Issued by the cc:eGov project, this Handbook provides an in-depth analysis of what citizen-centric government services should strive for. It gives recommendations on access to these services, offers front- and back-office solutions and emphasizes the importance of relationship building between those delivering and those receiving the services. The handbook also includes a number of interviews carried out with various national administrations serving as useful examples to learn from.

Se ha publicado la tercera convocatoria para la presentación de proyectos de investigacion en temas de ICT, con un presupuesto total de 265.000.000 €.

Organizaciones Latinoamericanas podrán participar en la convocatoria particioando en proyectos en colaboración con organizaciones Europeas.

La deadline para presentar propuestas es el 4 de Abril 2008.

Fecha de Finalización: 06/03/2008

Deadline: 06 March 2008 at 17:00:00 (Brussels local time)

Resumen: Support to bottom up policy coordination initiatives undertaken by several countries and regions (OMC-NET)

Identifier: FP7-COH-2007-2.2-OMC-NET

Budget: 7 500 000 euros

From 2009, all new cars will be equipped with automatic “eCall” technology that could save an estimated 2,500 lives every year and provide faster medical care for many thousands more car accident victims

When the car senses a major impact, eCall will automatically report your exact location to the emergency services via mobile phone, using another Commission initiative - the single ‘112’ European emergency number. Anyone in the car can also trigger an eCall by simply pushing a button.

This is a joint Commission-industry initiative. Launching both eCall and 112 meant bringing together governments, vehicle manufacturers, ICT industries and emergency services from across Europe, showing how research must often be combined with regulation to turn innovative ICT technologies into life-saving services.

Thanks to European research, anyone with a mobile handset will soon be able to pay for anything, anywhere. The SEMOPS project (Secure Mobile Payment Service) has developed a highly secure way for consumers to make payments using mobile devices.

Users can send money to friends and family, pay bills and invoices, buy anything from vending machine coffee to a new car, purchase via the Internet and more, all using their mobile handset. And because they approve each transaction and only provide sensitive information to trusted partners, they remain in full control, with security guaranteed.

A successful research project into electronic voting has led to an eTEN project to test the technology in real world elections, helping Europe deliver on the promise of eGovernment.

Electronic voting is vital to eGovernment, where interactive technologies help deliver better public services and attract citizens back to democracy. Any new system, however, must be at least as secure, private and accessible as existing ones to win voter trust.

The ePoll research project therefore defined and piloted an electronic voting framework, incorporating smart cards, biometrics, cryptography and userfriendly, portable kiosks. The follow-up eTEN project then successfully ran large-scale, legally valid elections in France and Italy to ensure the technology meets real-world needs.

The latest edition of the Photonics newsletter has just been published. Its aim is to present and promote the latest developments and achievements of projects under the ICT research programme, key events and news useful to all those interested in the area of Photonics.