-
Issue 5, October 2008
- View Archive newsletter
Editorial
Dear Reader,
Welcome to the fifth issue of the EU-LA ICT Weather Forecast newsletter, produced by the SOLAR-ICT and the WINDS-LA projects with the support of the European Commission, presenting reflections, news and events related to Europe-Latin America cooperation in ICT research.
Different key events focused on ICT research, development and innovation are taking place in both regions. SOLAR-ICT and WINDS-LA projects actively participate in them organizing special meetings and presentations to foster cooperation between Europe and Latin America through the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7), one of the main opportunities and tools to turn cooperation efforts into actual results.
Latin American institutions (research centers, universities, companies and SMEs) interested to promote their R&D capabilities are invited to be involved in these activities. SOLAR-ICT and WINDS-LA projects offer diverse mechanisms to support them in defining and fine tuning project ideas and to help them build international project consortia in order to apply to the FP7.
Finally, we would like to remind you that WINDS-LA focuses on Argentina, Brazil and Mexico, while SOLAR-ICT on Costa Rica, Guatemala, Ecuador, Peru, Uruguay and Paraguay.
Enjoy your reading,
The SOLAR-ICT and
WINDS-LA Partners
| SOLAR-ICT News |
In September 2008, SOLAR-ICT completed the last of its 6 Latin American SOLAR-ICT workshops, with the final workshop held in Asuncion, Paraguay on the 25th and 26th of September. The Workshop was hosted by our local SOLAR-ICT partner, CONACYT, the National Council for Science and Technology.
All six workshops, in each of our target countries (Costa Rica, Guatemala, Ecuador, Peru, Uruguay and Paraguay) have been organized between April and September to promote R&D cooperation with Europe. The last workshop in Asuncion, Paraguay was a great success, which involved over 30 participants, including a diverse audience of local national organizations, university participants, and local SMEs.
Like the previous workshops, it was structured over 2 days and provided specific information and training on: SOLAR-ICT project objectives, services and tools available, EU Research Funding Programme (FP7), ICT thematic Work Programme, Presentations of local country ongoing projects and success stories, guidance on participation in FP7 projects and proposal writing, etc. To view the workshop agendas of the discussion topics and for the workshop presentations, please check online at our website, www.solar-ict.eu.
During the workshops, the SOLAR-ICT team completed hundreds of one-to-one interviews, met with the local stakeholders, and provided consultation for many interesting and promising project ideas. Also, many remarkable cases of best practices were found through the workshops and many of these interviews.
As it was previously detailed in our prior newsletter, Issue 3, an important current activity of the SOLAR-ICT project is the Showcases of Excellences, which is the identification of at least 30 cases of ICT best practices discovered through the country research and benchmarking activities, along with the interviews at the 6 workshops.
As a result of this activity, two different booklets will be published and distributed at the ICT Lyon 2008 event to the European ICT stakeholders: a Showcase of Excellence Booklet detailing best practices, and also a Latin American Organization Capacity Booklet. Both of these booklets will also be made available publicly online on the SOLAR-ICT website.
The Showcase of Excellence booklet is a compilation of best practices that are remarkable and significant, representing excellence in ICT in Latin America and will be showcased in Europe. An example of showcase of excellence is offered in this newsletter, in the IN-FOCUS II section.
The Latin American Organization Capacity booklet is an additional dissemination tool that will present Latin American ICT organizations’ capacities to interested European counterparts. It is a real way to show the best ICT organizations of Latin America and can act as a catalyst for future ICT R&D cooperation in joint projects. Here the organizations demonstrate in which ICT field they excel, and in what ICT objectives are they interested. There will be a booklet of over 30 ICT organizations.
| WINDS-Latin America – News |
State of development of the WINDS-LA website and database
Thanks to the active participation of Latin-American and European users, the www.winds-la.eu website has reached the number of 1.000 subscribed users. The website counts with a database presenting LA actors and projects in ICT research which counts respectively with more than 300 institutions and more than 350 projects.
2nd WINDS-LA Policy Seminar: “Strengthening EU-Latin America links in ICT research - Towards a joint Collaboration Roadmap” – October 24, 2008
The WINDS-LA Policy Seminar: “Strengthening EU-Latin America links in ICT research - Towards a joint Collaboration Roadmap” is the second in a series of two “policy debate” events organised by the WINDS-LA project. The event took place in the Mexican Embassy to the European Union in Brussels on the 24th of October. Its main goal was to increase the awareness of the Brussels-based policy actors and networks about the level of development of EU-LA cooperation in this field and by proposing some concrete ideas to move forward in improving and structuring this cooperation.
