Skip to content

Cart@ is an information system for the development and spread in Internet of all the cartography developed by the ICV.

The project was fully developed using the technology based in Free Software, and it is held in four pillars: the database, the database development of the tools, the geo portal in Internet and the infrastructure of the special data.
With the delivery of this project created by the ICV and developed by Aurensis, we are trying that any citizen will be able to have geographical information in any place of the Community of Valencia, in the moment they wish and decreasing the time search considerably. We are also offering the users the tools to improve/make easier their relationship with ICV. The product has got the on-line sell possibility, allowing the user to make any kind of orders, included those ones that are made to measure like digital cartography cuts. This will be done through the maps server and also through their selection in the metadata catalogue.
The electronic sale allows sporadic and habitual clients to acquire the ICV products directly through the Internet. To facilitate the buying process we have integrated in the ICV portal the CECA’s electronically payment functionality.
The ICV like a cartographical reference of the Community of Valencia, has stated this path hand by hand with Aurensis convinced of the advantages these services will bring and continues working with these services to accumulate knowledge that will maintain them in their leadership position.
Press here to CART@
(Source Aurensis)

Gisat operates since 1990 as the first privately run remote sensing and geoinformation service company in the Czech Republic. The company brings to its domestic and international clients complete portfolio of services starting from satellite data and geomatics software distribution, through specialized image and GIS data processing and analysis, up to advanced geoinformation products and applications. Gisat has long-term experiences with management of international cooperation as well as good understanding of specific environmental situation in the CEE countries.

