic form.

interested parties

Specific rules for implementing the programme are set
out in Annex III to this Decision.

Article 6

Article 4

In the light of the criteria referred to in Article 3, and
and
the
priorities set out in Annex II, the Commission:

technological

objectives

scientific

and

(a) shall monitor, with appropriate assistance from
independent external experts, the implementation
of the specific programme and, where appopriate,
for adapting it,
submit proposals
to Council
in accordance with Article 5(1) of
the fifth
framework programme;

in Article 5(2) of

(b) shall arrange for the external assessment provided
fifth framework
conducted concerning the
in the fields covered by

for
programme
activities carried out
the specific programme.

to be

the

The Commission shall be responsible for the

1.
implementation of this specific programme.

The procedure laid down in Article 7 shall apply

2.
for the adoption of the following measures:

— the drawing-up and updating of

the work
programme referred to in Article 5(1), including
regarding the content of calls for proposals,

— approval of RTD actions proposed for funding,
including participation by entities
from third
the
countries, where the estimated amount of
Community contribution under this programme is
equal to or more than EUR 1,5 million,

— the drawing-up of the terms of reference for the
external assessment provided for in Article 5(2) of
the fifth framework programme,

Article 5

— any adjustment to the indicative breakdown of the

amount as set out in Annex I.

The Commission shall draw up a work

1.
programme specifiying:

(a) in greater detail, the objectives and RTD priorities

of Annex II;

(b) the indicative timetable for the implementation of

the specific programme;

Article 7

shall

The Commission

1.
a
programme committee (hereinafter referred to as (cid:28)the
committee’)
the
Member States and chaired by the representative of
the Commission.

representatives of

composed of

assisted

by

be

(c) the coordination arrangements set out in Annex III
and arrangements to secure the objectives, related
to innovation and the participation of SMEs,
of
the fifth framework
programme;

the third activity of

In the cases referred to in Article 6(2),
the Commission shall submit

the
2.
representative of
to
the committee a draft of measures to be taken. The
its opinion on the draft
committee shall deliver

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measures referred to above 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.

3 (a) The Commission shall adopt

the measures
envisaged if they are in accordance with the
opinion of the committee.

(b) 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 expiry of a period of nine weeks from the
referral of the matter to the Council, the Council
has not acted, the proposed measures shall be
adopted by the Commission.

4.
committee

The Commission shall

of

the

overall

regularly inform the
the

progress

of

implementation of the specific programme, and shall
in particular provide it with information about the
progress of all RTD actions
this
programme.

funded under

Article 8

programme,

the
the Commission

fifth
In accordance with Article 5(4) of
framework
shall
regularly inform the Council and the European
Parliament
the
implementation of the programme, including on the
participation of SMEs and the simplification of
admininistrative procedures.

progress

overall

the

of

of

Article 9

This Decision is addressed to the Member States.

Done at Brussels, 25 January 1999.

For the Council

The President

J. FISCHER

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ANNEX I

INDICATIVE BREAKDOWN OF THE AMOUNT DEEMED NECESSARY

Type of activity

(a) Key actions

(i)

Systems and services for the citizen

(ii) New methods of work and electronic commerce

(iii) Multimedia content and tools

(iv) Essential technologies and infrastructures

(b) Research and technological development activities of a generic nature:

Future and emerging technologies

(c) Support for research infrastructures: Research networking

(million EUR)

Amount

646

547

564

1 363

319

161

(1) Of which at least10 % for cross-programme themes, and a minimum of 2 % for integrated application platforms.

Total

3 600 (1)

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ANNEX II

THE GENERAL OUTLINES, THE SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL OBJECTIVES AND
THE PRIORITIES

INTRODUCTION

We are undergoing a fundamental transformation: from an industrial society to the information
society. Information society technologies increasingly pervade all industrial and societal activities and
are accelerating the globalisation of economies, in particular by providing SMEs with new ways to
access to the global marketplace, and societies.

Europe’s industrial competitiveness, its jobs, its quality of life and the sustainability of growth depend
on it being at the leading edge of the development and take-up of information society technologies.
Also, by enabling communities in remote and rural areas to overcome isolation and to compete in the
global economy, information society technologies contribute to cohesion in the European Union.

At the same time, the technologies underpinning the development of the information society are in
rapid evolution. Advances in information processing and communications are opening up exciting new
possibilities. There is a shift from stand-alone systems to networked information and processes.
Digitalisation is resulting in the convergence of information processing, communications and media.
Content is of increasing significance. However, the increasing diversity and complexity of systems is
also presenting new challenges for their development and use.

technologies

requirements

and applications. Key

It will not be possible to realise the full potential of the information society in Europe with only
such as usability, dependability,
today’s
interoperability and, above all, affordability are far from being sufficiently met
for the broad
deployment of information society technologies (i.e. information and communication technologies,
systems, applications and services)
in research,
technological development, demonstration and technology take-up. These efforts must, in all activities,
tackle the universal
issues such as access, ease of use, cost-effectiveness and interoperability and
standardisation. They should also address the socioeconomic impact of the activities, in particular the
social changes brought about by the introduction and more widespread use of new information and
communications technologies including their effect on different population groups, with particular
attention to their effect on women and young people. Tackling the issues of access and ease of use in
this context shall be an important priority.

in all areas. Continuous efforts are required,

Strategic objectives of the programme

The strategic objective of the information society technologies (IST) programme is to realise the
benefits of the information society for Europe both by accelerating its emergence and by ensuring that
the needs of individuals and enterprises are met.

four

interrelated specific objectives, which both focus

the technology
The programme has
developments and enable the close articulation between research and policy needed for a coherent and
inclusive information society. For the private individual the objective is to meet the needs and
expectations of European citizens for high-quality, affordable general interest services. Addressing the
requirements and concerns of Europe’s enterprises, workers and consumers the objective is to enable
both individuals and organisations to innovate and be more effective and efficient in their work and
business, while at the same time improving the quality of the individual’s working life. Multimedia
content is central to the information society; the objective here is to confirm Europe as a leading force
in this field and enable it to realise the potential of its creativity and culture. For the essential
technologies and infrastructures that form the building blocks of the information society the objective
is to drive their development, enhance their applicability and accelerate their take up in Europe.

