The European Commission has launched the call for proposals for projects to be assisted through the Information and Communication Technologies Policy Support Programme (ICT-PSP) within the framework of the Competitiveness and Innovation Programme (CIP), for which Malta Enterprise is the National Contact Point.
The ICT-PSP seeks to encourage and facilitate a wider uptake and better use of ICT by citizens, as well as the public and private sectors with the aim of stimulating innovation and competitiveness throughout the European Union.
Despite the progress in the uptake of ICT in the EU, these technologies can and must be exploited better to respond to growing societal demands.
The ICT-PSP thus seeks to drive further uptake of ICT-based solutions in areas of public interest while addressing EU challenges such as moving towards a low carbon economy or coping with an ageing society.
The programme contributes to a better environment for developing ICT based services and helps overcome hurdles such as the unavailability of innovative ICT-based services, the lack of interoperability of solutions across the member states, as well as the fragmentation of relevant ICT-based products and services markets.
This year's call – which is open until May 14th, 2013 – is focusing on themes such as cloud of public services and smart cities; digital content, open data and creativity; ICT for health, ageing and inclusion; trusted eServices; as well as other innovative actions.
Besides the ICT-PSP, the CIP also comprises two other operational programmes, the Intelligent Energy Europe Programme (IEE) and the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme (EIP)
The Intelligent Energy Europe (IEE) programme - for which a call for project proposals is currently open until May 8th, 2013 - supports the implementation of clean and sustainable energy solutions.
On the other hand, the Eco-Innovation Programme (EIP) – which is envisaged to open in the coming month - provides support to SMEs to enable them to pilot the market uptake of highly eco-innovative products, services, systems or processes.
This year's calls will be the last ones before the CIP, which has been running since 2007 with an overall budget of €3.6 billion, gives way to Horizon 2020 and the Programme for the Competitiveness of enterprises and SMEs (COSME) in the coming years.
For further information on the CIP visit www.cipmalta.com or contact the national contact point hosted by Malta Enterprise on 2542 0000 or [email protected].