| In 2003, 14 national ministries and agencies from 13 countries involved in the EUREKA FACTORY Umbrella and the TAFTIE Network came together to discuss their common interest in working in collaboration on an ERA-NET Coordination Action in the domain of ‘ICT for Traditional Manufacturing Industries’. The result was etranet, which was launched in December 2003.
What has been achieved
The main achievements so far have included:
- Programme managers and policy makers in 15 countries have participated in a wide range of networking, benchmarking and joint activities including a domain conference with over 100 delegates
- Two etranet pilot Joint Calls were launched in 2006 and 2007 generating over 50 proposals for international R&D projects with a combined value of €75 million
- Dialogue has commenced with related ERA-NETs, and the other ERA countries, on a more coordinated 3rd Call in early 2008
- A feasibility study on options to improve the alignment of national thematic programmes has been carried out
- Some integration and collaborative dialogue has been initiated with other ICT-related ERA networks (eg CISTRANA, Enterprise Networking in the ERA initiative)
Current Position
A survey of consortium members in May/June 2007 revealed the following main impacts:
- The 10 countries that participated in the 1st Joint Call have already committed €6 million of their national programme budget to co-fund international R&D projects within the etranet domain. The total value of funded projects so far is over €10 million
- The estimated value of 2nd Joint Call projects is almost €14 million and a 3rd Call is being planned for 2008
- Participating programme managers have significantly improved their awareness of good practice in other countries and this has led to evolutionary changes of programme designs in some countries
- Some consortium members have engaged in wider collaboration activities including ERA studies, FP7 proposals and INNO-NET Coordination Actions
- The international dimension is now on the national programme policy agenda of all participating countries
- Some of the more Open Programmes have become more thematic as a result of participating in the pilot Joint Calls
Our 3rd Joint Call which has just been launched will be looking at supporting collaborative R&D projects in the area of Networked Digital Manufacturing. To learn more of the thematic focus, eligibility and application process/deadlines please go to the 3rd Joint Call section of our website. |