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Novelty of the approach. Community-funded research in information and communication technologies
and applications is integral to the overall strategy of the European Union for the information society,
which was defined by the action plan (cid:28)Europe’s way towards the information society’ and revised in
the action plan adopted in November 1996. The information society technologies (IST) programme
introduces a new approach to the information society theme of the framework programme.

Integration. The context, rationale and objectives of the IST programme necessitate a single and
integrated programme which reflects the convergence of technologies and media and of industries and
markets, together with the increasing significance of content, and responds to the need to integrate
research and development and take-up actions. To this effect, this programme consists of a set of four
key actions centred on the four specific objectives and a specific activity on longer-term or higher-risk
research on future and emerging technologies. These activities complement each other and are derived
by grouping together the technologies, systems, applications and services and the research and
development and take-up actions with the greatest affinity or interdependence. Each activity has its
own specific focus and priorities, however, the key issues of usability, interoperability, dependability
and affordability will be addressed ubiquitously throughout the programme. In doing so, each key
action will, as appropriate, have a balance of the complete range of RTD activities from basic research
to demonstration and take-up actions.

that cuts across

the programme (e.g.

Cross-programme themes. The coordination and integration of the activities through a single work
interfaces, mobility or
programme allows a (cid:28)theme’
satellite-related activities) to be addressed in a coherent manner in more than one activity, each
concentrating on and contributing from its particular perspective. Clustering and concertation will be
used to focus, coordinate and integrate activities. Work, spanning the programme, will be undertaken
on integrated application platforms to provide seamless interaction between citizens, businesses and
administrations by realising coherent groups of public and private services customised to users’
requirements, these will be demonstrated and assessed in (cid:28)digital sites’, encompassing cities or regions,
paving the way to (cid:28)digital communities’ in urban, rural, remote and ultraperipheral areas, and will be
appropriately coordinated with other key actions, for example (cid:28)The city of tomorrow and cultural
heritage’, and initiatives in the Structural Funds. It will build on activities from all parts of this
programme.

Flexibility. The technological scope of the activities provides the flexibility to refocus over time,
through the single rolling work programme (defined in consultation with the key actors), to respond to
changes in industrial and societal needs and the technological context.

target

information society technologies. Work will

Socioeconomic needs. A vast range of goods, services and processes are being transformed through the
integration and use of
the quantitative and
qualitative benefits that information society technologies offer in all industrial and societal activities,
from more competitive methods of working and doing business to higher-quality, lower-cost general
interest services or new forms of leisure and entertainment. It will take account of the info-ethical
implications, of the necessity to remove discriminating factors, such as gender bias, to ensure ease of
access and use, and of the ageing population and of the need to contribute to increasing resource
efficiency and reducing environmental impact. Socioeconomic research, together with the results of
other Community initiatives that identify needs for information society technologies, such as regional
programmes, will be integrated throughout the programme, to support the take-up of information
society technologies, and into its management. As too will be work on statistics, which are central to
the information society and for which information society technologies offer new ways to attain the
highest standards of quality and the widest and most rapid and accessible dissemination. Particular
attention will be paid to ensuring that the (cid:28)innovation dimension’
is actively addressed, and to
stimulating and supporting the participation of SMEs, so as to contribute to the effective take-up of
research results for economic and societal benefit.

European added-value.Realising the full potential of the information society requires technologies,
infrastructures, applications and services, accessible and usable by anyone, anywhere, anytime,
whether it be for business or individual use. Collaborative research and technological development is
needed to create both the critical efforts and the interoperability necessary to ensure this in Europe.
Pan-European research is also needed to ensure that content, together with its creation and use,
properly reflects and exploits the EU’s cultural diversity and many languages.

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European competitiveness. Information society technologies are integrated in or support products and
processes in all sectors of the economy. To be competitive in the global marketplace Europe needs to
master both the supply and use of information society technologies. To this end, to accelerate the
realisation of knowledge as innovation, this programme integrates actions to stimulate the take-up of
information society technologies with the research and technological development to ensure that the
conditions and requirements for their use can be met. In addition to demonstrations and trials, these
include actions to stimulate the development and diffusion of the skills necessary to take-up research
and development results (such as validations, assessments, awareness building, first-user actions and
best-practice initiatives) and consensus building and standardisation activities.

LINKS AND COMPLEMENTARITY WITH THE OTHER PROGRAMMES

Articulation with the other thematic programmes is based on concentrating the activities concerned
with the development, demonstration and take-up of
information society technologies in this
programme and concentrating their deployment (domain-specific integration research as well as use) in
specific domains in the other thematic programmes. The nature of information society technologies
requires close coordination with other programmes and relevant policy initiatives in areas where their
deployment plays a critical role. Particular attention will be paid to the programmes covering
manufacturing, transport, the environment and healthcare. In the case of satellite-related activities,
these will be coordinated with related activities in other programmes and initiatives in the context of
the European
the Commission’s Space Coordination Group.
Parliament and Council Decision on the fifth framework programme, the utmost respect will be
ensured for human rights and fundamental ethical principles in all the activities under the specific
programme.

In accordance with Article 6 of

Reflecting the global nature of the information society, international cooperation will play a major role
in the development and take-up of information society technologies. This will be reflected in the
participation in and operation of this programme, including support for international initiatives such
as IMS (intelligent manufacturing systems), and in its linkages with the programme on confirming the
international role of Community research addressing support for organisations from third countries.

