Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and  Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions - Communication on the implementation of the multiannual Community Programme to make digital content in Europe more accessible, usable and exploitable (The eContentplus Programme)
Date: 2007-01-29
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU programme, Internet, access to information, dissemination of information, information technology

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 29.1.2007 
COM(2007) 28 final 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN 
PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND  
SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS 

Communication on the implementation of the multiannual Community Programme to 
make digital content in Europe more accessible, usable and exploitable 
(The eContentplus Programme) 

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COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN 
PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND  
SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS 

Communication on the implementation of the multiannual Community Programme to 
make digital content in Europe more accessible, usable and exploitable 
(The eContentplus Programme) 

(Text with EEA relevance) 

1. 

INTRODUCTION 

This Communication has been established in response to a requirement laid down in 
Art.  5(3)  of  the  “Decision  n°  456/2005/EC  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the 
Council of 9 March 2005 establishing a multiannual Community programme to make 
digital  content  in  Europe  more  accessible,  usable  and  exploitable”  (eContentplus 
programme) which states that the “Commission shall report on the implementation of 
the lines of action referred to in Article 1(2) to the European Parliament, the Council, 
the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions by 
mid-2006  at  the  latest.  In  this  context,  the  Commission  shall  report  on  the 
consistency of the amount for 2007 to 2008 with the financial perspective.” 

The  Decision  defines  the  financial  framework  for  the  programme  in  the  following 
way (Article 6): 

- 

- 

- 

The  financial  framework  for 
31 December 2008 is set at 149 M€. 

the  period  from  1  January  2005 

to 

55. 6 M€ is provided for the period until 31 December 2006 (par. 1). 

For the period following 31 December 2006, the amount shall be deemed to 
be confirmed if it is consistent for this phase with the financial perspective in 
force for the period commencing in 2007 (par.2). 

2. 

OBJECTIVES OF THE ECONTENTPLUS PROGRAMME 

Europe's  content  sector  plays  a  major  role  in  the  evolution  towards  an  information 
and knowledge-based society and economy. The eContentplus programme will make 
digital content more accessible, usable and exploitable recognizing the large potential 
which  the  already  existing  digital  content  in  Europe  offers.  It  will  facilitate  the 
creation  and  diffusion  of  information  at  Community  level.  The  programme 
contributes  to  the  objectives  of  the  Commission’s  policy  announced  in  “i2010  –  A 
European  Information  Society  for  growth  and  employment”,  especially  to  the 
emergence of “high bandwidth communications, rich and diverse content and digital 
services”. 

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Three  specific  areas  of  public  interest  have  been  chosen  in  the  programme  for  this 
purpose. A particularly large amount of data is available there, overall in the public 
sector.  These  areas  are  geographic  information,  educational  content  and  cultural, 
scientific and scholarly content.  

Geographic or spatial information offer a large potential for applications which affect 
every  day’s  life;  such  data  enable  for  example  navigation  systems,  facilitate  public 
transport management systems and allow better territory management. The situation 
on  spatial  information  in  Europe  is  characterised  by  fragmentation  of  datasets  and 
sources,  gaps  in  availability,  lack  of  harmonisation  and  compatibility  between 
datasets  at  different  geographical  scales  and  duplication  of  information  collection. 
The programme has an enabling role in this respect as it will create better conditions 
for accessing, reusing and exploiting the digital material, based on which it will be 
possible to build added-value products and services across Europe.  

Educational  digital  content  already  abounds  in  multiple  formats  on  the  web  and  in 
repositories.  However,  multiple  barriers  hamper  an  efficient  re-use  of  such  content 
for  advanced  educational  purposes.  For  example,  there  is  an  incoherent  use  of 
technological solutions, or the organisational and pedagogical frameworks are often 
inadequate  to  support  multilingual  and  multicultural  access  to,  and  use  of  digital 
content  for  learning.  eContentplus  will  fund  activities  which  make  it  easier  for 
schools,  universities,  students,  teachers  and  any  other  actors  involved  in  the 
educational  process  to  access  and  use  educational  content  that  fits  their  needs, 
languages and cultures. It will strive to create the necessary structures and conditions 
for  the  emergence  of  pan-European  learning  services,  built  on  multilingual  access 
and open for different educational and academic contexts. 