Gisat is incorporated in Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic. Since its beginning the company is committed to provide its clients with wide range of value added, complete, high quality and ‘state-of-the-art’ geoinformation services using the Earth Observation technology.
Satellite Data Distribution
Based on the long-term partnership with all existing world-wide satellite data providers Gisat represents the centre point for all clients interested in satellite data acquisition. Before the satellite data are ordered and supplied any client can take advantage of consultancy and advisory services related to the choice of proper data, recommended processing and integration with existing tools and databases. Thanks to the extensive experiences with the exploitation of satellite imagery Gisat can guarantee cost effective and straightforward solution adapted for each particular client needs.
Products & Services
Gisat is dedicated to provide its partners and clients with broad range of standard and user tailored products and services using the advanced technology of remote sensing and GIS. All methods applied are updated and improved according to the recent developments in the EO domain worldwide and verified in cooperation with both domestic and foreign institutions, such as the European Space Agency (ESA), the European Environmental Agency (EEA), the Joint Research Centre of the EU (JRC), the Czech Academy of Science and dozen of national and European Universities and Research Labs.
- data acquisition
EO data, topographic & thematic maps, statistical data, thematic data, databases, …
- data level products (data processing)
scanning & georeferencing of paper maps, airborne and satellite data orthorectification & mosaicking, DEM generation (stereophotogrammetry, interferometry), interpretation & classification of airborne and satellite images, 3D vector extraction, …
- information level products (data analysis)
topographic & thematic mapping, map updating, landscape change mapping & analysis, 3D city models, …
- GIS development & modeling
GIS database creation & integration, raster & vector modeling, spatial analysis, suitability analysis, topographic analysis, …
- geo-information assessment
environmental accounting, environmental & agricultural indicators development, water & urban management support, environmental & agricultural monitoring, …
- consulting, advising, training
proposal preparation & project management, EO data processing & applications, GIS management, user tailored training, …
Synthesis map showing land cover change intensity in 20 years in selected CEE countries
Applications
Gisat activities cover various application areas with the common focus to improve decision making by involving various geospatial data into crucial processes.
- environment, land cover/land use mapping and change analyses, soil erosion modeling, air & water pollution, …
- agriculture, crop monitoring, crop acreages estimation, agrometeorological modeling, crop yield forecasting, subsidy control, precision farming, …
- urban studies/spatial planning, urban mapping, baseline maps, multi-criteria based optimalization, resource-demand tasks, …
- defense, security, hazards
map update, terrain analysis, flood monitoring, multi-criteria risk analysis, …
- earth exploration
oil & gas exploration, water resource detection, geological mapping, …
- forestry
forest mapping & inventories, change detection, damage analyses, …
- infrastructure
GIS based management and planning, transport corridors mapping & monitoring, …
- other
tailored geo-services/products for specific clients
Morfotectonic map for a proposed DGR site for nuclear waste in the Czech Republic
Global experience
Based on the long-term presence on the domestic and European geospatial market, through its portfolio of products and services and thanks to extensive experiences from the past projects Gisat has established sustainable and reliable partnerships with its clients and partners. Since the foundation in 1990 Gisat has successfully created its reputation inside the country as well as abroad. Based on long time experiences of the key staff personnel the company has accomplished about 100 projects in almost 50 countries worldwide.
GMES (Global Monitoring for Environment and Security) is the principal European initiative supported by the European Commission and the European Space Agency to boost up European EO related business answering growing demand for various geo-spatial data and services from European and regional users.
Gisat is involved in wide range of GMES related projects and activities and the company is ranked among the top European service providers in the two of three priority thematic domains: Land Monitoring and Emergency Response.
Gisat experts have been involved for more than a decade in unique European mapping programme (CORINE Land Cover) and related activities including land accounting and indicator development. Since 2001 Gisat is a member of the international consortium (ETC-TE, ETC-LUSI) assisting the European Environment Agency (EEA) in its attempts to achieve sustainable development and to improve our environment. This team includes a valuable expertise in Europe to analyze the environmental data with regards to developments in society and the economy and with regards to various environmental and sectoral policies. Gisat is also a member of the European technical team implementing CLC2000 and CLC2006 mapping campaigns.
Gisat news in 2007
Gisat responds to Emergency Response
Gisat joins the ESA GMES GSE RESPOND project as the service provider partner.
Fast-Tracking urban sprawl
Gisat is a member of the European service provider network mapping urban sprawl and soil sealing for Europe by 2008 in challenging project awarded by the European Environment Agency (EEA).
Gisat makes it REAL
REmote sensing identification and monitoring of Abandoned Land project aims to explore potential of the state-of-the-art remote sensing techniques for monitoring of land abandonment in the Czech Republic.
Gisat has landed in GSE Land
Gisat joins the ESA GMES GSE Land project as the service provider partner.
Gisat leads TLCC project
TLCC project aims to create the automated land cover classification methodology in the frame of the National Space Program of Ukraine as part of Ukrainian GMES segment.
ETC-LUSI succeeds to ETC-TE
Gisat was named as one of the key member of the European consortium that won in a prestigious tender launched by the European Environmental Agency (EEA).
CGMS Calibration Platform
In the frame of four-year JRC ASEMARS project Gisat takes over the responsibility for testing of Crop Calibration Platform inside the MCYFS (MARS Crop Yield Forecasting system).
Contact
Charkovská 7, 101 00 Praha 10
Czech Republic
Phone: +420 271 741 935
Fax: +420 271 741 936
Gisat@Gisat.cz
(Source Gisat)

In this issue of EOMAG, EARSC will have the opportunity to feature an interview with Mrs. Jacqueline McGlade, EEA Director General. First of all, thank you very much for taking some time from your busy agenda and giving us the occasion to talk about some aspects relevant for the European Earth Observation sector .

