EPN Consulting is available to provide assistance to public and private organisations that would like to see their ideas converted into a sound proposal to be submitted. EPN Consulting is also an ideal partner for your project consortium as we have got a lot of experience in dealing with EC projects.

- 02 Oct 2012 - Deadline to submit proposals to the FP7-HEALTH-2013-INNOVATION-1 call for proposals 

- 09 Oct 2012 - Deadline to submit proposals to the IMI-CALL-2012-7 call    

- 16 Oct 2012 - Deadline to submit proposals to theFP7-ENV-2013-one-stage call 

- 16 Oct 2012 - Deadline to submit proposals to the FP7-ENV-2013-two-stage call  

[...] 

Brussels, 18 Sept 2012 - The EU's oil import bill was 210 Billion Euros in 2010 and oil prices will increase. Transport is to about 95% dependent on fossil fuels. If we do not address this oil dependence, people's ability to travel and the costs of goods transport could be severely impacted with dire consequences on the overall competitiveness of the EU economy.

The European Union has committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions, with the goal of limiting climate change below 2�C. A reduction of at least 60% of GHGs (GreenHouse Gases) by 2050 with respect to 1990  is required from the transport sector, which is a significant and still growing source of GHGs.

Innovative technologies need to be deployed quickly to reduce Europe's dependence on oil and GHGs and make sure that our mobility is maintained. New technologies are also essential to winning the global race for sustainable mobility, keeping the European transport industry competitive whilst preserving jobs in Europe and supporting economic growth.

Europe's citizens and industry could benefit from increased co-operation and prioritisation in Transport Research and Innovation. This requires, among others, the development, with all transport stakeholders involved, of ambitious and accelerated research and deployment roadmaps for innovative technologies that will help to achieve sustainable mobility in Europe.

More details available here.    

We also invite you to watch this EC promotional video. 

Last 24-26 Oct 2012 in Vitoria-Gasteiz (Spain) the CIVITAS Forum 2012 was held.

The conference was the 10th such annual event, following fora previously hosted in various quarters of Europe including Funchal (PT), Malm� (SE), Krakow (PL), Bologna (IT) and Kaunas (LT) since the series started in 2003.

It was a combined event that also served as the CIVITAS Plus Final Conference. For this reason, the occasion ran over three days from Mon-Wed 24-26 Sept 2012. The organisers hosted again an exchange of dialogue and views between CIVITAS Forum cities and European politicians on the one hand, and experts in the field of urban mobility on the other.

The CIVITAS Forum Network currently includes over 200 cities from 32 European countries, that have formally committed to clean and sustainable urban transport.  

One week before, exactly on the 17 Sept 2012, the EC published a MEMO describing 10 CIVITAS Success Stories.

Some examples of successful measures recorded during CIVITAS projects are reported in this memo, though it should be appreciated that CIVITAS actions are implemented as an integral part of the participating cities' overall Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMPs) - consistent with the CIVITAS philosophy of stimulating collaboration between lead and learning cities which already have, mature, or semi-mature mobility plans.

Brussels, 14 Sept 2012 - As part of the preparation for Horizon 2020, DG CONNECT is setting up a new advisory structure - the CAF (CONNECT Advisory Forum for ICT Research and Innovation) - that will replace ISTAG.

The CAF will be providing advice to DG CONNECT about the orientations for research and innovation activities and initiatives dealing with communication networks, computing systems, digital content and related technologies.

The "Call for Expressions of Interest" for the selection of the members of the CAF is open until the 26 Oct 2012. Applications may be submitted by individuals, representatives of collective interest groups and organisations.

The prospective members should correspond to the following profiles (see detailed description in the text of the call):

• Members with expertise in technological aspects of ICT (emphasis on industry, SMEs)

• Members with expertise in transformative frontier research

• Members with an ICT perspective of the societal challenges

• ICT market development and governance actors

• Members representing the views of civil society

More details available here.

Last 17 Sept 2012 the European Commission launched an open consultation on the Urban Dimension of the EU Transport Policy.

With this consultation the EC wishes to explore with the public and all other relevant stakeholders on how best to contribute with targeted EU-level action to high-quality and sustainable urban transport and mobility for all users in the 27 EU Member States.

In this consultation contributors are asked to express their opinion on the relevant challenges identified by the Commission's services.

More details are available here.

The consultation will be open until 17 Dec 2012.   

Brussels, 18 Sept 2012 -  The European Commission, Industry and Academia have agreed to launch a Public Private Partnership (PPP) in Robotics, to help Europe-based companies take a larger share of the 15.5 Billion Euros annual global robotics market.

Representatives from European robotics manufacturers, research institutes joined European Commission Vice President Neelie Kroes in signing a Memorandum of Understanding, the first step towards a PPP launch in 2013. The Commission believes that the future PPP will strengthen the EU robotics sector.

Neelie Kroes, European Commission Vice-President for the Digital Agenda, said "A strong robotics industry is key to Europe's future competitiveness. Growing our robotics industry means new jobs and a strong European manufacturing sector".