Specific activities to facilitate the participation of organisations from third countries and to maintain
links with European-trained specialists in third countries will also be used in addressing the
international dimension of
the programme. Where appropriate, work will complement and be
coordinated with that in the COST framework. Innovation activities integrated throughout the
programme will provide a focus for the promotion of the deployment and use of results stemming
from this programme and help ensure complementarity with and interface to innovation activities
innovation and encouragement of SME
carried out within the programme
participation’. In addition, links at the programme level with Eureka, trans-European network actions
and other Community instruments will be used to promote appropriate routes and mechanisms for the
further take-up and the deployment of results. Links with the programme on promotion of innovation
and encouragement of SME participation will complement the actions to reinforce the effective
participation of SMEs (such as exploratory awards) that are integrated in this programme.

(cid:28)Promotion of

Improving the know-how, skills and qualifications of European researchers and the understanding of
the socioeconomic impact of research in the fields covered by this programme is essential to ensure
sufficient availability of appropriate expertise and to establish tangible and lasting impacts. Training
and socioeconomic research will therefore form an integral part of this programme, complemented by
appropriate links with the horizontal programme (cid:28)Improving the human research potential and the
socioeconomic knowledge base’ and European Social Fund initiatives. Training activities will include
support to fellowships, which will take the form of (cid:28)Marie Curie’ fellowships following the definitions
and rules set out in the horizontal programme. This programme’s work on research networking will
interface with the horizontal programme’s support for access to large computing facilities and with the
(cid:28)support for research infrastructures’ activities of the other thematic programmes.

Full use will be made of the possibilities offered by COST and Eureka, and by cooperation with
international organisations, to foster synergy between actions and projects in this programme and
nationally funded research activities. In the case of cooperation with Eureka, projects corresponding to
themes of common interest with the framework programme may be developed in the context of the
key actions, in conformity with the selection criteria and procedures of the framework programme.

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(a) KEY ACTIONS

(i) Systems and services for the citizen

O b j e c t i v e s a n d R T D p r i o r i t i e s

The aim of this work is to foster the creation of the next generation of user-friendly, dependable,
cost-effective and interoperable general interest services, meeting user demands for flexible access, for
everybody, from anywhere, at any time. Work,
including the associated education and training,
encompasses RTD addressing the whole of the key action, as well as specific RTD in the following
including ageing and disability, administrations, environment, and
fields: health, special needs,
transport and tourism. Certain of the ubiquitous issues addressed throughout the whole of this
programme will be taken up further in order to pay due consideration to the needs and expectations of
the typical users in this key action,
in particular the usability and acceptability of new services,
including the security and privacy of information and the socioeconomic and ethical aspects.

— Health

Work will cover new generation computerised clinical systems, advanced telemedicine services and
health network applications to support health professionals, continuity of care and health-service
management, and intelligent systems allowing citizens to assume greater participation and
responsibility for their own health.

RTD priorities: professional healthcare: systems enhancing the ability of healthcare professionals,
for prevention, diagnosis, care and rehabilitation, such as intelligent systems for non-invasive
diagnosis and therapy, intelligent medical assistants, and advanced medical imaging; advanced
telemedicine applications;
(cid:28)virtual healthcare facilities’ offering single-point-of-entry services;
high-speed secure networks and applications for linking emergency services, hospitals, laboratories,
pharmacies, primary care and social centres and the home for continuity of care; health service
workflow management and re-engineering; new generation electronic health records and cards for
sophisticated health-data objects; personal health systems: affordable and user-friendly systems for
personal health monitoring and fixed or portable prevention systems, including advanced and
affordable sensors, transducers and micro-systems; personal medical advisors for supervision of
prevention and treatment; tele-systems and applications for supporting care in all contexts;
user-friendly and certified information systems for supporting health education and health
awareness for citizens; the work will be complemented by take-up actions including validations
and assessments, together with first-user actions and other best-practice initiatives,

— Persons with special needs, including the disabled and the elderly

Work will address person/system interfaces and adaptive and assistive systems to overcome
problems caused by environmental barriers and by physical or intellectual impairments, as well as
intelligent systems and services to support autonomous living, social integration and participation
in the information society.

RTD priorities: (cid:28)design-for-all’ products, systems and services, including improved participatory
design methods, multimodal terminals and universal interfaces; adaptive systems: communication
tools for persons with special requirements, mobility support devices, both at home or in the wider
environment, robotics control systems; multimedia applications for supporting daily living and
social integration at home, work, education, transport, leisure, etc., social support and intervention
networks, new methods of service delivery;
take-up: a key aspect will be validations and
demonstrations,

— Administrations

Work will focus on multimedia systems and services addressing the specific needs of all types of
administrations (e.g. Community, national, regional, local), in particular to support the widening

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and deepening of the EU, and offering interactive services to citizens and/or making them available
at natural meeting-points for people, especially in remote and rural areas. Attention will be paid to
improving effectiveness and internal efficiency.

RTD priorities: technologies and systems for on-line support for the democratic process and for
improved, distance- and language-independent, easy to use and affordable access to information
and services, in order to support one-stop service access and transaction handling for citizens and
businesses; multilingual personalised services and intelligent multifunctional systems facilitating
interaction between citizens and administrations, including the development of virtual fora (public
hearings, opinion polling, etc.); systems and tools for enabling statistics to play their role in
enhancing the transparency and accessibility of administrations and for promoting multimedia
data interchange between administrations; the innovative applications to support the adaptation of
administrations to the information and processing systems needs of Community policies; take-up:
best practice and other take-up measures will be a priority,

— Environment

Work will focus on new generation monitoring, forecasting and decision-support systems and
services, addressing both external and internal environments, for administrations, industries and
together with advanced systems and services for the identification, assessment,
the public,
monitoring and prevention of risks, and for the management and mitigation of emergencies, both
natural and man-made (including anti-personel landmines).