ROLE OF EEA
Today climate change and environmental issues are major factors determining the framework for international and national policy actions. What’s the position of EEA in the newly developed European Space Policy?
EEA is very pleased to see the importance that is given to GMES in the European Space Policy. GMES is a user driven initiative, EEA and its network EIONET are users of EO data and derived products for their environmental monitoring, assessments and reporting. EEA plays an active role in GMES service implementation. As such we are fostering all issues tackling GMES and environmental monitoring as described in the European Space Policy Document. EEA’s activities on monitoring of the environment from local to global dimension strengthening Europe’s leading role in this sector (esp. climate change) which is in line with the goals of the Lisbon strategy concerning the environmental sector for sustainable development.
What role do EEA play as a part of the global community? Could you comment on the EEA strategy?
EEA is coordinating and contributing to a number of global and activities beyond the borders of Europe: GEO/GEOSS, UNEP Global Environmental Outlook, environmental assessment of ECCA countries (Belgrade Report, including Eastern Europe, northern Eurasia, Balkan) and is supporting and coordinating, assessing and delivering information in the context of UN Conventions (e.g. CBD,SEBI2010, UNFCCC). EEA is considering to put more emphasis on information related to Europe’s environment in a global perspective in its new 5-year strategy for 2009-2013.
Which is the expected role of EEA in GMES?
EEA is committed to take a leading role in coordinating the in-situ component of GMES and establishes data flows for GMES services together with its operational network (EIONET). EEA is supporting the GMES bureau in cooperation with different Commission Services the coordination and implementation of GMES core services (esp. Land, Marine and Atmosphere). EEA/EIONET is also setting user requirements to fulfil its mandate on reporting on the state and outlook of Europe’s environment. EEA is also an end-user of GMES services to fulfil its mandate.
What would you recommend to put the Earth observation into the EU sustainable development agenda strategies?
Key issue for environmental monitoring is sustainable permanent service provision in high quality over long time periods. Providing such services strengthens the environmental component of the Lisbon Strategy and will put it on the same level of importance than the social and economic dimension.
LINKS WITH EO
Over the past five years we have seen how valuable earth observation data really are because we can match it with observations on the ground and it is that combination that gives confidence to policy makers to implement environmental policies. Which is in your opinion the role of earth observation satellites implementing international agreements (collection, analysis and understanding of information from local to global scale)?
There are numerous applications where EO data are today used for monitoring environmental changes in the context of international agreements (land cover / land use changes including forestation/deforestation, GhG concentrations, air pollution, sea surface temperatures, climate in the context of UNFCCC, CBD, CCD, LRTRAP etc.)
What type of satellite data EEA is using from internal projects? What are the main features you expect to monitor by integrating EO in current methodologies?
Currently EEA is using different EO data for environmental monitoring and assessment. This includes both high resolution data (European data like SPOT and non European sensors like IRS) for monitoring urban sprawl, forests or landscape fragmentation and coarse resolution data e.g. for global land-cover mapping (GLOBCOVER using Meris data). In the context of GMES service implementation EEA will use data from more and more different EO platforms e.g. for air quality near real time monitoring, monitoring seasonal variation in vegetation, marine (e.g. ocean color, altimetry, waves), and data for supporting emergency response (real time, rapid mapping and forecasting)
BUDGET LINES
Can you briefly outline the planning and budgeting process in EEA for using earth observation data? Do you see any major obstacle, perhaps related to data policy, to effective progress using Earth Observation data?
Use of EO data is fully integrated in EEA’s work programme and budgeting process. Major obstacles arise from data availability and access getting the right quality data at the right time. In this context data policies and business models are often outdated since too much efforts and time have to be set on getting access to data. Data policy should foster free access to raw data for multiple use for generating services which are competitive on local, regional and global scale.
DIALOGUE WITH EO INDUSTRY: COOPERATION & PARTNERSHIP

