DG INFSO-C6 is organising an information day for proposers in the research area of eGovernment. This event aims at presenting the opportunities offered during the first Call for proposals while at the same time allowing participants to explore possible collaboration and networking in developing research proposals on eGovernment. The eGovernment research area represents one of the major challenges in Europe today, while at the same time aims at supporting key European policies, indispensable for building a networked environment for public and private organisations and for all European citizens.

Following discussions with the European Union's Working Party on data protection, Microsoft has agreed to implement a comprehensive package of data protection measures, which will mean making substantial changes to the existing .NET Passport system.The purpose of online authentication systems is to allow users who have registered and provided some form of identification, often including an e-mail address, and verification, often a password, to navigate through participating sites without having to introduce a different password for each one.

The European Commission will hold a public hearing in Brussels on 4 February on a working report on remaining barriers to the achievement of widespread access to new services and applications of the Information Society through open platforms in digital television and 3G mobile communications. The report examines technology affecting access to electronic services by citizens.

The Information Society Directorate General is organising a two days workshop on GRID based systems for complex problem solving in Brussels. This workshop is targeted at a wide spectrum of industrial, academic and institutional actors active in the area of GRID based systems and its current and potential applications. An inter/multidisciplinary approach and partnerships among industry, academia, users and European centres of research excellence is needed to steer the future path for the EU Grid domain. One of the key challenges facing the Grid constituency at this time is to increase industry’s partnership with the well-established European academic centres of excellence vis-à-vis the Grid, thus promoting the use of Grids beyond eScience, in industry and business The main objective of this workshop is to offer a forum to the constituency for consolidating and structuring emerging ideas in line with the set objectives of the FP6 IST Work Programme 2003/2004. In view of the radical shift on the objectives and instruments compared to previous activities in FP5, the participants are invited to share their views related to the development of Next Generation Grid Architectures (with a 5-10 year time horizon) and of Generic Enabling Technologies that cross applications and sectors.

The European Commission has created a new web portal to make it easier for European citizens to make their voices heard in EU policy making. The new 'Your Voice in Europe' portal replaces the previous version of the site with a one-stop shop in all eleven EU languages allowing citizens, businesses and all other stakeholders to tell the Commission what they think about new policy initiatives. The results of consultations will be available through the portal as soon as they are closed, so that as well as giving their own opinions, users of the site will be able to see what others have said and subsequently see how the Commission has taken this into account when new policy proposals are published.

European Enterprise and Information Society Commissioner Erkki Liikanen will host a Broadband Day on January 28th 2003 in Brussels to promote the widespread availability and use of broadband Internet access in Europe. This workshop will bring together high level officials responsible for broadband policy in the Member States, to exchange experiences and thereby stimulate the design of national strategies to ensure widespread availability of broadband throughout the EU.

The European Regulators Group (ERG) held its second meeting on 23 January 2003 in Amsterdam. The Chairman in particular welcomed representatives from the Candidate Countries entering the EU in 2004, who were present for the first time. The ERG, set up by the new regulatory framework for electronic communications network and services, constitutes the interface between National Regulatory Authorities and the European Commission in this field.

The European Commission invites all research centres, universities and enterprises to participate in the first series of 49 calls for proposals that have been published since 17 December 2002 within the frame of FP6 (2000-2006). A total budget of 5 Billion EUR has been set aside to cover these first calls.

European citizens are large-scale consumers of health-related information on the Internet. The European Commission has adopted a Communication setting out a core set of Quality Criteria for Health Related Websites. It outlines 6 quality criteria: transparency and honesty, authority, privacy and data protection, updating of information, accountability and accessibility.

The European Commission has launched a public consultation on a report on remaining barriers to the achievement of widespread access to new services and applications of the Information Society through open platforms in digital television and 3G mobile communications, which was requested by the Barcelona Summit and the Seville Council. The consultation will run until 15 February 2003. A public hearing is currently scheduled for 4 February 2003.

The European Commission today adopted a Communication entitled "Towards the Full Roll-Out of Third Generation Mobile Communications" as a report to the forthcoming Seville Council. The Communication identifies the major challenges ahead which all actors involved need to tackle if 3G is to fulfil the great expectations and its significant potential in building the EU information society which the Commission addresses through its eEurope 2005 Action Plan. Read the text of the Communication .

On December 4-5, the Council of Telecommunications Ministers will meet in Brussels. Commissioner Erkki Liikanen will represent the European Commission.

The European Commission decided today that from next year administrations in 11 candidate countries will be able to exchange data with EU Member States' administrations as regards application of EU law, enforcement of Internal Market rules, and supply of e-Government services across borders to citizens and enterprises.

Monday morning in Brussels, and European Research Commissioner Philippe Busquin and Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt opened the "Research 2002" conference. The gathering marks the start of the €17,5 billion 6th EU Research Framework Programme (FP6 2003-2006)): the first calls for proposals will be published shortly. With 9,000 participants "Research 2002" is the biggest event of this kind ever organised in Europe.

Today the European Commission has granted antitrust clearance to a set of agreements that is aimed at giving third generation ("3G") mobile equipment manufacturers better access to patents. Improved access to patents is essential for a rapid introduction of 3G mobile services in Europe.

Does anyone remember when 'Content Was King'? With the internet boom now a memory, how can Europe’s world-class content producers combine the right business model and technology strategy to translate their assets into commercial success? This dossier looks at just a few of the conference workshops, networking sessions and exhibition projects at IST 2002 tackling these issues.

A keen interest in our health and well being is leading all players in the healthcare chain to make greater and greater use of the opportunities offered by eHealth. Citizens are accessing the estimated 100,000 health related internet sites everyday, making health one of the most searched for areas on the entire world wide web. While medical professionals find that the provision of healthcare services is becoming more information hungry at all levels, leading to a greater reliance on sophisticated computer applications.

To coincide with the launch of the EU's Sixth Framework Programme for research, we are proud to announce the publication of "Innovation Europe" in both hard copy and electronic format. Produced with the support of the European Commission, Innovation Europe is the most ambitious and comprehensive report addressing the challenges of enterprise and research.

The Conference "IST 2002 Partnerships for the Future", which will take place in Copenhagen on 4-6 November 2002, will attract more than 3000 delegates and will feature an exhibition of the best results of EU funded research projects. The Conference will also provide for 43 networking sessions proposed by European industrialists and researchers. Moreover, the event will include three days of interactive conference workshops which were all proposed and developed by Europe's IT research community.

The inaugural meeting of the European Regulators' Group for electronic communications networks and services was held on Friday in Brussels. In his opening address Erkki Liikanen, European Commissioner for Enterprise and the Information Society said, "Today is an important day as we embark towards the implementation of the new regulatory framework. This inaugural meeting formally marks the establishment of the European Regulators' Group. It brings into being one of the key components of the EU policy on electronic communications, networks and services".