RTD priorities: monitoring, forecasting and decision support: intelligent information systems on
air/water/soil quality and for monitoring and management of natural resources; advanced systems
for water/air/sea/soil/waste pollution monitoring, prevention and warning;
low-cost distributed
surveillance systems; high-performance systems and advanced tools for environmental data fusion,
integrated information tools and
data mining and modelling,
support systems for sustainable development and to improve ecological and resource efficiency;
risks and emergencies: advanced management systems exploiting satellite imagery, remote sensing,
sensor systems, real-time systems, and communication networks; take-up: a key aspect will be
validations and demonstrations,

including geo-referenced data;

— Transport and tourism

Work will address IST development, validation and demonstration of intelligent infrastructure and
vehicle systems for the management of all modes of transport, including for intermodal operations
and (cid:28)mobility chains’ for freight and passengers, for safety and operational efficiency in all modes,
supporting, inter alia, actions in (cid:28)Promoting competitive and sustainable growth’, as well as for
information, mobility and tourism related systems and services.

RTD priorities: surveillance, positioning and guidance systems and the necessary enhancement of
terrestrial and satellite communication and positioning infrastructures,
fixed, on-board and
portable interactive multimedia devices, and tele-payment systems, in particular for traffic and
demand management, collective and individual transport, fleet and freight operations supporting
the whole logistics chain, and user information; new traffic control systems with advanced
interfaces, simulation and prediction tools, including systems for managing large-scale events and
crises; on-board human-centred systems, including links with complementary telematics systems,
for safety and efficiency,
including vision enhancement, driver impairment watch, obstacle
detection and advanced warning, crash-avoidance, and systems ensuring compliance with
regulations (e.g. speed limits); telematic systems for intelligent vehicle operations in all modes of
including (cid:28)infotainment’; multimedia personalised
transport; on-board (cid:28)info-mobility’ services,
including telereservation and
information systems
telepayment, systems and services addressing weather,
leisure and tourism; decision support
systems for increased efficiency and planning in the tourism sector; virtual mobility services;
take-up: assessment of economic and technical viability, qualification actions, together with best
practice actions.

the transport and tourism sectors,

for

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(ii) New methods of work and electronic commerce

O b j e c t i v e s a n d R T D p r i o r i t i e s

The aim of this work is to develop information society technologies to enable European workers and
enterprises, in particular SMEs, to increase their competitiveness in the global marketplace, while at
the same time improving the quality of the individual’s working life, through the use of information
society technologies to provide the flexibility to be free from many existing constraints on both
working methods and organisation, including those imposed by distance and time. Specific attention
will be paid to the social implications of new working methods, in particular their impact on equal
opportunities and quality of life. It covers both the development and the trading of goods and services,
in particular in the electronic marketplace, and takes into account the different requirements and
capabilities of the individual worker, consumer and of businesses and organisations, and includes the
related training. Considerations of the global context,
in particular the rapid evolution of the
marketplace, and socioeconomic factors will guide the work, and the objective will be to develop and
demonstrate world-best work and business practices, exploiting European strengths such as electronic
payments, smart cards, mobile systems, software for business process modelling and enterprise
management and consumer protection.

— Flexible, mobile and remote working methods and tools

focus on enabling, validating and demonstrating competitive,

flexible and
Work will
human-centred work methods and organisation,
including in administrations and non-profit
organisations, by means of an integrated approach to the combination of business process and
work organisation, human resource management, and information society technologies, informed
by socioeconomic and legal requirements analysis and considerations of the global context and
actual business practice. It will address the needs of workers, enterprises and consumers alike.
Best-practice pilots and scaleable demonstrations, together with dissemination actions to stimulate
broad experimentation, and adoption will be major features of the work.

RTD priorities: work methods: telework and networked cooperative working; mobile working;
simulation- and virtual-reality-based methods, for both individual and collaborative working;
entrepreneurship and portfolio working; organisation:
integrating new or re-engineered work
including administrations, taking into account existing
methods and structures in all sectors,
individuals; management and
practices; agile, extended, virtual enterprises and networks of
integration of workflow; organisational methodologies,
connected intelligence,
benchmarking and scenario planning; transformation methods and change and risk management;
socioeconomic issues (including the necessary statistical methods and tools): analysis of change;
human resources and training; human factors, usability, health effects and ergonomics and safety
in the workplace; implications for and coherence with the legal and regulatory framework; the
work will be complemented by take-up actions including validations and assessments, together
with first-user actions and other best-practice initiatives,

including

— Management systems for suppliers and consumers

Work will focus on seamless end-to-end support, covering both tangible and intangible products,
for electronic trading and distributed virtual enterprises and marketplaces.
It will cover
applications or systems for interactions within and between consumers, individual entrepreneurs,
businesses and administrations. It will address both business and work processes covering the full
value chain and the information society technologies needed to support them.

RTD priorities: information society technologies systems to address processes in development,
including: life-cycle support, design, engineering, manufacturing and maintenance, logistics and
distribution management, quality control, productivity measurement; systems to address processes
including: customer interaction, negotiation and contracting, mass
in marketing and sales,
customisation, packaging and trading; systems to address processes in financial management,
incorporating support for the euro,
including: ordering, billing and payment, accounting and
taxation; public and private procurement; systems to address processes in management, including:
decision support and planning; virtual and real marketplace management systems; systems for

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on-line business information search and management, including directories and catalogues; systems
to address consumer processes, including: product and service selection and purchase; systems for
supporting the protection of consumers’ rights; take-up: best practice and other take-up measures;
work will be complemented by validation and assessment in trials, and by concertation measures
to contribute to standards,

— Information and network security and other confidence-building technologies

Work will focus on technologies to boost trust and confidence in the information infrastructure,
and in its services and information resources, as being reliable, efficient and user-friendly for new
methods of work and doing business. This includes protecting information integrity, managing
intellectual property rights, enhancing privacy and techniques for combating computer crime,
complementing the work carried out in the key action (cid:28)Essential technologies and infrastructures’.