The private sector represents major providers, enablers, and consumers of Earth observation and environmental information. Therefore, the private sector stands to benefit greatly from the efforts underway to establish an integrated Earth observation system-a system that will provide unprecedented access to space-based, ground-based, and airborne observations of the Earth. Which could be the role of the EO value added industry collaborating with EEA? How do you see the interaction with EO VA companies? How could an effective dialogue be established between EEA and the EO industry?
As a user of EO products with very strong link to Member States EEA is interested on high quality and operational products provided by industries, including a solid industrial capacity for EO data processing. Innovative products for down-stream services can be fostered as well by mutual communication of requests by users and technical potential for applications by industry. EEA is participating in many EO related projects as a main user of the end products. Closer communication between EO industry and EEA in early stage of project design can help to set added value of EO products for environmental monitoring and assessment and help industries to develop market compatible products
In recent years, remote sensing has become an important element of European space policy. How is EEA developing to seek industry partners? Can you debrief on the latest Improvements for EEA using earth observation data with different stakeholders?
EEA’s strategy is based on consultation of the market for the best available product (best value for money).For example, involving the industry in fast delivery of products and services allows to increase the production time for updating a European land cover map from 4 to 2 years. High resolution data improves also the information content and consequently the value of the product. There is a clear trend towards real time data for real time decision making.
FUTURE & SOCIETY
The progress achieved in remote sensing has also opened our eyes to numerous other applications, the main one being the monitoring of the earth‘s condition. How crucial is the role of monitoring the planet Earth is in our economy?
Monitoring is crucial to detect environmental trends. Key questions are: what happens in the environment (observation), does it matter (assessment), is there need for action (decision making). EO helps to monitor the ecological footprint of our economy in the Earth system and delivers the basic information for developing adaptation and mitigation strategies to avoid severe harm for our society and foster sustainable development.
What is your vision for a comprehensive, integrated and sustained infrastructure for observation and early warning to apprehend natural disasters? How should Europe respond to Environmental issues affecting our planet (i.e crisis management?)
EEA in its role as partner of the Group of Four (DG Env, JRC, ESTAT) strongly supports the Shared Environmental Information System (SEIS) to be set from concept into reality. Distributed data from local to global scale will be made accessible and services can be set up using this data. Beside sufficient funding of this process data policies and business models enabling free and fast access to all types of environmental data (EO, in-situ, surveys a.s.o) are the key issue, especially in the context of near real / real time mapping and forecasts.
How do you feel then overall about the future of Earth Observation within environmental policies?
Fostering EO in the context of environmental policies will strengthen Europe’s competitiveness on the global market and its leading role on environmental issues (e.g. climate change) for sustainable development. Currently there is broad consensus and political willingness to foster EO for environmental monitoring and security in the process of GMES implementation. So we should definitively not miss this window of opportunity for expanding the operationalisation of remote sensing.
(EEA)

“In-situ monitoring and Earth observation in the framework of GMES and GEOSS” 31 May 2007, Brussels, BE

Synergy between all kind of observations – being from active or passive, wireless or wired, fixed or mobile, remote or in situ sensors – is primordial to support a better understanding of the complex interactions between human activities and environmental pressures and impacts.
This was the recurrent issue highlighted by a hundred of participants to the workshop jointly organised by the Information Society and Media Directorate-General (DG INFSO) of the European Commission and the European Association of Remote Sensing Companies (EARSC).
This workshop held in Brussels – with no seat left – on 31 May 2007 was the 3rd in a series to gather stakeholders in the area of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) for Environmental Risk Management. These experts, coming from industry, research centers, universities, space agencies and European organisations reported about ongoing activities and identified opportunities, issues and requirements for a smarter monitoring of our environment in relation to the goal of developing a Single Information Space for the Environment in Europe (SISE) and contributing to international initiatives like GMES and GEO.
On the ICT side, it was stressed that we are in the middle of a wireless revolution which enables new applications of sensors and sensor networks. Important achievements in miniaturization of sensors (e.g. RFID) open the perspective for a massive deployment a small, cheap connected detectors.
Several European research projects are innovating in the field of network control strategies and data propagation. Others are developing adaptable and scalable system architectures to optimise the management of networks of heterogeneous sensors with easy plug-in / plug-out, self-healing and reconfigurable functionalities. Such developments points towards the same goal of smarter monitoring, with the possibility to lower the cost of monitoring and improve the quality and adequacy of data depending on the process which is monitored. In addition, new platforms like Unmanned Airborne Vehicles (UAV) are currently investigated for disaster management applications that could offer complementary spatial or temporal resolutions to existing fixed, sea, air and space platforms.
Overall, the participants recognised that above trends would lead to more data flows and stressed on the need for new developments in the fields of multiple source data fusion and standardisation. From an operational point of view, main identified challenges include robustness and stability of the emerging technologies for easy take-up and upgrade of legacy systems, accuracy and uncertainty propagation along the information cycle, as well as non-technical issues like the sustainability of monitoring networks over time and the human factor itself, perceived as a very limiting factor in the definition and deployment of a monitoring and alerting system.
Workshop report and PDF versions of the presentations made by the participants are available at:
For additional information, please contact:
DG INFSO – unit “ICT for Sustainable Growtth” : INFSO-ICTforSG@ec.europa.eu

