London Regional ICT Champion

European Commission Issues First Call for Proposals under its ICT Support Programme (UK)

Grants Online tels us that:

The European Commission has issued a call for proposals under its ICT Support Programme. The ICT Support Programme is part of the Commission’s Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme (CIP) and aims to stimulate innovation and competitiveness through the wider uptake and best use of Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) by citizens, governments and businesses and in particular SMEs. Under this call a total of £53 million is available to support actions that use ICT to develop more efficient and accessible eGovernment services; use ICT to promote accessibility, for the elderly and social integration; and make the best use of ICT for sustainable and more accessible health services.

In the past, the ICT Champion has taken a dim view of e-government initiatives (such as the one mentioned above) and its token attempts to involve the voluntary sector, but we shall see. The blurb goes onto state:

The Commission is seeking to support a variety of different projects. These are Pilot projects that build on existing initiatives in participating countries; Pilot projects that stimulate the uptake of new ICT based services; and thematic networks that bring together relevant stakeholders, expertise and facilities with the objective of exploring new ways of implementing ICT-based solutions. The closing date for applications is the 23rd October 2007..

http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/activities/ict_psp/calls/call_proposals_07/index_en.htm

Source: Grants Online