RTD priorities: electronic signature, certification and authentication techniques; representation of
product data; prevention of fraud and misrepresentation of goods; electronic IPR management
technologies; privacy enhancing technologies, including those avoiding the improper collection,
recording and disclosure of personal and business data; secure electronic transactions and
payments, including anonymous ones and integrating next-generation smart-cards; critical systems
management and reliable next generation electronic commerce infrastructures; support for the
development of and conformance to the legal and regulatory framework; technologies to generate
confidence in meaningfully managing vast amounts of data by businesses and consumers, including
user customisation; take-up: technology assessment, trials, demonstrators for building confidence
and concertation for ensuring interoperability and contributing to internationally recognised
standards.

(iii) Multimedia content and tools

O b j e c t i v e s a n d R T D p r i o r i t i e s

The aim of this work is to improve the functionality, usability and acceptability of future information
products and services to enable linguistic and cultural diversity and contribute to the valorisation and
exploitation of Europe’s cultural patrimony, to stimulate creativity, and to enhance education and
training systems for lifelong learning. Work will cover new models, methods, technologies and systems
for creating, processing, managing, networking, accessing and exploiting digital content, including
audiovisual content. An important research dimension will be new socioeconomic and technological
models for representing information, knowledge and know-how. The work will address both
applications-oriented research, focusing on publishing, audiovisual, culture and education and training
and generic research in language and content technologies for all applications areas, and will include
validation, take-up, concertation and standards.

— Interactive electronic publishing and digital heritage and cultural content

For interactive electronic publishing, work will focus on new publishing and media paradigms for
both commercial and private use (including the evolution of the world wide web). It will address
future publishing systems able to handle new combinations of content and to provide users with
new levels of interaction and control, and cover new forms of content such as virtual objects, in
multiuser environments, or immersive, animated content. Three fast-evolving application areas will
lifestyle
be addressed: knowledge publishing,
publishing, in particular for news, entertainment and information for the citizen; and geographic
and statistical
including related socioeconomic information, particularly where
complex information needs new presentation forms for the non-specialist user. The work on digital
heritage and cultural content will aim to improve access to cultural patrimony, facilitate its

in particular for scientific and business content;

information,

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valorisation and stimulate cultural development by expanding the key contribution of libraries,
museums and archives to the emerging (cid:28)culture economy’,
including economic, scientific and
technological development. Actions will particularly address new digital processes and cover
business and economic models, especially those which stimulate new partnerships through
networking and new services for the citizen.

RTD priorities:

— for

content

creative

interactive

electronic publishing:

through advanced
generating
tele-collaborative real-time authoring and design systems and skills development (for example
for 3D or virtual reality design and conceptual modelling); systems for the generation and
reuse of content
from different media; collaborative creative expression and publishing;
managing digital content by supporting distributed and networked content; processing large
sets of data in innovative ways (e.g. visualisation, scenario development or spatial analysis);
devising new metrics for valuing information assets; personalising content delivery (via push or
pull technologies), by cost-effective content packaging, advertising and transactions, customer
profiling and individualised design and presentation (in a manner that respects the user’s right
to privacy); exploring the limits between domain-specific and domain-independent content; the
work will be complemented by take-up actions including validations and assessments, together
with first-user actions and other best-practice initiatives,

— for digital heritage and cultural content: integrated and improved access to heterogeneous
distributed and networked collections and repositories and the information they hold,
in
digital and traditional form (e.g. library holdings, museum exhibition material, public archive
contents, multimedia art or sound archives, digital film collections and digital cinematic
distribution networks); improving the functionalities of large-scale repositories of content by
providing rich and powerful interactive features and advanced management and copyright
techniques; preservation of and access to valuable multimedia content from multiple sources,
covering electronic materials and electronic surrogates of fragile physical objects; take-up: a
key aspect will be validations and demonstrations,

— Education and training

for a seamless and cost-effective
Work will aim at providing the EU with a blueprint
implementation of advanced technologies for enhancing both education and training systems. This
work will focus on the common needs of different teaching and learning processes, on new
approaches to lifelong learning, and on innovative ways of integrating multimedia pedagogic
material.

RTD priorities: improving the learning process through more autonomous and more individualised
learning: work will include local learner support, peer learning, remote tutoring, curriculum/course
design systems, and accreditation systems; developing higher quality learning material by
improving the quality of the content itself, the embedded pedagogical or didactic approaches, and
the adaptability to learner needs: work will address new instructional design tools,
learner
modelling techniques, modelling methods for knowledge transfer, including connected intelligence,
as well as learning ergonomics, and will cover content ranging from simple hypermedia to
advanced simulations; broadening access to learning resources and services for all: work will
address common platforms allowing full access to services across heterogeneous networks,
including harmonised identification and retrieval of knowledge resources; and take-up actions,

— Human language technologies

Work will focus on advanced human language technologies enabling cost-effective interchanges
across language and culture, natural interfaces to digital services and more intuitive assimilation
and use of multimedia content. Work will address written and spoken language technologies and
their use in key sectors such as corporate and commercial publishing, education and training,
cultural heritage, global business and electronic commerce, public services and utilities, and
special-needs groups. Work will also include the development of electronic language resources in
standard and re-usable formats.

