EUROPEAN COMMISSION

 

 

 

EUMEDIS Pilot Projects
(EUMEDIS Strand 2)


Guidelines for Applicants

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Budget Line B7-4100

 

I.                   Programme Objectives and budget

 

1.1 Programme Origin

The Barcelona Euro-Mediterranean Conference of 27-28 November 1995 stressed in its economic chapter that the support for the development of the Mediterranean scientific and technological community, together with the upgrade and modernisation of local telecommunication infrastructure, are two pivotal elements for the success of the Euro-Mediterranean partnership.

Against this background, the Conference held in Rome from 30-31 May 1996 on the "Construction of the Euro-Mediterranean Information Society: communication, education and training, research" provided an opportunity to officially mark the Union's engagement on the Barcelona principles and to begin an analysis of the concrete measures to be taken for the Mediterranean Regional development in telecommunications and in the use of new information technologies in industry, research and education.

During the last three years more than 1500 experts from the whole region (gathered through numerous thematic conferences and workshops organised not only in Europe, but also in Cyprus, Egypt, Malta, Morocco, Tunisia, Turkey) have participated to the definition of an overall Action Plan on the development of the Euro-Mediterranean Information Society.

On February 22nd 1999 the European Commission approved a comprehensive regional MEDA initiative for development of the Euro-Mediterranean Information Society specifically designed to reduce the region's informational and technological gap vis-à-vis the neighbouring countries.

The name of this initiative is EUMEDIS (Euro-MEDiterranean Information Society). EUMEDIS is the largest programme ever undertaken by the European Commission in the development of the global information society. The EUMEDIS initiative pursues and implements concretely the political message of the Communication on Information Society and Developing Countries[1] and the final declaration of the Bonn Conference on Global Networks[2].

The programme is the result of the formal requests made by the Mediterranean Countries’ representatives to the European Commission during the Euro-Mediterranean Ministerial Conference on the Construction of the Euro-Med Information Society held in Rome under Italian Presidency on 30th -31st May 1996. The programme is also complementary to a regional telecommunications regulatory framework programme launched at the beginning of the year 2000 by the Commission with a financial coverage of 2.5Meuro.

 

 

 

1.2 Programme main objectives and budget

EUMEDIS aims essentially at three concrete objectives organised in two strands of action:

·      Within EUMEDIS’ strand one, EUMEDIS will fund the creation of a network of Mediterranean Information Society Focal Points which will develop a harmonised governmental strategy for the development of the Euro-Mediterranean Information Society

·      Within the same strand EUMEDIS will fund an (Internet based) interconnection between the European research network and the Mediterranean research networks. This connectivity will not only boost the development of the Internet in each Mediterranean country, but will also create a large “high bandwidth ring” all around the Mediterranean region, which will transport all the co-operative applications developed by the participants to the EUMEDIS initiative.

 

·      In the second strand of the initiative EUMEDIS will fund Regional Pilot Information Society Projects in five sectors of intervention.

 

The present Guidelines set out the rules for submission and selection of project proposals for the  Regional Pilot Information Society Projects (EUMEDIS Strand two).

 

The overall budget made available for the EUMEDIS pilot projects is 35M€. Every sector of intervention has an indicative allocated budget of 7 M€.

 

The source of Funding is the EC Budget Line …B7-4100 MEDA Regional

 

 

 

1.3  Sectors of Application

 

The European Commission invites – through an open Call for Proposals - Euro-Mediterranean consortia to submit proposals on Euro-Mediterranean Information Society Projects in the 5 following sectors of application:

 

 

1.3.1  Sector 1:  Pilot projects for applications in Euro-Mediterranean Healthcare Networks

 

The objective is the deployment of network based solutions to interconnect - using user friendly and affordable solutions - the actors at all levels of the “health care system” of the Euro-Mediterranean region.

Ultimate scope of the interconnection should be the creation of co-operative working procedures capable of reinforcing the effectiveness and the quality of the work of the chosen actors through: the sharing of localized scientific resources and findings (these methods include measures to foster exchange of experiences; multi-country training in public health, creation of specialized regional databases, organization of epidemiological surveillance groups); implementation of computerized solutions for tele-diagnosis and workshops aiming at the network supported co-ordination of policies in the treatment of major diseases (organized by thematic areas and connected, when appropriate, with existing Commission funded projects, including the G7 initiatives)

The projects to be funded in this sector should link professionals from primary care structures, research institutes in large hospitals, health care administration and individual doctors through information services based on specialized databases and accessible, comparatively affordable and user friendly technology); implementation of computerized solutions to support service functions directed to patients and individuals on matters like prevention, post-hospitalization support and awareness. Interconnection of centres with national priority initiatives (e.g. initiatives encompassed into the national health public policy) will be considered as an asset of the project proposals. The use of advanced video-conference solutions based on ISDN and/or satellite technology will be accepted only when linked to completed or ongoing projects funded by the European Commission (or an international organization), and when detailed information is provided about the feasibility and sustainability of such proposals.

 

 

1.3.2  Sector 2 : Pilot projects for Euro-Mediterranean Electronic Commerce