Joint Research Centre - European Commission

On the occasion of a joint event organised by the JRC in cooperation with the Malta Council for Science and Technology (MCST), the two organisations signed a Memorandum of Understanding on intensified research cooperation. Areas of such collaboration have been identified on the basis of mutual interest and include environment, biotechnology, information and communication technologies (ICT), energy, food safety and maritime affairs.

Both organisations have also agreed to host Maltese doctoral and post doctoral students in the various JRC Research Institutes. Candidates for grants funded by Malta's national programmes will be nominated by MCST or the University of Malta, and pre-selected candidates will be approved by the JRC. Maltese candidates to the EU grants will need to follow the common JRC grants procedures or apply for a Marie Curie fellowship.

Nature's capacity to provide vital services such as fresh water, benign climate and natural ecosystems for recreational activities is often cheaper to maintain than having to invest in technological solutions. Protecting and restoring biodiversity is also an essential step in the transition to a more sustainable economy and protecting ecosystems can be very cost effective. This is confirmed by a report to policy makers presented by The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) project, a major independent global study providing an economic angle to an environmental topic.

The rapid growth of web 2.0, or social computing, allows users to play an influential role in the way commercial and public products and services are shaped. The report "The impact of Social Computing on the EU Information Society and Economy", published today by the JRC Institute for Prospective Technological Studies (IPTS), finds that in 2008, 41% of EU Internet users were engaged in social computing activities through Social Networking Sites (SNS), blogs, photo and video sharing, online multi-player games and collaborative platforms for content creation and sharing. This percentage rises to 64% if users aged under 24 only are considered.

The report shows that social computing goes beyond individual networking and entertainment, as it empowers tens of millions of Europeans to support their work, health, learning and citizenship in innovative ways. The research found that social computing is reshaping work practices, as employees join communities of interest outside their organisations to improve their knowledge and skills. Social innovation enabled by social computing contributes to improved lifelong learning processes, business competitiveness, social inclusion and integration of immigrants, among others.

This week, the 15th GeoCAP Annual Conference is gathering around 350 European experts to discuss the latest innovations in remote sensing technologies and their application for supporting agricultural subsidies controls. Since the introduction of remote sensing controls EU regulations in 1992, satellite images have proved to be an efficient tool to verify that agricultural subsidies are correctly paid to farmers. In 2008, on a total of 8.3 million declarations made by farmers, 629,000 checks were performed on the spot, of which 55% were done using remote sensing imagery. The same figures are expected for 2009. Very High Resolution satellites or aerial orthophotos allow to accurately check the size of the parcel, their cover type and possibly cover status, thus reducing considerably the need of physical checks in the farms and consequently contributing towards a more effective and efficient management of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).

The 2009 EU R&D Industrial Investment Scoreboard is now available. Worldwide corporate R&D investment has increased by 6.9% in spite of the economic crisis, according to the report. With an 8.1% increase, the R&D investment growth of EU companies, defined as companies having headquarters within the EU, is significantly higher than US ones for the second year, at 5.7%, and Japanese ones, at 4.4%.

Two EU companies feature in the top ten: Volkswagen in the 3rd place with an R&D investment of €5.93 billion and Nokia in the 8th. The world's biggest investor in R&D was Toyota Motor, with €7.61 billion. The report also shows that companies from emerging countries have the highest R&D investment growth.