- 01 Mar 2012 - Deadline to submit  proposals within the EUREKA's Eurostars programme 

- 01 Mar 2012 - Deadline to submit proposals within the FP7-TRANSPORT-2012-MOVE-1 Call 

- 08 Mar 2012 - Deadline to submit proposals within the FP7-ENERGY-2012-2 Call 

- 20 Mar 2012 - Deadline to submit proposals within the FP7 Joint Programming Coordination 2012 Call 

Brussels, 2 February 2012 - With the signature of further contracts for satellites and launchers in London today, Galileo is firmly on track for the provision of improved satellite navigation services to citizens in 2014. In total, 3 contracts were signed: the contract signed with OHB System AG (DE) comprising 8 satellites for an amount in the order of €250 million. A second contract was signed with Arianespace (FR) for a booking option of up to 3 launches using Ariane 5 (booking fee of €30 million). A third contract was signed with Astrium SAS (FR) to enable the current Ariane 5 launcher to carry 4 Galileo programme satellites per launch into orbit, for an amount in the order of €30 million. Galileo satellites are currently launched in pairs aboard the Russian Soyuz rocket. Thanks to the highly competitive proposal of the contractor and increasing the number of satellites which will be launched in orbit by 2014, the Commission has been able to accelerate the process [...] 

The complete piece of news is here 

More information on GALILEO can be found here  

Pursuant to Article 16 of Directive 2010/40/EU, the Commission has set up, in its Decision of 4 May 2011 (2011/C 135/03), the group of experts on Intelligent Transport Systems (the European ITS Advisory Group).

On 27 January 2012, the members of the European ITS Advisory Group have been appointed by Mr. Matthias Ruete, Director-General for Mobility and Transport DG.
The list of members is available on the Register of Commission Expert Groups.

The task of the European ITS advisory Group is to advise the Commission on business and technical aspects of the deployment and use of ITS in the Union. The group is composed of 25 members from relevant ITS services providers, associations of users, transport and facilities operators, manufacturing industry, social partners, professional associations, local authorities and other relevant fora.

More details can be found here.    

Brussels, 15 February 2012 - Radio spectrum supports 3.5 million jobs and more than €250 billion of economic activity each year in Europe, including incredibly popular services such as wireless broadband.

The Commission therefore welcomes the European Parliament's adoption of the five-year Radio Spectrum Policy Programme (RSPP) which will allow sufficient spectrum to be made available for wireless applications and services such as high speed 4th generation (4G) wireless broadband.

The RSPP also supports entertainment/culture (mobile TV or wireless electronic books), transport systems, health (such as medical appliances and devices to assist disabled persons), research, civil protection, the environment and energy (including smart energy grids and smart metering systems), without affecting the requirements of other policies such as defence.

The European Commission Vice President Neelie Kroes said: "Adoption of the Radio Spectrum Policy Programme will help reduce the digital divide, make Europe a connected and competitive continent and introduce more wireless broadband choices."

We know that Denmark currently holds the European Presidency (until 30 June 2012).

In January 2012 the Copenhagen Research Forum (CRF) invited more than 600 researchers from across Europe to contribute with their comments and expand on ideas concerning the six societal challenges  that form an important part of Horizon 2020.

Divided into six panels, one per each challenge, recognised experts from both old and new EU Member States have made contributions. This is the first time in the history of EU Framework Programmes that researchers, without the involvement of other stakeholders, have worked jointly to formulate a research-based critical view of the European research agenda.

The goal of CRF wasto provide advice and input onto Horizon 2020 to strengthen research in Europe.

The complete 90-page document can be found here.   

- until 01 Mar 2012 - Hamburg (DE) - TRA - MARITIME LOGISTICS 2012 

- until 01 Mar 2012 - Nuremberg (DE) - EUP - ARTEMIS Spring Event 2012 

- until 01 Mar 2012 - London (UK) - ICT - DATA CENTRE WORLD - Conference & Expo 

- until 01 Mar 2012 - Barcelona (ES) - ICT - MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS - "Refining Mobile" 

- 01 Mar 2012 - London (UK) - ENE+ENV+ICT+ITS+TRA - ELECTRIC FUTURES - Harnessing New Technology for Clean Energy in Rail, Bus and Tram 

- 01-03 Mar 2012 - Birmingham (UK) - TRA - MULTIMODAL 2012 

- 05 Mar 2012 - Paris (FR) - ENE+ENV - EUREKA Event - EUROGIA+ Marine Renewables Information Day 

- 06-10 Mar 2012 - Hannover (DE) - BIZ+ICT+INN - CEBIT 2012 

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!

Last 23 February 2012

EPN Consulting attended the 5th Road User Charging Conference organised in London by the ITS UK association whose EPN Consulting is corporate member.  

During the all-day event numerous cases were presented regarding experiences, technologies and policies exploited in the UK and in some other European countries with special focus on the EETS (European Electronic Toll Service). Each presentation was followed by a Q&A session that helped the audience understand more about the foreseen future in this field.

We would like to remind our readers that there are only 9 weeks (including Easter) left to prepare and submit a good quality proposal within the Intelligent Energy Europe 2012 call  

Some 72 Million Euros of funding have been allocated to the promotion and dissemination of best practice in the following fields:

- Energy Efficiency (SAVE) - 15 Million Euros

- Energy use in Transport (STEER) - 12.5 Million Euros

- Renewable Energy Sources (ALTENER) - 12 Million Euros

- Integrated Initiatives - 32.5 Million Euros

Activities of Research and Implementation will NOT be funded.