ACTIVITIES :: eGovernment :: Research :: FP7

7^th Framework Programme for Research (2007-2013)

EU funding for the advancement of ICT

FP7 WP 2011 Download here the FP7 Work Programme 2011.

The objective of ICT research under the EU’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7; 2007-2013) is to improve the competitiveness of European industry – as well as to enable Europe to master and shape the future developments of these technologies so that the demands of its society and economy are met. The EU Member States have earmarked a total of € 9.1 billion for funding ICT over the duration of FP7; making it the largest research theme in the cooperation programme, which is itself the largest specific programme of FP7.

FP7 research activities will strengthen Europe’s scientific and technology base and ensure its global leadership in ICT, help drive and stimulate product, service and process innovation and creativity through ICT use and ensure that ICT progress is rapidly transformed into benefits for Europe’s citizens, businesses, industry and governments.

ICT solutions for governance and policy modelling

Objective ICT-2011.5.6 ICT solutions for governance and policy modelling

Target Outcomes

a) ICT solutions for governance and policy modelling: Research will focus on the development of advanced ICT tools for policy modeling, prediction of policy impacts, development of new governance models and collaborative solving of complex societal problems.

This research will result in innovative ICT solutions (including open source solutions) that enable one or more of the following:

- Modelling new policy initiatives taking into account all relevant parameters.
- Performing societal simulations to forecast potential impacts of proposed policy measures.
- Development of tools that identify emerging societal trends as a result of the economic nvironment using innovative approaches such as non-classical economic modelling and eflexivity.
- Modelling and validating the next generation of public services as complex service systems, particularly taking into account the needs of the younger generation.

The work in this area should advance research in simulation and visualisation techniques, process modelling, gaming and mixed reality technologies while building on Web2.0/Web3.0, social networking, crowd-sourcing and dynamics methodology techniques. The resulting tools should exploit the vast reserves of Europe's public sector collective data and knowledge resources and should build on lessons learnt from complex systems modeling, including those at urban or regional scale.

Examples of fields of application can include, but are not limited to, urban planning policy, social and economic policies, life-long learning, mobility, demographics, recovery from the recent crisis etc, where the involvement of citizens through public consultations has been recognised as valuable. Stakeholders such as public administrations and policy institutes are expected to play a key role.

b) Coordination and Support actions should deliver: (i) an RTD roadmap to identify emerging technologies and potential applications at international level; (ii) an international network to promote cooperation of stakeholders working in these areas worldwide and encourage multidisciplinary constituency building. Participation of third countries is specifically encouraged for industrialised and emerging economies. Expectations are to fund one CSA under (i) with an indicative duration of 12 months, and one CSA under (ii) with an indicative duration of 24-36 months.
Expected Impact:

• Improved prediction of impacts of policy measures leading to more efficient implementation of government policies and better identification of the benefits and consequences for citizens and businesses.
•Increased engagement of citizens and wider use of ICT tools resulting in higher potential of innovation concerning interaction of citizens with the government.
• Improved transparency of information related to the impact of economic decisions on society; improved capacity to react to the main societal challenges and increased trust of skeholders and the public at large in governance.
• Strengthened competitive position of European industry (including SMEs) in cooperation platforms, modelling, simulation and visualisation tools as well as increased potential for ider use of those tools beyond EU level.