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RTD priorities: adding multilinguality to systems at all stages of the information cycle, including
content generation and maintenance in multiple languages, localisation of software and content,
automated translation and interpretation, and computer-assisted language training; enhancing the
natural
interactivity and usability of systems where multimodal dialogues, understanding of
messages and communicative acts, unconstrained language input-output and keyboard-less
operation can greatly improve applications; enabling active assimilation and use of digital content,
where work will apply language-processing models, tools and techniques for deep information
analysis and metadata generation, knowledge extraction, classification and summarisation of the
meaning embodied in the content, including intelligent language-based assistants; the work will be
complemented by take-up actions including validations and assessments, together with first-user
actions and other best-practice initiatives,

— Information access, filtering, analysis and handling

Work will focus on advanced technologies for the management of information content to empower
the user to select, receive and manipulate (in a manner that respects the user’s right to privacy)
only that information required when faced with an ever increasing range of heterogeneous sources.
Improvements in the key functionalities of large-scale multimedia asset management systems
(including the evolution of the world wide web) will support the cost effective delivery of
information services and their usage.

information content,
RTD priorities: mastering information: rich descriptive models of digital
covering all media types and supporting all human senses, in addition to spatial and temporal
aspects; associated tools to enable users to develop information profiles, possibly based on vague
concepts and enabled via personalised agents; radically new cognitive relations between the system
and users via individualised metaphors or visualisation techniques;
information management
systems: new organisation and management methods for multimedia information sources: work
will explore advanced techniques for data warehousing integrating access control mechanisms,
integrity control and technical protection of multimedia (cid:28)fragments’;
quality assurance,
information categorisation,
information retrieval
(including navigation and search based on non-textual information) and filtering (including for the
control of illegal and harmful content); take-up: first-user and other take-up measures; work will
be complemented by validation and assessment
in trials, and by concertation measures to
contribute to standards.

labelling and filtering enabling selective

(iv) Essential technologies and infrastructures

O b j e c t i v e s a n d R T D p r i o r i t i e s

The aim of this work is to promote excellence in the technologies which are crucial to the information
society, to accelerate their take-up and broaden their fields of application. The work will address the
and
convergence of
infrastructures. The focus will be on technologies and infrastructures common to several applications,
while those specific to one application only would be addressed in the context of that application in
other parts of the framework programme.

information processing,

and networking

communications

technologies

— Technologies for and management of information processing, communications and networks,

including broadband, together with their implementation, interoperability and application

The work will
telecommunications and broadcast network and system technologies.

focus on the development and convergence of

information processing,

RTD priorities: concurrent systems: technologies and tools for the sharing and interactive use of
remote resources and concurrent activities in geographically dispersed locations, in the context of
heterogeneous hardware and software architectures and systems; real-time systems handling large
volumes of data; basic technologies and tools supporting real-time embedded systems applications,
related work should actively contribute to, or adhere to, standards; broadband telecommunications

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fixed and mobile,

the convergence of

topological and functional

transmission; a major effort

reliable high capacity terabit optical

including specifically all-optical networks:

networks:
in photonic
technologies for end-to-end optical transparency in core and access networks; technologies and
architectures,
layout,
switching and routing, operation and management; technologies for network integration (notably
for
including satellite, networks) and new service
independent architectures and systems, to ensure all users have affordable access to broadband
multimedia nomadic services; interoperability and interworking of networks particularly at the
network management and service levels, to increase capacity, flexibility and functionality and to
promote the introduction of competition and new intelligent network services (including the
evolution of the Internet); generic service methodologies and tools capable of handling the
increased network complexity, new architectures and the requirements for end-to-end (cid:28)quality of
service’, and network dependability and security; take-up: measures to promote and transfer best
practice, for concertation to contribute to standards, and to test and validate technologies and
services in field trials,

— Technologies and engineering for software, systems and services, including high-quality statistics

centre

around the development, deployment, operation and evolution of
Work will
software-intensive systems embedded in goods and services as well as facilitating production and
enterprise processes, including technologies and tools for testing and validation at all stages.

RTD priorities: software and systems engineering: work will focus on dependable, survivable and
scaleable systems and address the reduction of the development cycle and costs; the use and
further development, as required, of reliable methods and tools will be a central issue; software
modularity, in particular the integration of custom and off-the-shelf components into systems, will
be a key aspect; service engineering will address the integration of heterogeneous platforms and
networks and the increasing complexity and sophistication of the new services and their creation
and provision, the objective will be to develop technologies and tools for rapid, customised and
cost-effective service creation, deployment, provision and management that provide for an open
information and communications service infrastructure, with the necessary reliability, security and
quality of service; software technologies work will foster knowledge-based methods and tools,
which increase the usability as well as the capability of systems and the intelligence in the
network, this includes the timely collection, production, dissemination and communication of
high-quality information (including statistical and management information); take-up: best practice
and other take-up measures will be a priority; work will be complemented by the validation and
assessment of technologies, systems and services in field trials, and by concertation measures to
contribute to standards,

— Real-time and large-scale simulation and visualisation technologies

Work will address the development and integration of advanced simulation and visualisation
technologies and environments in all applications. Work will include distributed simulations and
shared virtual environments.

RTD priorities: simulation and visualisation: work on simulation environments will
include
pre-processing, advanced post-processing (including visualisation and virtual reality) and tools for
the validation of simulation with experimental and archival data; tools to support the integration
of simulation in industrial and business processes will be a priority; technologies and tools for
distributed simulations with emphasis on support
for the interoperability of heterogeneous
software and hardware systems; shared virtual environments scaleable over large networks;
population with autonomous agents and visualisation, such as through avatars; the work will be
complemented by take-up actions including validations and assessments, together with first-user
actions and other best-practice initiatives,

— Mobile and personal communications and systems, including satellite-related systems and services

Work will target the move to an integrated seamless network that ensures global personal
connectivity and enables access to wireless multimedia communications and services by anyone,
from anywhere, at any time, with capabilities, quality and performance comparable to those of
fixed network services.

