• conference to discuss EU initiatives on Research & Innovation in ICT (under Horizon 2020), along with the prospects ahead under the Digital Single Market Strategy;
• an exhibition of the best of EU ICT, featuring prototypes you can touch and test on your own, games and applications you can try;
• networking sessions to help you find the right partner for your ground-breaking research;
• dedicated seminars to answer questions on upcoming Horizon 2020 calls for proposals;
• Startup Europe Forum activities, featuring the launch of an online tool monitoring progress across the EU in supporting start-ups, and the CREA ICT Business Idea Contest, to select the best start-up ideas that emerged from the 2015 CREA Summer Academies.

These are some of the highlights of ICT 2015 - Innovate, Connect, Transform, that takes place in Lisbon from 20th to 22nd October 2015 with the participation of some of the most important European players in ICT, the excellence of EU universities and research centres and flourishing SMEs and start-ups.

The event will take place under the patronage of Aníbal António Cavaco Silva, the President of the Republic of Portugal.

Günther H. Oettinger, European Commissioner in charge of the Digital Economy and Society, and Carlos Moedas, European Commissioner in charge of Research, Science and Innovation will welcome more than 6,000 ICT professionals from research, politics, industry, start-ups, investors and academia.  Here's the agenda of the event.

Can't be there? Still ok, you can follow ICT2015 as it unfolds from your computer or phone.

Here's more on what you can find:

• at the exhibition site, you can find some of Europe's most remarkable research and innovation discoveries. Get a first-hand look at some of the top European ICT projects;

• visit our ICT villages dedicated to Portuguese, European and International ICT projects, spreading over 5000 m2;

• mingle with the local community in the off-site exhibition, where you can check out 5 projects, chosen to illustrate how European ICT R&I is impacting the lives of citizens;

• listen to Physics Nobel Prize winner Sir Konstantin Novoselov (member of the team that runs the Graphene project) talk about ICT and Industrial leadership;

• check out the Commission website for the event: in the newsroom and blog sections you can browse through a collection of blogs and news articles on some of our exhibitors and participants

• if you're a journalist, we've prepared a press pack for you.

Background

The event is organised by the European Commission and Fundaçao para a Ciência e a Tecnologia.

The Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation programme aims at strengthening EU industry and keeping Europe's industrial leadership in the digital economy. This is EU's biggest ever research and innovation framework programme, a funding scheme with a seven-year budget (2014-2020) worth €80 billion, 12 of which will go to digitising European industry.

In more than 30 thematic sessions, the research community will get to learn more on the new H2020 Work Programme 2016-17 and related Instruments. The European Commission will invest almost €16 billion in research and innovation in the next two years, for actions related to digital technologies.

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