It might soon impact the structure of the institutions and operators driving the development of public applications, the structure of research and development in systems and applications, the federation of users and even the organization of industry itself. The European Union seventh framework program as well as the preparation of the coming ESA Ministerial conference are two key initiatives which put into concrete actions the European Space Policy plans.
But beyond Europe and at global level the mutation from Earth Observation to geo-information which we anticipated a long time ago is now a full reality, taking momentum at a very fast pace and taking a variety of forms depending on the implementation of the synergy between remote sensing, telecommunications and navigation. The development of info-mobility, the availability of a wealth of geo-information at a click, the creation of new services where only imagination is the limit and the development of a dual approach are only a few aspects of this multi-form expansion that we are witnessing and that our Association must and does track and seed.
Following the large increase in membership in the last couple of years our main priority has been the setup of the new working groups relying on this new work force to achieve more ambitious results while giving more opportunities for members to be involved in the every day activities of the Association and thus contributing importantly to the growth of our domain. Three Working Groups (Association Evolution, External Relations, and New Services) have been set up with excellent leaders and very good results after only a few months of action.
Among the highlights of this past three months we must recall the organization in Brussels in May together with the EU DG INFSO of the workshop on the “Combination of In-Situ and Remote Sensing Monitoring”. This workshop has been very successful thanks to a very large participation and excellent presentations. In addition EARSC has been invited to present the Industry position on GMES on June 26th at the “International Workshop on GMES” organized in Frascati by the Italian “Committee for the Assessment of Scientific and Technological Options” of the Italian Chamber of Deputies, in the framework of the EISC (European Inter-parliamentary Space Conference). GMES is a very complex initiative and our support must indeed be continuous.
We look forward to see all our members at the next General Assembly on July 4th in Brussels and to listen to their opinions and recommendations. An evolution plan elaborated by the dedicated working group which met several times during the past year will be submitted for a vote to the members at this General Assembly. This meeting will also be marked by the presence of high executives from top European public institutions which will contribute to make that day a very fruitful one and a not to be missed occasion.
With best wishes to all our readers.
EARSC Chairman