In the area of cultural, scientific and scholarly content, the eContentplus programme 
can  make  a  substantial  contribution  to  the  i2010  flagship  initiative  on  Digital 
Libraries,  which  addresses  the  digitisation,  online  accessibility  and  preservation  of 
Europe’s  cultural  and  scientific  heritage.  The  Commission  has  announced  that  by 
2010 at least 6 million digital objects will be made accessible and searchable through 
a single European access point. The eContentplus programme will co-fund projects 
which fit within the vision of the digital libraries initiative to give integrated access 
to cultural and scientific content and make it easier to use in the online environment. 
The  projects  will  have  a  substantial  European  added-value  and  scope,  addressing 
issues such as the interoperability between digitised collections in European cultural 
heritage institutions, and multilingual access to the relevant collections. 

The  programme  is  developing  its  activities  in  two  phases  in  agreement  with  the 
financial framework specified in the programme decision. In the first two-year period 
a set of aggregated and enriched collections on a cross-country level will be created. 
In the second two-year period this basis will have to be expanded and systematized 
which will require a larger budget. 

3. 

STATUS OF IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PROGRAMME 

eContentplus is implemented by the European Commission. The Member States are 
represented through the eContentplus Management Committee. Financial support is 
provided through grants and procurement actions. 

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3.1. 

Response to the 2005 call for proposals 

A  call  for  proposals  was  published  on  10  September  2005.  The  response  was  very 
strong:  238  proposals  were  received  (see  the  attached  Annex).  The  total  requested 
funding was 370 M€. 

The  evaluators  ranked  28  proposals  as  excellent  or  very  good.  These  28  proposals 
requested  a  total  funding  of  €  49,131,000. The  available  budget  is  €  27,900,000.  It 
was therefore only possible to fund 19 of those proposals. 

The  proposals  were  evaluated  according  to  the  award  criteria  "Contribution  to  the 
aims  of  the  action  for  the  specific  target  area",  "Approach  and  working 
arrangements",  "Quality  of  the  resources"  and  "Multilingual  and  multicultural 
aspects". 

In the area of geographic information 3 projects were selected for funding. One of 
these  projects  is  EuroGeoNames  (EGN).  It  aims  at  developing  an  interoperable 
service  that  will  link  official  geographic  names  information  into  an  integrated, 
multilingual European application. The proposal fully addresses the objectives of the 
work programme as it aggregates on cross-border level geographic information held 
in  national  databases.  A  strong  consortium  with  highly  recognised  expertise  and 
experience has proved its capacity to ensure high quality working arrangements in a 
multilingual and multicultural context. 

The  response  to  the  call  shows  great  demand  in  the  area  of  educational  content; 
3 projects  will  be  funded.  These  proposals  have  the  potential  to  contribute  to  the 
emergence of pan-European learning services enabling multilingual and multicultural 
use  and  re-use  of  better  accessible  digital  content  for  learning.  For  example,  the 
CITER  project  (Creation  of  a  European  History  Textbook  Repository)  aims  at  the 
creation  of  a  digital  European  history  textbook  base,  with  the  focus  on  secondary 
education.  The  proposal  shows  a  very  strong  European  dimension  as  it  can  have 
significant impact on the way in which history is understood and taught. It can help 
to  overcome  conceptions  built  on  national  perspectives  and  could  support  the 
promotion of the European dimension of shared experiences in education. The work 
plan is well structured and shows a clear conception of the tasks to be implemented. 
The  partnership  relies  on  excellent  expertise  and  resources.  Multilingual  and 
multicultural aspects are in the focus of this proposal. 

The  largest  number  of  proposals  was  received  in  the  area  of  cultural  and 
scientific/scholarly content; 8 proposals were selected for funding. The "European 
Digital  Library"  project  (EDL),  which  has  been  selected,  is  the  backbone  for 
developing  the  i2010  flagship  initiative  on  Digital  Libraries  as  it  extends  the 
infrastructure for co-operation of European national libraries by adding new partners 
and by aggregating more library resources to the existing web portal ("The European 
Library"). EDL will have considerable Europe-wide impact as it will increase cross-
border re-use of the national libraries' holdings. An excellent consortium assembles 
the required expertise. 

