Coastal/Marine GI/GIS - A Pan-European Perspective
53
Full information on the WWF and its extensive global programmes is
available from their excellent Web site at URL http://www.panda.org/wwf/.
Potential Impact of the EU’s Fifth Framework Programme for RTD (1998-2002)
All members of the European marine and coastal zone research community should be
very concerned about the development of the EU’s Fifth Framework Programme
(5RWP) for research and technology development, whether they are engaged primarily
in local or national research or participate in pan-European initiatives. Nearly all the
EU funded programmes mentioned in this chapter have been funded in the past by the
many actions that constitute the EU’s Framework programmes. The current 5FWP
working documents have attempted to adopt a slightly more radical approach to
structuring the future of sponsored R&D in the EU.
The Commission proposes three broad “Thematic” programmes and three
“Horizontal” programmes:
Unlocking the resources of the living world and the ecosystem,
Creating a user-friendly Information Society, and
Promoting competitive and sustainable growth.
Confirming the international role of European research,
Innovation and participation of SMEs (Small to Medium Enterprises)
Improving human potential.
The Thematic programmes will be executed via 16 “Key Actions”. Meanwhile,
coordination will continue to be maintained with allied programmes such as PHARE,
TACIS, COST, EUREKA, activities of the JRC, etc. The “new approach” is more than
just a little confusing, to say the least”. The explanatory documentation runs to more
than 100 dense pages of text across several documents, to which over 18 official replies
from Member States and organisations such as EUREKA and the EEA have been
made, totally yet more hundreds of pages of print. All of this is available on the Web
from the main CORDIS documentation delivery service at URL http://www.cordis.lu/.
However, readers should know that the process of agreeing a major
Framework Programme for RTD is not quick or easy. The official work programme as
presented by the Commission must be sent to both the Council of Ministers and the
European Parliament for approval, both as to content and budget. Many comments are
now being fielded by the European Parliament’s Committee on Research,
Technological Development and Energy as well as by national Ministers for Research
at Member State level (who represent their countries on the Council of European
Research Ministers).
There is still quite a long way to go in agreeing the final content of the 5FWP.
One fact is clear at the moment though. GI and GIS do not figure predominantly in
any of the programme actions. Rather, the role of GI as a whole, without regard to the
discipline in which it may be necessary or used, is being treated as “geo-publishing”
53
Full information on the WWF and its extensive global programmes is
available from their excellent Web site at URL http://www.panda.org/wwf/.
Potential Impact of the EU’s Fifth Framework Programme for RTD (1998-2002)
All members of the European marine and coastal zone research community should be
very concerned about the development of the EU’s Fifth Framework Programme
(5RWP) for research and technology development, whether they are engaged primarily
in local or national research or participate in pan-European initiatives. Nearly all the
EU funded programmes mentioned in this chapter have been funded in the past by the
many actions that constitute the EU’s Framework programmes. The current 5FWP
working documents have attempted to adopt a slightly more radical approach to
structuring the future of sponsored R&D in the EU.
The Commission proposes three broad “Thematic” programmes and three
“Horizontal” programmes:
Unlocking the resources of the living world and the ecosystem,
Creating a user-friendly Information Society, and
Promoting competitive and sustainable growth.
Confirming the international role of European research,
Innovation and participation of SMEs (Small to Medium Enterprises)
Improving human potential.
The Thematic programmes will be executed via 16 “Key Actions”. Meanwhile,
coordination will continue to be maintained with allied programmes such as PHARE,
TACIS, COST, EUREKA, activities of the JRC, etc. The “new approach” is more than
just a little confusing, to say the least”. The explanatory documentation runs to more
than 100 dense pages of text across several documents, to which over 18 official replies
from Member States and organisations such as EUREKA and the EEA have been
made, totally yet more hundreds of pages of print. All of this is available on the Web
from the main CORDIS documentation delivery service at URL http://www.cordis.lu/.
However, readers should know that the process of agreeing a major
Framework Programme for RTD is not quick or easy. The official work programme as
presented by the Commission must be sent to both the Council of Ministers and the
European Parliament for approval, both as to content and budget. Many comments are
now being fielded by the European Parliament’s Committee on Research,
Technological Development and Energy as well as by national Ministers for Research
at Member State level (who represent their countries on the Council of European
Research Ministers).
There is still quite a long way to go in agreeing the final content of the 5FWP.
One fact is clear at the moment though. GI and GIS do not figure predominantly in
any of the programme actions. Rather, the role of GI as a whole, without regard to the
discipline in which it may be necessary or used, is being treated as “geo-publishing”