Events and Symposia

Start Date End Date Event Web link Venue
06-apr-07 07-apr-07 27th EARSeL Sympos “Geoinformation in Europe” web Bolzano, Italy
11-apr-07 13-apr-07 Urban Remote Sensing: High resolution Earth Imaging for Geospatial Information web Paris, France
17-apr-07 17-apr-07 GMES conference web Munich, Germany
23-apr-07 24-apr-07 ESA investment forum web Noordwijk, The Netherlands
23-apr-07 25-apr-07 5th EARSeL SIG-IS work “ Imaging spectroscopy: innovation in environmental research” web Bruges, Belgium
23-apr-07 26-apr-07 EarthCARE Workshop web Frascati, Italy
23-apr-07 27-apr-07 Envisat Symposium web Montreux, Switzerland
24-apr-07 25-apr-07 Second Conference on Agricultural Policy Implementation and Geo-Information web Rotterdam, The Netherlands
24-apr-07 25-apr-07 GIS-Tech 2007 web Nottingham, UK
24-apr-07 25-apr-07 WK of the European Aerospace WG on Cost Engineering web Frascati, Italy
24-apr-07 26-apr-07 ITEC 2007 web Cologne, Germany
25-apr-07 27-apr-07 UN/Morocco/ESA Workshop on the use of Space Technology for Sustainable development web Rabat, Morocco
25-apr-07 27-apr-07 Geo- Siberia web Moscow, Russia
02-may-07 03-may-07 1Spatial Conference web Southampton, UK
07-may-07 08-may-07 Conference on Climate Change and Sustainable Development web Copenhagen, Denmark
07-may-07 09-may-07 EarthCARE Workshop web Noordwijk, The Netherlands
07-may-07 11-may-07 ASPRS 2007 Conference web Tampa, US
08-may-07 10-may-07 10th AGILE Conference on GI Science web Aalborg, Denmark
14-may-07 21-may-07 Developing trends in Public procurement and auditing web Noordwijk, The Netherlands
16-may-07 16-may-07 GIS in the Public Sector web London, UK
16-may-07 18-may-07 ISPRS WG VII/2 & VII/7 Joint Conference on Information Extraction from SAR & Optical Data web Istanbul, Turkey
20-may-07 23-may-07 URISA GIS in Public Health web New Orleans, USA
20-may-07 23-may-07 REAL Corp 2007 web Vienna, Austria
23-may-07 27-may-07 3rd International Symposium on Geoinformation for Disaster Management web Toronto, Canada
23-may-07 25-may-07 River Basin Management 2007 web Kos, Greece
28-may-07 29-may-07 5th International Symposium on Mobile mapping Technology web Padova, Italy
29-may-07 30-may-07 Bridging the gap between space and local and regional users web Barcelona, Spain
30-may-07 31-may-07 Military Geospatial Intelligence web London, UK
31-may-07 31-may-07 Integrating in-situ monitoring and EO in the framework of GMES and GEOSS web Brussels, Belgium
29-may-07 01-jun-07 ISPRS: High resolution Earth Imaging for geospatial information web Hannover, Germany
30-may-07 01-jun-07 2007 AVIRIS Workshop web Pasadena, US
03-jun-07 06-jun-07 European Conference on precision Farming web Skiathos, Greece
04-jun-07 07-jun-07 27th EARSeL Symposium: “Geoinformation in Europe” web Bolzano, Italy
07-jun-07 08-jun-07 Workshop on GMES, Global Monitoring for Environment and Security web Bolzano, Italy
07-jun-07 09-jun-07 EARSel, Remote Sensing of the Coastal Zone web Bolzano, Italy
11-jun-07 15-jun-07 Geographical Information Science web Fiesole, Italy
13-jun-07 15-jun-07 Spatial Data Quality 2007 web Enschede, The Netherlands
18-jun-07 20-jun-07 Data Mining & Information Engineering 2007 web The new Forest, UK
26-jun-07 29-jun-07 Homeland Security Europe 2007 web Brussels, Belgium
03-jul-07 07-jul-07 Geoinformatics Forum Salzburg web Salzburg, Austria
04-jul-07 06-jul-07 13th EC GI & GIS Workshop web Porto, Portugal
18-jul-07 20-jul-07 MULTITEMP-2007:Fourth Bi-annual International Workshop on the Analysis of Multi-temporal Remote Sensing Images web Leuven, Belgium
23-jul-07 27-jul-07 IGARSS 2007 web Barcelona, Spain
23-jul-07 27-jul-07 GeoWeb 2007 web Vancouver, Canada
03-jul-07 07-sep-07 Photogrammetric Week web Sttutgart, Grmany
02-sep-07 07-sep-07 Advanced Training Course on Land Remote Sensing web Lisbon, Portugal
03-sep-07 06-sep-07 11th World Summit for Satellite Financing and the 5th World Symposium on Market Forecasts for the Satellite Business web Paris, France
03-sep-07 06-sep-07 International Conference: Monitoring the Effectiveness of Nature Conservation web Birmensdorf, Switzerland
11-sep-07 14-sep-07 RSPSoc 2007: Challenges for Earth Observation; scientific, technical, commercial web Newcastle, UK
13-sep-07 14-sep-07 Meteosat Second Generation: a new instrument for environmental monitoring web Dijon, France
17-sep-07 18-sep-07 Efficient Management of Coastal Regions and Cities: Implementation and use of Space Application-based services web Tallinn, Estonia
18-sep-07 21-sep-07 Defence Imagery 2007 web London, UK
17-sep-07 21-sep-07 SPIE Europe Remote Sensing Symposium web Florence, Italy
19-sep-07 21-sep-07 PIA07- Photogrammetric Image Analysis 2007 web Munich, Germany
19-sep-07 23-sep-07 COSIT 2007 web Melburne, Australia
24-sep-07 28-sep-07 Congress of the International Society for Mine Surveying web Budapest, Hungary
25-sep-07 28-sep-07 Retrieval of bio and geophysical parameters from SAR data for land applications web Bari, Italy
27-sep-07 30-sep-09 6th International Workshop of the EARSeL Special Interest Group (SIG) on Forest Fires web Thessaloniki, Greece
01-oct-07 03-oct-07 ISGI International CODATA Symposium on Generalization of Information web Geneva, Switzerland
02-oct-07 03-oct-07 GI-INDEED Workshop web Genova, Italy
02-oct-07 05-oct-07 GeoCongress Quebec 2007 web Quebec, Canada
10-oct-07 12-oct-07 UDMS 2007 web Stuttgart, Germany
22-oct-07 23-oct-07 Areas and Mechanisms for Collaboration between Turkish and European Actors in Space Activities web Istanbul, Turkey
04-nov-07 04-nov-07 5th East Europe eGov Day 2007 web Prague, Czech Republic
20-nov-07 23-nov-07 WK “ EO small satellites for RS applications” web Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
04-dec-07 06-dec-07 3rd International conference: “Earth from space – the Most Effective Solutions” web Moscow, The Russian Federation
12-dec-07 14-dec-07 3D GeoInfo 2007 web Delft, The Netherlands

