The European Commission namely DGXVI in co-operation with DGV and DGXIII, plans to launch a Pilot Scheme aimed at integrating the concept of the information society into the regional development policies of less favoured regions pursuant to Article 10 of the ERDF regulation and Article 8 of the Social Funds. This call will be an ideal opportunity for transferring the Technological Research and Development (RTD) results obtained under the Third Framework Programme, to the regions. It is also important step towards a regional policy for telematics.
The Budget consists of 15 MECU from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and 5 MECU from the Social Funds. The major percentage of the funds for the call will be allocated for the development of pilot telematics application projects.This will be approximately 85% of the total budget.
The pilot applications must have an inter-regional character. Emphasis will also be given to sound user involvement and to the practical deployment and demonstration of telematics capabilities. There are two action lines.
The first Action line involves developing partnerships among key regional actors for the elaboration of a regional Information Society Strategy and Action Plan. Submissions may be made by the regional authority responsible for economic development in the region concerned. It must demonstrate a commitment to participate on the part of key regional actors. In NUTS II regions in which more than half of the population live in areas designated as Objective 1, 2, 5b and 6 under the ERDF Regulation, the funding model is a 50% contribution from the Commission with a maximum of 250,000 ECU's per region.
The second Action line involves preparing and launching a pilot application for demonstrating best practice in the regional deployment of the Information Society. Submissions may be made by any local or regional authority. The submission must demonstrate a commitment to participate on the part of key regional actors from several different regions. There must be at least two participating bodies from a minimum of two different regions. One third of the participating regions and a third of the request for financial contribution should be in objective 1 areas. The funding model is a 50% contribution from the Commission with project budgets between 1 and 3 MECU's per project
Distance Learning and continuous training pilot applications which encourage employment creation and human resources development could be included in these pilot applications under action line two. It is hoped that all regional information society strategy and action plans will identify the importance of telematics systems for enhancing education and training. The deadline for proposal submission is 12th January 1996 for Action line 1 and 28 February for Action line 2.
Further information can be obtained from:
European Commision
DGXVI - Regional Policy and Cohesion,
Unit A2,
Information Society Projects,
Office 7/43,
rue de la Loi 200,
B-1049 Brussels, Belgium.
Fax +32 2 295 01 38