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Another  example  is  the  DISMARC  project  (DIScovering  Music  ARChives)  whose 
aim  is  to  enable  users  to  identify  the  audio  recordings  held  by  major  European 
broadcasting corporations, archives and institutes which store a large quantity of the 
European music audio heritage. Information on these recordings is currently hardly 
publicly  accessible.  The  Consortium  presents  a  very  well  balanced  composition  of 
competences; management processes and working arrangements are clearly depicted. 
The proposal has a very strong multicultural dimension. 

5  thematic  networks  were  also  selected  for  funding.  They  will  have  clear  roles  in 
raising  awareness  on  the  benefits  of  using  already  existing  standards  by  promoting 
best  practices;  they  bring  together  key  experts  in  the  respective  areas  (educational 
and cultural content and Public Sector Information). 

The  eContentplus  programme  has  raised  significant  attention  of  the  eContent 
stakeholders  –  public  administration,  cultural  institutions  such  as  museums, 
institutes,  libraries  and  academia,  universities  and  schools,  private  companies, 
publishers,  ICT  providers,  associations  and  networks  of  organizations  –  throughout 
Europe. 

This  interest  and  involvement  will  grow  yet  further  as  the  programme  is 
implemented,  through  the  contacts  between  the  Commission  and  stakeholders,  the 
activities of funded projects and the setting up of thematic networks which will bring 
distinct stakeholders together. 

3.2. 

Implementing the experience gained in the 2005 call for proposals 

The  call  2006  builds  on  the  experience  of  the  year  2005.  In  view  of  the  available 
budget,  the  aim  is  to  receive  a  much  smaller  number  of  proposals  of  very  high 
quality. 

The  requirements  for  the  proposals  have  been  targeted  at  this  objective.  Further 
clarification  has  been  given  of  what  is  needed  to  make  a  high  quality  project: 
including content providers in the consortium, ensuring the availability of a critical 
mass of content, identifying user needs and making project results usable on a wide 
scale. 

The range of actions has also been defined bearing in mind the priorities following 
the first evaluation exercise. Educational content focuses on content used for face-to-
the  formal  education  system;  cultural  and 
face  and  distance 
scientific/scholarly  content  focuses  on  the  development  of  interoperable  digital 
libraries,  linking  up  different  types  of  content  held  by  libraries,  museums  and 
archives. 

learning 

in 

4. 

FINANCIAL PERSPECTIVE 

Following the Interinstitutional agreement on the new financial framework signed on 
17 May, the Commission has presented its "revised package", adapting existing and 
proposed  legislation  where  necessary  to  give  effect  to  the  agreement.  The  amount 
foreseen  in  this  package  for  eContentplus  for  the  period  2005  –  2008  is  149  M€, 
exactly the amount provided for in the decision. 

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5. 

CONCLUSIONS 

The  response  to  the  2005  call  for  proposals,  both  in  terms  of  quantity  and  quality, 
shows that there is substantial unmet demand from digital content stakeholders. 

The  amount  provided  for  in  the  programme  decision  for  the  period  2007  –  2008  is 
necessary in order to further build up the actions started in 2005 and to achieve the 
full impact of the programme (notably in the field of digital libraries). 

The  amount  of  the  financial  provision  set  out  in  the  programme  decision  for  the 
period from 1 January 2007 to 31 December 2008 – 93.4 M€ - is consistent for this 
phase with the financial perspective in force for the period commencing in 2007. 

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Annex: 
Summary of proposals evaluated 

Proposals evaluated1 

Target Area / Action 

Geographic information 

3.1.1 Promoting the enabling infrastructure - Targeted Projects 

3.2.2 Stimulating geographic content enrichment - A Thematic Network 

Educational content 

4.2.1  Stimulating  educational  content  enrichment  - Content  Enrichment 
Projects 

4.2.2 Stimulating educational content enrichment - Thematic Networks 

Cultural and scientific/scholarly content 

5.1.1 Promoting the enabling infrastructure - Targeted Projects 

5.2.1  Stimulating  cultural  and  scientific/scholarly  content  enrichment  -
Content Enrichment Projects 

5.2.2  Stimulating  cultural  and  scientific/scholarly  content  enrichment  -
Thematic Networks 

Reinforcing cooperation between digital content stakeholders 

6.1.1 Public Sector Information - A Thematic Network 

TOTAL 

29 

4 

56 

8 

58 

61 

16 

3 

235 

1 

3 Proposals were non-eligible and therefore not included in the evaluation process. 

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