The Framework Programmes (FP) are the European Union’s main instrument for funding research.

The current Framework Programme, FP6, runs until the end of 2006 with a budget of € 20 billion for the years 2003-2006.
The Commission has made proposals for the next Framework Programme, FP7, which is proposed to run for seven years and so will be synchronized with the EU’s Financial Perspectives for 2007-2013.
The Financial Perspectives foresee that EU funding for research will increase by 75% in 2013 compared to the level of 2006.
For FP7, the Commission proposes to keep as a main instrument the transnational collaborative projects and networks, which typically involve public research and industry. The Commission also proposes to support excellence in basic research through a new support scheme to individual teams, which will be managed by a European Research Council.
In addition the Commission proposes other new approaches, some of which will further increase the relevance of FP7 for industry. In particular the Commission proposes to set up long-term public-private partnerships, called “Joint Technology Initiatives” in areas where existing schemes are inadequate in view of the scope of research and the scale of material and human resources required.
The Joint Technology Initiatives will implement parts of the Strategic Research Agendas defined by the European Technology Platforms in co-ordination with national programmes and projects in the same field. They will aim to combine financing from Community and national public sources and from the private sector. EIB loans may contribute where appropriate.
Another new instrument proposed under FP7 is the “Risk-Sharing Finance Facility” which will improve access to EIB debt finance for participants in large European research actions.
The Commission proposals for FP7 also aim to strengthen the research and innovation capacity of SMEs.
The Commission has proposed increased funding available for specific actions to support outsourcing of research by SMEs or SME associations.
(Source EC Europa)

Launching New Economic Activities from Satellite Communications, Earth Observation or Geo-localisation Services.

The NAVOBS project aims to improve the participation of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SME) in research and technology development (RTD) activities related to the development of innovative services based on space infrastructures.
NAVOBS is focused in particular on supporting SME participation in RTD activities related to GALILEO, GMES and Space telecom-based services which is one of the priority research areas of the sixth framework programme of the European Commission.
(Source ESA)

Improving knowledge transfer between research institutions and industry across Europe: embracing open innovation – Implementing the Lisbon agenda
* Commission Communication adopted on 4 April 2007 : “Improving knowledge transfer between research institutions and industry across Europe: embracing open innovation – Implementing the Lisbon agenda” – COM449 – (English[English – 192Kb] -
Accompanying Commission staff working document : “Voluntary guidelines for universities and other research institutions to improve their links with industry across Europe” – SEC449 - (English[English – 194Kb])
(Source EC Europa)

Bridging the gap between INnovative enterprises and financial inVEstors in the emerging ICT markets of SaTellite applications (INVESaT)

The goal of the INVESaT project is to consolidate and disseminate in a coordinated way, the knowledge components required to stimulate and support more efficient investment in innovative services exploiting satellite capabilities in Earth observation, navigation, timing, geo-positioning and telecommunications.
INVESaT is part of Europe INNOVA, an initiative for innovation professionals supported by the European Commission under the 6th Framework Programme. In acting as the focal point for innovation networking in Europe, Europe INNOVA aspires to inform, assist, mobilise and network the key stakeholders in the field of entrepreneurial innovation, including firm managers, policy makers, cluster managers, investors and relevant associations.
(Source ESA)