The seminar gathered around 40 participants, including representatives of the Latin American embassies in Brussels, representatives of the European Commission (DG INFSO, DG RTD), representatives from key research networks based in Brussels dealing with ICT research, representatives of ICT industry, representatives of university networks, National Contact Points of ICT in Europe and Latin America.
The seminar was structured in two main panels with Q&A times respectively: “The status of EU-LA cooperation in ICT research” and “Which way forward? Articulating existing initiatives in a log term perspective.” Through both sessions, different speakers presented an overview of the findings of the WINDS-LA project (identified areas of EU-LA interest and benefit, main problems of EU-LA cooperation in ICT research, excellence examples of cooperation); discussed the common EU-LA Roadmap for ICT research (developed and proposed by the project) both in terms of content and of how to reach a real policy impact; and analised the idea of the EU-LA High Level Multi-stakeholder Committee and how to move this group forward.
The results as well as the presentations of the Seminar are available in the Events section of the website.
WINDS-LA Workshop in the eChallenge Conference – October 23, 2008
WINDS-LA organized a workshop focusing on EU-LA cooperation in ICT research at the eChallenge Conference on October 23, in Stockholm. During this event, some key EU-LA projects funded by the European Commission, such as BELIEF II, BEACON, BRASIL, SALA+, SAMBA, and SOLAR-ICT presented their results ad discussed how to reach a stronger impact by joining efforts. The Seminar represented the occasion to show the critical collection of experiences reached by EU-LA actions in the field of ICT research and to contribute to a stronger collaboration and cohesion among these actions.
| LATIN AMERICAN PRESENCE IN THE ICT LYON 2008 EVENT: POSSIBILITIES AND OPPORTUNITIES |
The biennial ICT Event is the most important forum for discussing research and public policy in information and communication technologies at European level. The Event brings together researchers and innovators, policy and business decision-makers working in the field of digital technologies.
The ICT Event:
-
Presents Europe's future priorities for research funding in the ICT area
-
Examines crucial issues of public policy for stimulating innovation through ICT development and uptake
-
Creates opportunities to establish research and business partnerships and simply keep up to date in what is happening in various ICT research fields.
The ICT Event is organised by the European Commission's Directorate General for the Information Society and Media and is usually hosted by the current Presidency of the European Union.
The SOLAR-ICT and WINDS-LA projects are organising a full week of events in order to promote Latin American ICT research capacities and competencies in Europe and to facilitate contacts between researchers from both regions. For more info on these activities and for indications on how to join please visit our website.
One of those activities is the “Networking session” that will take place on Thursday November 27 at 9.30 AM in the Lyon ICT 2008 event.
The Networking Session is structured in 2 phases:
-
The first part will present interventions from 4 high level research leaders from LA on the following four themes: e-Health and uptake of common EU-LA standards in EMR; Digital TV and perspectives for European Technologies in LA; ICT for learning and digital resources; e-Infrastructure.
-
The second phase will continue the previous presentations through four discussions in focused networking sessions taking place at "thematic tables", to which the audience will be invited to join according to individual interests (each table will count with the presence of representatives from successful EU-LA FP6 and FP7 projects). Each table will also be invited to provide a short resume of discussion and suggestions/requests for future actions.
This Networking Session is strictly linked with the Latin America ICT Gateway stand, where participants will have the opportunity to disseminate their work and field interests and meet with members of the WINDS-LA and SOLAR-ICT consortia and with the speakers of the session.
All those who are interested in attending these events will be able to do it participating in person to all conferences and meetings or sending their project ideas that will be arranged and circulated among key people of each filed. To be part of the Latin American delegation in Lyon and Brussels, please express your interest by email to Soraya Hidalgo. It is important to register your institution in the WINDS databse and fill in the project idea in a template form (DOC format). In case you cannot attend the events, we suggest you to register your institution in the WINDS database and fill in the project idea in a template form to have the chance European researchers can take into account your proposal when they look for partners for their projects.
Registration to the SOLAR-ICT database will allow you access to the partner search service, which offers a great opportunity to assist in forming partnerships between European and Latin American organisations.
Through the SOLAR-ICT database, both European and Latin American companies are able to find information about hundreds of ICT organisations from our 6 partner countries (Costa Rica, Guatemala, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay). European organisations interested in collaborating with Latin America can especially benefit from the database with the ability to easily search through the listings of Latin American organisations and their specific expertise in the ICT fields.
