Ποιειν Και Πραττειν - create and do

Report about Info Day 2014

 

 

ICT Research and Innovation for
Creative Industries and Cultural Heritage
Horizon 2020 Information and Networking Day
Thursday, 23 January 2014
Jean Monnet Conference Centre, rue Alcide de Gasperi, Luxembourg
DG CONNECT – Unit G2 "CREATIVITY" 

Info Day:SSH-Expertise for ICT-Related Topics in Horizon 2020's [H2020] Work Programme 2014-2015

Report by Pyrrhus Mercouris

SC – Societal Challenge Horizon.

1. Welcome and Introduction: Presentation of the Overall Approach – Ms Nicole Dewandre (ADV04)

The event is recorded and will be up loaded.

All kinds of ICTs opportunities for “societal change”.

Today the EC plans on explaining where in the diverse funding strands you can do projects relating to societal change.

EC prefers the terms “organic approach” rather than ;main streaming, because organic approach infers more ‘smart’ and innovation.

A paradigm change is taking place in society. Hyper connectivity indicates that the ‘self’ is the limit, the sky is no longer the limit. With philosophers and anthropologists, the EC now feels that online and off line worlds are blurring. And this is creating ‘societal challenges” – a manifesto has be printed on this.

The manifesto is a short document – 7 pages. It talks about freedom and autonomy on this new age. How can we be ‘free’ and ‘autonomous’ in an age where privacy and freedom of choice are being questioned by hyper-connectivity.

Hyper-connectivity is a challenge to social scientists. These social scientists must now begin to re-describe the world’s society. You cannot do and undo society – i.e., going beyond constructivism. A ‘smart’ articulation with social science and to move a bit away from a purely research technology approach and now look at ethical issues. In technology, red lines can be drawn, this is harder in social science. The EC wants “a re-description of society not just a monitoring”

The baseline – this is the safety net, the EC wants responsible research in social science “where it is important” and to help society to argue better with the scientists of technology what is important.

On mainstreaming [she is a bit fuzzy here] the partnership needs to define itself Intensive ???

The Hub ?? ICT31 – which is not that well funded [about 7 million] [human centric digital age]

The big challenge is to use the money wisely.

She warned that we should try an do as much as possible asked for in the call. In other words they want a few grand projects.

A call is a set of topics. In the work programme there is a better description of the type of actions demanded by the EC.

She described the application far to quickly and too superficially. For me to learn anything.

2. Mainstreaming Opportunities (both dedicated & embedded)

a. Societal Challenges Panel with:

i. Mr. Jaakko Aarnio (H1)

SC1: Health, Demographic Change and Well-Being1

Only 15% of the budget includes ICT elements. The health programme is found throughout the H2020, however, this element is specific to social change. Here social scientists can be involved in health and medical projects.

Organisations leading projects can come from diverse fields.

One topic worth examining is how far does technology help in health care delivery.

Many of the funds allocated by the EC are symbolic – i.e. 20% of the total budget.

ii. Ms Carmen Ifrim (H5)

SC3: Secure, Clean and Efficient Energy2

Areas of work fo social scientist to study

  • Building and consumers

  • Competitive low carbon

  • Smart energy

Social scientists should look at changing consumer behaviour, gender and ethical issues.

Smart cities and empowerment – this would include urban planning, user acceptance and empowerment – bring academics, cities and industry together and develop business plans.

Integrated projects – i.e., include transport for smart cities and communities. Replicability is demanded – which means a certain amount of market research and business awareness.

You need to have a city or cities in you partnership, along with consumer groups, academics and industry.

Communication strategy is important, especially regarding distribution of results.

Again you need cities, academic and industry in your partnership. The objective is looking at ‘public procurement’. How can the citizen accept and engage on procurement. Plus, scenarios for future types of procurement procedures are needed, and this means including a ‘legal’ expertise in your project.

SC4: Smart, Green and Integrated Transport3

  • Mobility for growth – safe congestion

  • Automation of transport

  • Green vehicles and other green technologies used in transport

Again some kind of replicability, therefore market research on take up of technologies is needed and not just examination of the behaviour of drivers of vehicles and motorists. On electric vehicles, you need to be careful at checking the ‘human machine interface’ meaning how we humans respond to this trechnology.

