European Union IT research is failing (key point " Reduce bureaucracy which is threatening to kill research" djf

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

http://www.computerweekly.com/articles/article.asp?liArticleID=136232&liFlav
ourID=1

European Union IT research is failing


A high-level European Commission assessment panel says European Union
research into information society technologies (IST) is failing, despite it
spending almost £700m a year on the area.

The panel said the research was vital for competitiveness but that it more
investment and less bureaucracy are required for success.

The panel was chaired by former Portuguese science minister Jose Mariano
Gago, who was one of the authors of the European Commission’s 10-year Lisbon
Strategy, which aims to make the EU the “world’s most dynamic and
competitive economy”.

Viviane Reding, European Commission information society and media
commissioner, said, “Fast-changing IST research is, and must remain, a key
driver for the rapid economy-wide technological innovation on which Europe’s
skilled jobs ultimately depend.”

She said, “I intend to respond very quickly to the panel’s concerns about
red tape, which is a general problem of EU research programmes, but felt
most directly in IST research where we operate in a particularly dynamic and
fast evolving environment.”

The Commission had asked the panel to assess the effectiveness and
achievements of IST research and development under EU research programmes
for the period of 1999-2003.

The EU spends more than €1bn (£697m) per year on IST research and
development.

The key recommendations of the panel are:
    •     Increase research funding to drive collaboration between firms and
academia
    •     Reduce bureaucracy which is threatening to kill research
    •     Step up the involvement of small- and medium-sized enterprises,
and new member states
    •     Improve communications and target them by audience to broaden
take-up of research results
    •     Assess the need for additional human resources in IST research in
Europe.


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