FP7 works though biannual Work Programmes, which are documents that set the priorities, objectives and calls schedules for a two-year period. The ICT Work Programme for the period 2009-2010 will be announced in November 2008, and next Calls for Proposals are expected in the same period.
The 2009-2010 Work Programme for ICT research in the EU's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) will be presented in detail in the ICT-Lyon 2008 Event. Other sources of EU research funding for ICT will also be examined, including the new Joint Technology Initiatives (JTIs) and the Competitiveness and Innovation Programme (CIP). These initiatives together represent more than €2 billion in EU support for ICT research over the next two years. All those possibilities are open for Latin American partners!
To be kept updated on the next FP7 steps, just register at the WINDS database or at the SOLAR-ICT database and you will get all updated news on EU ICT research cooperation possibilities.
Find more information and all the documentation related to these calls at the CORDIS website
| POLICY CORNER: The WINDS-LA Roadmap for the EU-Latin America ICT Research |
As a result of the research work and collaborative dialogue carried out by the WINDS-Latin America project, the EU-LA ICT Research Multistakeholder Committee took shape as a consultation and knowledge-sharing group composed by key stakeholders of ICT research representing governments, research and other societal sectors. Its objective is to improve collaboration between Europe and Latin America in ICT research, promoting knowledge sharing and benchlearning among is members and providing feedback and guidance on specific initiatives in the field.
The Roadmap gathers, organizes and brings forward a number of different inputs coming from:
-
The context analysis carried on by the WINDS-LA project in Argentina, Brazil and Mexico, available at the WINDS website in the form of national reports;
-
The consultations organised in the frame of three conferences that WINDS-LA organised in Brazil (October ’07), Argentina (November ’07) and Mexico (December ‘07), involving all the major national ICT research stakeholders;
-
The consultation work that WINDS-LA carried out with its Advisory Board;
-
The analysis of the results of a number of initiatives that analysed the issues of EU-LA cooperation on ICT research from different perspectives, such as the Prominence project (http://www.prominence-online.net), or the SCOPE 2015 project (http://prest.mbs.ac.uk/prest/SCOPE/Latin_America.htm);
-
The first Policy Seminar, organised in Sao Paulo in July 08;
-
An extensive two-rounds DELPHI consultation with key stakeholders of EU and LA ICT research.
In occasion of the 2nd WINDS-LA Policy Seminar in Brussels, the Roadmap idea was presented to the LA embassies and to other European actors and networks. During this presentation, suggestions and comments were gathered to make further definitions of the Roadmap working methods.
The final version of the Roadmap will be published in November 2008 and will be available at the WINDS website.
| IN FOCUS: the PRO-IDEAL Project |
This new project confirms the high interest of the European Commission in engaging researchers from Latin America in FP7.
PRO-IDEAL plans a series of activities that are geared at improving the overall performance of the countries' research community in the ICT programme. The main activities consist in:
-
Coaching courses to "coach the coaches": This allows active knowledge transfer that creates a multiplying effect in the target region. The trained coaches will, in turn, act as "Project Angels" for their region.
-
Organising awareness raising and coaching events for potential partners in ICT projects, three in each target country, linked to open calls for proposals.
-
Reinforce the ICT policy dialogue with key stakeholders.
These efforts will be supported by the PRO-IDEAL ICT promotion platform, an on-line tool based on the Web 2.0 paradigm of knowledge sharing comprising:
-
an ICT Wiki providing easy access to information,
-
Blogs displaying coaching modules for self-learning,
-
news feeds on events, calls, etc.
The above activities are carried out by an experienced partnership that has a proven track record in successful international projects: INMARK from Spain will co-ordinate the consortium; the European Multimedia Forum disposes of the network in the ICT sector and takes care of the dissemination strategy as well as the Web 2.0 tool; the partners in the target countries (Ministerio de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación Productiva, Argentina, Universidade de Sao Paulo, Brazil, ADI- Asociación de Derecho e Informática de Chile, Laboratorio Tecnológico del Uruguay), will act as "hubs" implementing the promotion activities at local level, using their established networks covering academic and industrial research communities, and public institutions.
The official website will be available from mid-November onwards at: http://www.pro-ideal.eu.
| IN FOCUS: Showcase of Excellence Example from Costa Rica – Master Med |
Master Med was born as an initiative between the University of Costa Rica and Master Lex, a private entity. From the University of Costa Rica, the National Drug Information (CIMED) and the Technology Transfer Unit Research Vice rectory (ProInnova), are involved.