SC5: Climate Action, Environment, Resource Efficiency and Raw Materials

Civil society organisation and the relationship between state and industry with the public. The EC is looking a ‘metrics’ and other tools of social analysis.

iii. Ms. Andrea Halmos (H3)

SC6: Europe in a Changing World – Inclusive, Innovative and Reflective Societies5

iv. Mr Aris Tzafalias (H4) [SSH and RRI element]

Most of the topics are mainstreamed and embedded.

  • ICT enabled public sector innovation and e-Government

Due to technological transformation, there is a need to examine social changes, for example how users are using the mobile devices and how this will impact on the use of e-government services. Plus what is the impact on private data. What is the way decision making will evolve.

ICT is an enabler, but it is a cultural shift and it is changing the way civil servants are working and how citizens inter-act with government.

[12 million euro budget – 100% funding]

on political and social engagement of young people – this call looks are how young people engage with government and a tool kit for government to enable it to engage better with the youth.

[21.5 million euros – 100% funding]

29.04.2014 deadline for applications

  • Cultural heritage – research is looking at new cost effective ways at 3D digitisation. More ICT tools are need for 3D. Plus, the 3D should help in conservation, like analysis of how the 3D can assist in analysing the surface of an object in order to conserve or restore it.

She said little – nothing about the budget, the shape of a consortium/partnership. Nothing on deadline, and nothing on social analysis.

Developing 3D digitisation instruments and tools is purely technical.

She informed me that regarding Culture Heritage we need to contact, Mr ALBERT GAUTHIER, who works for the EC at its Luxembourg office. e-mail: albert.gauthier@ec.europa.eu

Two weeks later I spoke with Mr. Gauthier Gauthier. It seems that the EC focus is entirely on cultural heritage with focus on conservation, restoration and making use of ICT for displays, specifically 3-D imagery.

  • Opening up education – a discussion platform to see how to embed digital platforms to engage young people in order to learn and to teach.

SC7: Secure Societies – Protecting Freedom and Security of Europe and Its Citizens 6

Mr. Aristotelis Tzafalias

Focus is on digital security and on privacy issues.

Bio-metrics are asked for. Especially for access environment and thus you have access to everything.

28 August 2014 – new deadline

 

 b. LEIT Panel with:

i. Henri Rajbenbach (A4)

He explained what is a ‘smart system’ – all very technical and nothing to do with “society”. Obviously he is an engineer and a scientist. [ICCT 2]

A ‘cyber physical system’ – internet, the cloud, and more well connected systems that are ‘smart’. You move around and you should have access to ‘smartness’. [ICCT2a]

Basically – the EC expects all kinds of projects, which “embed” these two above objectives. He mentioned health and food beverage and safety.

A New Generation of Components and Systems7

ii. Philippe Lefèbvre (E1)

Something called “5G” has been adopted as a standard by industry. Something to do with the ‘cloud’.

Social research is to examine the impact on society of the cloud, somehow research should look at the ‘plumbing’ of the cloud. How does it work, how will it impact society and what should policymakers be aware of.

Future Internet8

iii. Francesco Barbato (G3)

Looking at ‘services’ - do these need ‘data providing cross border tools’. For example, sharing medical data across borders. What is the response of the general public to having its medicals records shared ‘across borders’. How far do consumers and hence society accept the technology and the sharing of data?

Content Technologies and Information Management – I9

iv. Marco Marsella (G4)

He manages a budget of 67 million euros to examine inter-operability and to support projects that ‘detect’ attitudes and behaviour of people with disabilities. For example, researches of the ‘spaces’ that people with disabilities live and work in.

He also deals with e-learning and inclusion

Content Technologies and Information Management – II10

v. Anne Bajart (A2)

Robotics11

She boasts that she manages a huge budget. Robotics and society – research project are welcome.

 

c. EXC Panel with:

vi. Walter van de Velde (C2)

He deals with something called “FETOPEN”, and literally it means dealing with the unexpected. What does technology do that has an unexpected societal impact?

He warned that this is a high risk project. It is geared towards technologists and scientists.

Future & Emerging Technologies12

vii. Luis Carlos Busquets Perez (C1)

e-Infrastructures13

the essence of projects is dealing with infrastructure for research. To make every researcher, digital. This unit supports all kinds of disciplines and sectors. For example, managing and computing titanic sources of information. He mentioned geologists working with Egyptologists – probably massive data there needed to be diagnosed for archaeological purposes.

