Fifth Framework Programme: Update Information
One of a set of pages providing information on the emerging workplan for the Fifth Framework Programme. For background and overall structure of the text see the Commission's letter and associated documents.
Please note that the information given here is our own interpretation of work in hand. Any plans relating to the programme should be based on formally published Commission documents. We regret that we are not able to answer individual questions about the Fifth Framework Programme; we do however monitor and respond to discussion in the European Telework Online discussion list, please see http://www.eto.org.uk/discuss/discuss.htm for details of how to participate in this. Please report any errors in these pages to eto-info@eto.org.uk. Updates are notified through the European Telework Online announcements list.
The Information Society Technologies (IST) Programme
for Research, Technology Development and Demonstration under the Fifth Framework Programme
Draft 1999 IST Workprogramme
At meetings in September/October 1998 drafts were circulated of a Commission draft workprogramme for the first stage of the new IST Programme. This broadly follows the outlines already provided at this site (see Commission letter of 16 March 1998 and associated papers).
These brief notes are intended to highlight aspects of the September draft as these affect the interests of the main audiences for the European Telework Online website, ie those addressing:
- Telework and teletrade: the workplan wording for this is now New Methods of Work and Electronic Commerce
- Telecooperation and community networking: the Commission appears to prefer the terms telecollaboration or collaborative working; comunity networking is not mentioned explicitly but relevant activities could be included under the heading Systems and Services for the Citizen. Telecooperation could be addressed under several headings.
- Technologies supporting the democratic process - this is explicitly mentioned in the workplan
- Inclusion, especially of people with disabilities - this also is explicitly mentioned
- Telecommunications-travel substitution - disappointingly this is not mentioned, though there is substantial attention to the use of technology applied to transport and travel
Some comments on how the workplan proposes to address these themes are provided below. A copy of the workplan will be made available as and when it may be published by the Commission. Note that the programme is flexible and the workplan is open to change each year. The present draft proposes work that will start in 1999.
General comments
The programme envisages four "Key Actions":
- Key Action 1: Systems and Services for the Citizen
- Key Action 2: New Methods of Work and Electronic Commerce
- Key Action 3: Multimedia Content and Tools
- Key Action 4: Essential Technologies and Infrastructures
from which it will be seen that there is a strong emphasis on the application of technology in specific aspects of society.
Each Key Action is expected to include the complete range of activities from basic research to demonstration and take up actions. Its suggested that each project (including research projects) will need to show how it relates to the needs of society and of the market as well as how it tackles particular technical challenges. Although there is to be a separate programme for "targeted socio-economic research", some relevant and appropriate socio-economic research is likely to be included within each Key Action.
Key Actions are to be structured to include:
- Some work that spans the whole range of the Key Action and provides input and linkage to market for the rest of the projects in the Key Action
- A series of "Action Lines" indicating the specific aspects of the topic that projects should address.
The Action Line descriptions are on the whole much less prescriptive than the work tasks identified in Fourth Framework Programme calls for proposals. Also, projects may address more than one action line in more than one Key Action. This is a two-edged sword - proposers will have more flexibility in devising appropriate work, but there could be more looseness in selection criteria, making proposal writing more risky?
The technology research and development aspects of the work are supposed to address market needs of the future - 3-8 years out.
Telework and teletrade, or:
New Methods of Work and Electronic Commerce
This is one of four "Key Actions" in the draft workplan. There is an emphasis on the need for a strong interplay between technical, economic, social and legal issues. Work "spaning" the whole action line will address:
- New perspectives for work and business
and
- Corporate knowledge management
Within the main research activities, the action lines of most interest to telework and teletrade communities could be:
- Workplace design
- Shared spaces for collaborative work (ie virtual or logical rather than physical spaces)
- Dynamic networked organisations
- Digital design and life-cycle management for products and services
- New market mediation systems
- Enhanced customer-supplier relationships
There are also action lines addressing security and transaction management activities
Telecooperation
Telecooperation may be addressed under some of the action lines mentioned above (telework and teletrade) ie Shared spaces for collaborative work
Dynamic networked organisations, and also under the Key Action on Multimedia Content and Services, which includes an action line on:
There is also scope for telecooperation within the Corporate knowledge management action line.
Community networking
Its disappointing that this important dimension of Information Society development is not mentioned in the 1999 workplan draft- more lobbying needed!
Community Network initiatives could, however, participate as user testbeds in any work relating to telecooperation or to electronic democracy, see below, and in several aspects of the New Methods of Work domain - given that "work" can include voluntary and community as well as commercially oriented work!
One issue associated with the work programme is the implied assumption that "systems and services for the citizen" are predominantly a matter for governments (administrations) and the public sector. Some lobbying may be needed to ensure that community based initiatives are considered alongside government-led ones. Some earlier Commission programmes have suffered from low levels of innovation as a result of declared requirements for initiatives to gain support of national or local government. Governments tend to be latecomers in the use of practical ICT applications rather than trail blazers.
Electronic democracy
The draft workplan includes an action line for:
- On-line support to the democratic process
but this is typified as an "exploratory action", implying (correctly in our view) that this domain is not yet sufficiently understood to identify specific technology requirements. The draft wording appears to be somewhat restrictive but the term "exploratory" should mean there is scope for imaginative interpretation of what is appropriate!
Inclusion, especially of people with disabilities
Also has it's own Action Line:
- Persons with special needs, including disabled and elderly - systems and services for independent living
This is an area that, more than any other, calls out for close linkage between the technology research and development and the political and socio-economic processes that affect success. No amount of appropriate technology will be useful to people with disabilities or elderly people unless there is a real will on the part of society and enterprises to (a) make sure people have and know how to use the technologies, and (b) reach out and include people in the mainstream of work, leisure and social engagement.
Telecommunications-travel substitution
As in the Fourth Framework Programme there is an emphasis on "Transport", but entirely focused on making transport and our use of it more efficient - nothing about reducing growth in the demand for transport and travel or optimising choices about when to meet or travel physically and when to meet or travel virtually. There is also a focus on tourism with no mention of virtual tourism, even though "virtual environments" are addressed in Key Action 4. Lobbyin is clearly needed, plus some effort to get this area addressed within the programme for Targeted Socio-Economic Research.
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Page last updated 15 October 1998.