The ICT workprogramme is available for download here
Budget: € 9.1 billion (2007 - 2013)
ICTs play a crucial role in boosting innovation, creativity and competitiveness of all industry and service sectors. We are entering a new phase of development that will drive growth and sustainable development for the coming decades; however, this growth will only be captured if we invest now in research and innovation for the next generation of technologies.
ICTs are opening up many new opportunities for European citizens and consumers. There is a wide range of applications including healthcare provision, transport systems, as well as innovative interactive systems for entertainment and learning. Innovation in ICT can help improve illness prevention and safety of care, facilitate active participation of patients and enable personalisation of care and can also tackle problems associated with the ageing population.
Under FP7, ICT research activities will cover strategic priorities in areas of European industrial and technological leadership, such as communication networks, embedded computing, nanoelectronics and technologies for audiovisual content.
Research activities will include:
ICTs account for nearly half of the productivity gains in our economies today. The gains stem both from the production of innovative high value ICT-based goods and services and from improvements in business processes through the diffusion, adoption and use of ICTs across the economy.
ICT-intensive sectors include manufacturing, automotive, aerospace, pharmaceuticals, medical equipment and agro-food, as well as financial services, media and retail. Benefits reported by firms, as a result of increased use of ICTs, include faster product development, cost and overhead reductions, faster and more reliable transactions, better relationships with customers and suppliers, improved levels of customer service and support, and enhanced collaboration opportunities.
FP7 will facilitate the creation of new forms of networked business processes and applications, as well as new engineering approaches for the application of ICT in manufacturing.
Information from the “FP7 Factsheets” provided courtesy of the EC’s DG Research.
The Information and Communication Technologies workprogramme, detailing the activities to help Europe become a thriving knowledge-based economy, is available for download here
NB: The Co-operation workprogramme is comprised of several parts. The general texts, which are common to all themes, are available for download on the main Co-operation page. All of these general texts should be considered alongside the theme specific text when preparing any proposal.