ITEA builds on success to extend Cluster programme

Following a successful mid-term assessment in 2004, the eight-year duration of the ITEA Cluster programme has now been prolonged by two years until 31 December 2008.

This programme extension was officially confirmed at the EUREKA High Level Group meeting of October 2004. Other 2004 highlights included the second edition of the ITEA Technology Roadmap for Software-Intensive Systems, publication of the ITEA Report on Open Source Software and the Cluster's seventh Call for Projects.

The main conclusion of the mid-term assessment was: "...ITEA should continue in its present form. The ITEA programme is achieving many of its objectives and the programme is perceived by participants as being very efficient and making a significant contribution to the competitiveness of European Industry." At its meeting on 25 November 2004, the ITEA Board has endorsed the preparation of a new programme as follow-up of the current one. This will be the key topic of the sixth ITEA annual symposium that will take place on 13 and 14 October 2005 in Helsinki, Finland.

ITEA (Information Technology for European Advancement) is co-operative R&D programme in the field of embedded and networked software, designed to boost European competitiveness by leapfrogging the gap in software-intensive systems. It was launched in 1999 and originally set to finish in 2007. The Cluster involves some 87 universities, 57 research organisations, 214 small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and 129 larger companies from 23 countries.

More information: http://www.itea-office.org/