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RTD priorities: work will
focus on the development and evolution of new generations of
affordable terrestrial and satellite broadband wireless architectures, systems and technologies,
exploiting new spectrum frontiers, for both private and public environments, supporting advanced
services and maximising spectral efficiency and network performance; addressing full coverage
through a multiplicity of radio systems deployed in a multilayer, multidimension cell architecture;
service mobility and terminal roaming across terrestrial and satellite wireless and wired networks
will be a priority; software reconfigurable networks, systems and terminals, to facilitate improved
network planning, interoperability and interworking; miniaturised, low-cost, low-power mobile
and portable communication terminals (both hardware and software aspects);
technologies,
services and applications supporting interactive mobile and personal multimedia services, with
regional or global coverage and integrated where appropriate with terrestrial and satellite
navigation services; take-up: a key aspect will be validations and demonstrations of broadband
interactive mobile multimedia technologies and services; a major effort will be dedicated to
technology assessment and concertation measures to contribute to standards,

— Interfaces making use of the various senses

Work will address the provision of intuitive ways to capture, deliver and interact with systems.
include the development and integration of advanced sensor, actuator and display
Work will
technologies.

to this work;

RTD priorities: multimodal, multisensory interfaces and novel tools and devices, validation and
technologies including image and auditory scene
assessment will be central
processing, understanding and synthesis will be developed and integrated to provide new solutions
for the work and leisure/entertainment environments; the work will facilitate the introduction of
technologies such as augmented and virtual reality; the development and integration of a range of
advanced display technologies for professional and consumer applications will be addressed;
emphasis will be given to the development of low-cost and low-power interfaces, as well as the use
of new flexible materials for portable and mobile subsystems; included are issues such as user
adaptability, knowledge on the health effects, user interaction modelling and profiling; take-up will
be stimulated, in particular, by first-user actions,

— Peripherals, sub-systems and microsystems

Work will address the need for advanced intelligent (computing and communications) network
peripherals which can have multiple functionality yet remain user-friendly. Work on subsystems
information processing and communications systems and
will cover the building blocks of
networks. Work on intelligent microsystems will,
in this context, cover miniaturised systems
comprising sensing and/or actuating with processing functions, and normally combining two or
more of electrical, mechanical, optical, chemical, organic, biological, magnetic or other properties,
integrated onto a single chip or a multichip hybrid.

RTD priorities: integration, low-power consumption and miniaturisation will be the drivers for
technology development for peripherals and terminals, integrating advanced display technologies,
as well as software and hardware modules for content capture, storage and manipulation; the
development of advanced mass storage methodologies is a key requisite; subsystems: in addition to
basic building blocks a major focus will be home systems; microsystems work will be concentrated
on facilitating the broader application of intelligent microsystems, primarily for the medical,
biochemical, environmental, automotive and aerospace applications, as well as their use in
measurement and control systems or subsystems; the primary aim is to transfer competence from
research to industrial use and to facilitate access to existing technologies for prototyping and small
volume production; the integration of optical interconnects into microelectronic subsystems and
microsystems for high-performance applications (e.g. electro-optical circuit boards); the work will
be supported through measures complementing those in (cid:28)Promoting competitive and sustainable
development’ addressing the manufacturability of intelligent microsystems and the associated
assembly, interconnect, packaging, materials and equipment technologies, together with support
for the appropriate design and simulation activities; take-up: the work will be complemented by
concertation for coordination and to contribute to standards, and in particular for microsystems
by first-user actions,

— Microelectronics

Work will address materials, equipment, processes, design and test methodologies and tools which
interconnection and
components,
enable

the development of

their packaging,

electronic

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application. The approach will be system-oriented and application-driven, and will aim at
reinforcing strengths and exploiting technological opportunities drawing on appropriate
microelectronic technology solutions best filling generic application requirements.

the key
RTD priorities: application and hardware/software co-design methods and tools;
technology requirements will be addressed through support for semiconductor materials and
equipment development and assessment, packaging and interconnect technology, notably for the
most advanced generations; the focus will be on broadening applicability through the development
of cost-effective active and passive silicon, silicon-based, or compound semiconductor components
and subsystems for applications with generic characteristics, in particular mobility (low power,
high frequency wireless communications), high complexity/high performance systems, systems
resistant to hostile environments in terms of reliability and endurance, measurement and control;
the development, integration or customisation of advanced signal and data processing functions
into subsystems together with their associated memory and input/output functions will be a
for classes of applications; optical
priority,
technologies: new optical sources, optoelectronic integrated circuits, active and passive optical
components and devices at new wavelengths, including optoelectronic devices based on organic
compounds; take-up: promotion of application and design competencies will be addressed in
thematic clusters; a major effort will be devoted to technology assessment, first-user and other
best-practice measures.

together with macrocells and support

tools

(b) RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES OF A GENERIC
NATURE

FUTURE AND EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES

This specific activity on future and emerging technologies will cover research that is of a longer-term
nature or involves particularly high risks — compensated by the promise of major advances and the
potential for industrial and societal impact. Such research will typically be either transdisciplinary or
in an emerging discipline. It will reinforce the link and flow of ideas, initiatives and people between
academia and industry in the EU. This activity complements the domain-specific work integrated in
each of the key actions.

To ensure a seamless coverage of the information society technologies the door needs to be kept open
to any new idea with a potential industrial or societal impact, in the bottom-up fashion. This openness
will need to be reinforced in specific areas with highly focused well-coordinated proactive initiatives of
a strategic nature. Flexibility is essential just as is an appropriate balance between proactive initiatives
which need careful, but rapid, planning on the one hand and, on the other hand, openness to new
highly promising ideas as they arise.

The open domain

By definition the topics addressed cannot be prescribed. Project proposals could include,
in a
non-prescriptive way, knowledge technologies (covering technologies for the representation, creation
and handling of knowledge), technologies for computation- or bandwidth-intensive applications, future
devices and circuits (including those based on nano, quantum, photonic or bio-electronic effects and
(such as ultra-high
technologies
performance computers and super-intelligent networks).

for very large scale integration), and ultra-complex systems

Proactive initiatves

Complementing the open domain, a number of proactive initiatives having a strategic perspective and
addressing areas of substantial future growth, where close coordination across different projects is
necessary, will be defined in the course of the execution of the programme. The definition of topics
will be based on their potential for long-term industrial and societal impact (including employment
through (cid:28)start-ups’), on the opportunity offered by scientific advances or a combination of both. The
planning of the proactive initiatives will need to make allowance for the necessity to be able to react
rapidly if windows of opportunity present themselves unexpectedly through scientific advances.