Robotics is a key driver for Europe's growth and competitiveness. Three millions jobs are created or maintained worldwide as a result of using one million industrial robots. Europe's robotics industry is highly successful, accounting for about a quarter of the global production in industrial robotics and a 50% market share in professional service robotics. The domestic and professional service robot markets are expected to grow by 40% in the coming years with the strongest growth in rescue, security and professional cleaning applications. By 2020, service robotics could reach a market volume of more than 100 billion euros per year.

The PPP in Robotics aims to:

1. Develop strategic goals for European robotics and foster their implementation;

2. Improve the industrial competitiveness of Europe through innovative robotic technologies;

3. Provide robotic products and services as key enablers to help solve Europe's societal challenges;

4. Strengthen the networking activities of the European robotics community;

5. Promote European robotics;

6. Reach out to existing and new users and markets;

7. Contribute to policy development and address ethical, legal and societal issues.

More information can be found here.

Europe accounted for two thirds of the world-wide newly installed photovoltaic (PV) capacity in 2011, with 18.5 GW. Its overall PV capacity totalled 52 GW. The yearly electricity produced by PV could power a country with the electricity demand of Austria, which corresponds to 2% of the EU's electricity needs. These are some of the highlights of the 2012 Photovoltaics Status Report published last 24 Sept 2012 by the JRC.

The study summarises and evaluates the current activities regarding manufacturing, policies and market implementation world-wide.

Over the past ten years, the PV industry grew in Europe by an average of over 40% per year and the production costs have decreased by around 60%. Underlying this progress is the EU commitment towards PV systems as a means to achieve the goal of using 20% of renewable energy by 2020.

Germany, Italy, Spain, the Czech Republic, France, Belgium, and the United Kingdom are the leaders in installed PV capacity in Europe.

Last 27-28 Sept 2012 EPN Consulting attended the ITN Infrastructures and Technologies for Smart Cities and Communities event held in Turin (Italy).

Two days of conferences and workshops on ITS, Smart Mobility, e-Ticketing, Smart Cities and Communities ranging from technical solutions to policy.

The choice of attending this event is line with the new business area being developed within EPN Consulting to meet the high demand coming from Local Authorities and citizens willing to introduce/exploit smart solutions to improve the quality of life and optimise existing resources.

EPN Consulting is happy to receive queries from any Local Authority in Europe willing to transform their city into a modern, smart city able to offer more services to their citizens at lower costs.

We can help you do it step by step. 

EPN Consulting will be attending the ITS Conference and the 19th ITS World Congress in Vienna during two days: 22 and 23 Oct 2012.

This will be an excellent opportunity to meet up in person and discuss collaboration opportunities.

We are happy to announce that attendees that would like to join EPN Consulting in meetings organised in Vienna during this event will benefit a 50% discount on the membership enrolment fee.

Please send us your request of meeting us by the 19 Oct 2012 to ensure you will be entitled to claim this benefit. 

More details on

- Joining EPN Consulting are available here.

- the ITS World Congress are available here. 

- 02-03 Oct 2012 - Edinburgh (UK) - LEG+TRA - TISPOL (European Traffic Police Network) Conference 2012 

- 02-03 Oct 2012 - Sophia Antipolis (FR) - ICT+INN - SAME 2012 - 15th Edition - Microelectronics Conference 

- 02-04 Oct 2012 - Lyon (FR) - BIZ+ITS+TEC+TRA - INTEROUTE & VILLE 2012 - Exhibition of Materials, Equipment and Technology for Roads, Streets, Motorways and Cities 

- 03 Oct 2012 - Brussels (BE) - BIO+ENE - THE EUROPEAN GAS POLICY FORUM 2012 - Shale Gas: Supporting Security of Supply and Climate Action in Europe? 

- 03 Oct 2012 - London (UK) - ENE - IET Event - FUTURE ENERGY FORUM - Engineering Solutions for UK Energy Challenges 

- 04 Oct 2012 - London (UK) - INN - IET Event - The IET President's Address - A Perspective on Innovation 

- 04-07 Oct 2012 - Barcelona (ES) - ICT+INN - KDIR 2012 - International Conference on Knowledge Discovery and Information Retrieval 

- 05 Oct 2012  Shkodra (AL) - TRA - URBAN MOBILITY MANAGEMENT IN ALBANIA - Active, Clean and Energy-efficient Urban Mobility  

- 08-11 Oct 2012 - London (UK) - BIO+BIZ+FIN - GASTECH 2012 - 26th Edition - Fuelling the Future by Investing in Gas 

- 08-11 Oct 2012 - Brussels (BE) - LEG - 10th European Week of Regions and Cities  

There are fantastic business opportunities for you.

It is possible to sponsor one or more events (Event Sponsor) or even become an Event Section Sponsor (Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze packages available). Please drop us an email if interested and we will provide you with all information.

Notice: EPN Consulting Members enjoy up to 20% discount on sponsoring packages. Join us!