3. Intensive Topics and the Hub Panel with:

a. Fabrizio Sestini (E3) Walter Van Der Velte (C2) and Kirsti al-Mukta (C3)

ICT 10: Collective Awareness Platforms for Sustainability and Social Innovation

What is the ‘HUB’ ? definition never given. Later it was mentioned that the Hub tries to encourage cross cutting support. From the point of view of society and humanities, all the H2020 will be promoted by the Hub. 6 million euros and 1 million euros for one coordination project will be used specifically to do this kind of dissemination work.

Collective awareness platforms is about using the power of using ICT networks [i.e., how people are connected and knowledge networks] to be used for societal purposes. Also looking at new economic models.

[37 million euros]

Finally, it was said that H2020 projects from now on would be expected to have a societal element.

 

4. RRI/SSH as a baseline in the WP14-15

Mr. Phillipe Galiay (RTD.B7)

Engagement of society towards acceptability on technological research and the solutions technology generates.

The political context of H2020, includes “innovation”. No longer research, but “research & innovation”.

Aim of H2020 – “is to build effective co-operation between science and society to recruit new talent for science and to pair scientific excellence with social awareness and responsibility”.

Gender, engagement, careers, curricula, employment, education, ethics and government and research and dissemination [integrating science in society – ISSI] – all included.

Responsible ethical research and innovation projects – still this is not refined as a concept. One way on how the EC sees this is as a process, with all researchers and stakeholders working together in a “process” resulting in transparency. Article 4 of h2020 insists that all kinds of issues must be included in research and innovation. It does not matter where and under what funding strand you apply to, you need to mainstream you project in a cross cutting issue.

All research has to be made available to the public [open access].

All applicants have to present a business plan with a long-term strategy.

5. Rules for participation and funding schemes

Rules are standardised.

You need three legal entities in three different member states [or associated or third countries].

Some projects can be the concern of only one organisation, and these are specific projects [not explained]

Evaluation award criteria:

Excellence, impact and quality of and efficiency of the research and the action of the project.

Always check the work programme on criteria and on evaluation and also on selection criteria.

On selecting projects, the EC will carefully examine the competencies of the partners.

Some project will only assess you favourably if you already have cash of 500,000 euros.

Personnel costs are complicated and these have to be calculated according to hourly rates.

Equipment costs are also quite complex, in order to be ‘clear’, the EC issues in its guidelines ‘complex’ lists about what is eligible.

6. Participants' pitches

Finding the information is on the participant portal. Indeed, this is the unique entry point: http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal/

[Another website one should check to apply: http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal/desktop/en/funding/guide.html]

 

Philipe Galiay

He went through the application process, Alas when he went on the internet on to the EC website, the system did not work. Watch the recording.

He then decided to advise us to use the ‘search menu’ in order to find what you are looking for. You will find pre-defined key words. Choose the key word that suits your search.

You should ‘play’ with ‘it’ – “it” being the EC web portal.

No longer a specific guide to applicants, not you have a general guide couple to a submission service.

Beware not to write more pages than asked for, the extra pages would not be read. This does not apply to the description of the consortium. Consortium can be thirty plus partners.

Applications are electronic and on the EC website. You need to get codes, password and login codes and numbers.

When asked about what is a legal entity – i.e., an organisation or a natural person, “Mr.X”.

 

Participants' pitches:

  • Project “idealist” - this is a national contact point for H2020.

  • Its goal is to support you and your project. They exist in 88 countries.

  • When starting an application, they will help you in understanding the ‘quality’ of the research capability of your and your partners. so they do a ‘reviewing service’.

  • Ulster university: They are looking at national identities, the legacy of the past and culture and identity. Access and what access looks like and how you tell the story of the conflict in Northern Ireland. This also looks at issues like the impact on health, gender, culture, etc. Plus looking at ICT and how this impacts. Goal is to improve policymaking.

  • Tecnalia [Spain] with a staff of 1400 people, they are working on 300 FP7 projects and lead 70 or these.

  • Ilia – digital science education [Tel Aviv]: Some kind of platform set up in London on ‘digital science class’ with school all logged into each other.

  • Senesac [serbia] Applying as an individual.

  • Yiannis futureworkscentre.eu [Cyprus] – Massive participation to envision better shape etc. needs two partners for ‘globals systems clients’ call. His project aims at use of digital devises

 

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