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Initiatives will each consist of a set of autonomous but closely coordinated and appropriately
networked projects. The networked nature of the initiative could be reinforced with some central
research facilities when these provide economies of scale to the participants of multiple projects. For
example, experimental shared nano-fabrication facilities, model spaces or communities for experiments
in the areas of interfaces or virtual reality, and so forth.

The actual choices will be made at appropriate times through consultations with the research
community, following the setting of an agenda that draws on a very broad body of scientific and
technological opinion. In this context, advance knowledge will be sought through a combination of a
series of
setting trends and research targets, and a
technology-watch activity, to be carried out in close cooperation with other actors in the field,
including the JRC’s Institute for Prospective Technological Studies and the Scientific and Technological
Options Assessment Unit of the European Parliament where appropriate.

strategic workshops, aimed towards

(c) SUPPORT FOR RESEARCH INFRASTRUCTURES

RESEARCH NETWORKING

Broadband interconnection of national research and education networks

The objective is to facilitate the supply of trans-European broadband interconnections between
national research, education and training networks at capacities and of a quality matching the
aggregated need of Europe’s academic and industrial researchers and to keep the resulting network at
the forefront of the state of the art. This implies an upgrading of the existing capacity of 34 Mbits/s
via 622 Mbits/s to several gigabits/s, including support for different levels of (cid:28)Quality of service’ and
the necessary connectivity to third countries, in the context of the global evolution of the Internet.
Upgrading the network will proceed in line with proven demand. The aim is to facilitate effective
European collaborative research, education and training activities (including the creation of (cid:28)virtual
laboratories’ and (cid:28)virtual institutes’ ), enabled by the deployment of state of the art Internet-based
applications within the academic and industrial research communities. This work will support research
in all fields and therefore the whole framework programme.

Advanced European experimental testbeds

The objective is the integration of leading-edge collaborative research and development, demonstration
and take-up activities, from all key actions in this programme, addressing future generations of
communication technologies, protocols, services and distributed applications. This experimental
interconnection of the testbeds of individual operators, industries, universities and research facilities in
Europe (together with necessary connections to third countries) will provide a practical basis for
collaborative research efforts (e.g. in photonic networks, service configuration protocols or mobile
broadband services). It will also lead to the early availability of the most advanced infrastructure of all
types, which will
in turn allow for early experiments with advanced applications (e.g. remote
high-volume data visualisation, meta-computing or networked immersive virtual reality) requiring very
high bandwidth or new services. It will also enable Europe to play a leading role in defining,
standardising and validating the next generations of network protocols (including those for the
Internet) and other emerging broadband services. It will contribute to the long-term interoperability
and seamlessness of advanced network infrastructures, services and applications.

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ANNEX III

SPECIFIC RULES FOR IMPLEMENTING THE PROGRAMME

The specific programme will be implemented through the indirect RTD actions as provided for in
Annexes II and IV to the fifth framework programme. In addition, the following rules specific to this
programme will apply:

1. Accompanying measures

The accompanying measures will comprise in particular:

— take-up measures,

first user actions, assessment and
qualification actions and other actions aimed at stimulating broad take-up, particularly in SMEs,
and encouraging innovation,

including trials, best practice actions,

— measures in support of standardisation and other measures aimed at usability, interoperability and
dependability of information and communication technologies, systems applications and services,

— measures in support of the interconnection of research infrastructures and other installations

needed for RTD,

— studies in support of the specific programme, including the preparation of future activities,

— exchanges of information, conferences, seminars, workshops or other scientific and technical

meetings and the management of clustered RTD activities,

— recourse to external expertise,

in particular for the
purposes of the monitoring of the specific programme provided for in Article 5(1) of the fifth
framework programme, the external assessment provided for in Article 5(2) of the fifth framework
programme and the
their
implementation,

indirect RTD actions and the monitoring of

including access to scientific databases,

evaluation of

— analyses of

the socioeconomic consequences associated with information society technology

developments,

— dissemination,

including scientific publications,
activities for the exploitation of results and the transfer of technologies, encouragement of
innovation financing and assistance with the protection of intellectual property,

information and communication activities,

— training schemes related to RTD activities covered by the specific programme other than Marie

Curie fellowships,

— support for schemes to provide information and assistance for research players, including SMEs,

— recourse to external expertise in setting up and providing access to information, assistance and

research and innovation promoting services and networks.

In line with Annex IV to the fifth framework programme, the Community contribution for the
measures set out under the first indent above, and which are not the subject of procurement, may be
up to 100 % of the eligible costs. However, on the basis of the principle of sound and efficient
financial management, the Community financial contribution may be limited, for certain actions or
measures, to 100 % or less of those cost categories deemed necessary or appropriate for achieving the
specific objectives of the action.

12.3.1999

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

L 64/39

2. Coordination arrangements

The Commission will endeavour to ensure complementarity between the indirect RTD actions under
the programme, in particular by grouping them around a common objective, and to avoid duplication,
while respecting the legitimate interests of proposers of indirect RTD actions.

As far as possible, coordination will also be ensured between actions under the specific programme
and those carried out in:

— other specific programmes implementing the fifth framework programme,

— the research and training programmes implementing Council Decision 1999/64/Euratom of
22 December 1998 concerning the fifth framework programme of the European Atomic Energy
Community (Euratom) for research and training activities (1998 to 2002) (1),

— other European research frameworks including Eureka and COST,

— other Community research-related instruments.

It will comprise:

(i)

the identification of common themes or priorities, resulting in particular in:

— the exchange of information,

— the carrying out of work decided on jointly, entailing in particular the joint initiation of one of

the procedures referred to in Article 9 of the rules for participation and dissemination;

(ii) the reassignment of proposals for indirect RTD actions between specific programmes or between a

specific programme and a research and training programme.

(1) OJ L 26, 1.2.1999, p. 34.