Master Med is a software based information system that allows a quick and easy way to search for drug information on synthetic drugs and plant derived products; simultaneously for several products. It can become an essential tool for all healthcare professionals, giving reliable, scientific, impartial and objective information that will facilitate therapeutic decisions making based on scientific evidence, affecting patients’ health and quality of life.
Innovative Characteristics
1. Objectivity
It allows the practitioner to access scientific (not commercial) information, without bias from the pharmaceutical industry, thus ensuring the impartiality of the data. The drug information is compiled from various bibliographic sources, recognized both regionally and globally, in a process that is conducted by the pharmacists of CIMED, trained to analyze and to structure information in a simple, complete and compact way for the user’s benefit.
2. Just on time
It
provides scientific
information within seconds. It is a project tailored to the
necessities in the field of drug information, detected through
clinical experience of several members of CIMED, as well as contact
with potential users.
It will provide drug information in a very
agile way, without needing to search multiple sources of information
in a short time This will contribute to the healthcare providers and
patients to improve their quality of life.
3. Reduced costs
Information from various sources, compiled in a single case study, thus decreasing costs associated with access to information and speeding up the process of patient care.
4. Traceability
Allows saving the information for each patient consultation; can produce records to track the patient´s status. It can become the best way to develop the pharmaceutical care activities from the community pharmacy, as the center of primary healthcare attention. It will also allow access to information in basic language, to be distributed within the communities o specific patients, in order to improve the health education of the public and contribute to the health promotion and disease prevention.
5. Novelty
The
development of the project will provide services beyond
those offered by Web portals. The system is designed to identify
potential drug interactions and adverse reactions, even when it is
not the main search of the user at that time.
In addition, it
will be an user-friendly software, facilitating and speeding up
consultation, even for users who have never accessed it.
In
Latin America there is no product containing these features.
The
evident need presented at national and regional level is also seen in
other countries around the world, which makes the project an
alternative to this international necessity. Also, most reliable
scientific information is always in English, while the
information Master Med provides is in Spanish for the Latin American
environment.
Master Med was recognized with the Award for Best Costa Rican Technological Initiative in March 2008, at the V International Meeting of Information and Communication Technologies Fair "Costa Rica Technology Insight 2008". That distinction is awarded by the Promotion of Foreign Trade Office of Costa Rica (PROCOMER) and the Costa Rican Chamber of Information and Communication Technologies (CAMTIC).
| Next Events |
ICT-Lyon 2008 Event (25-27 November 2008) Lyon, France
During this event, the Latin American (LA) delegates in Lyon will be welcomed in a dedicated stand called “Latin America ICT Gateway” that will be the point of reference for all Lyon participants willing to have information on LA ICT competencies & capacities and willing contacting LA potential project partners to work together. On the 26th of November, a dedicated Networking Session will be organised to facilitate the contacts and enhance even more the networking activities between LA partners and the European counterpart.
Project Concept Note Day (28 November 2008) Lyon, France
In the aftermath of the ICT Event, the ‘Project Concept Note Day’ will represent an excellent opportunity to capitalise on the information received, the contacts made and the ideas that arose during the ICT Lyon 2008. The WINDS and SOLAR partners will assist the participants in structuring a draft idea into a proper Concept Note, gathering all key elements necessary to make an early assessment of a project idea.
Pre-Screening & Networking Day (1 December 2008) Brussels, Belgium
With the
support of the European Commission, SOLAR and WINDS-LA coordinate
this event to refine Latin American delegates’ concept notes in
order to transform them into a real pre-project document.
SOLAR-ICT and WINDS-LA joint Final Event (2 December 2008) Brussels, Belgium
The
meeting
will take place at the Residence Palace and aim to show the results
achieved by both project in a unique event. The agenda foresees
speakers from the projects’ Latin American partners’ countries,
the European Commission and ICT stakeholders. The Event will also be
an opportunity for the projects to present their results and showcase
of identified Latin American excellence as well as being an
invaluable opportunity for networking and brokerage in the field of
EU-LA ICT collaboration.
FP7-ICT Proposers' Day, 22 January 2009, Budapest, Hungary
Organised by The European Commission's Information Society and Media Directorate-General in cooperation with the Hungarian National Office for Research and Technology
Information and Communication Technologies Research, the ICT Proposers’ Day is designed to help you meet potential collaborators and facilitate the formation of research consortia. European Commission staff will also be present to advise on the specifics of the 2009-2010 work programme, and on the general rules and procedures for participating in calls for proposals. More info here.