Information Society Technologies Programme Angelo Airaghi Finmeccanica - Senior Vice President Business Development ISTAG (IST Advisory Group) Role and Results

Information Society Technologies Programme 2 ISTAG Organisation ISTAG (Information Society Technology Advisory Group) is and independent Group appointed by the European Commission ISTAG counts 25 members coming from leading Institutions (industry, services, R&D centers, universities) involved in Information and Communication Technology ISTAG has started its activities in January 1999 ISTAG meeting are both physical and virtual (total 5-6 per year)

Information Society Technologies Programme 3 ISTAG Role Provide the Commission with independent advice concerning the content and direction of research work to be carried out under the IST Programme Provide a longer-term-view on related policies and regulations

Information Society Technologies Programme 4 ISTAG: the first advice Workprogramme99 is broad Focussing needed for WP2000 and beyond: –to avoid fragmentation of effort and ensure necessary coverage of important promising areas –to mobilise a critical mass of key players –For Europe to be in leading positions to seize opportunities offered by the convergence of IST Identification and selection of hot topics, setup of working groups leading to a consolidated report

Information Society Technologies Programme 5 Driving Forces, Markets and Opportunities Technological: –Computing power doubles every 18 months, transmission capacity every 12 months, IP every 6 months. 30 Million Chips per year are produced for PCs, > 250 Million go to other devices Economic: –The rapid growth in the mobile communications market is reinforcing the EU leadership in this area. Half of EU companies are expected to have Internet e-commerce activities in Social and Personal: –Widen access to the general and also the disadvantaged citizen

Information Society Technologies Programme 6 ISTAG Vision Statement C reate an ambient intelligence landscape (for seamless delivery of services and applications) in Europe relying also upon testbeds and open source software, develop user-friendliness, and develop and converge the networking infrastructure in Europe to world-class"

Information Society Technologies Programme 7 The notion of Ambient Intelligence the convergence of Ubiquitous computing and communication + Intelligent user-friendly interfaces The resulting Ambient Intelligence landscape is Embedded, Personalised, Adaptive, and Anticipatory. It is presponsive instead of being simply responsive

Information Society Technologies Programme 8 Ubiquity Commonplace appliances-seamless services,... Dialogue laid-back mode, enjoyable,... Networking DistributionEmbedded Fixed/mobile integration Broadband/all-optical Mobile IP Interworking/interrupt. Mobile processes Scalability Embedded internet Light weight OSs InterfacesContent Multi-modality Learning systems next generation interfaces Multi-linguality converging media Trust generation Security Privacy Dependability ISTAG vision: Technology perspective The technology is all around us but almost invisible

Information Society Technologies Programme 9 ISTAG vision: Applications / services perspective Ubiquity Dialogue Seamless access to services/applications At homeAt work...CommutingSpecial needs World class converging infrastructure

Information Society Technologies Programme 10 Benefits of the Vision The benefit of the vision to the citizen is to enhance the quality of our life by providing universal access to services : based on interaction that is relaxing and enjoyable: otherwise stated… –the dominant mode of interaction is: laid-back(relaxed, enjoyable) –rather than: lean-forward(tense, concentrated).

Information Society Technologies Programme 11 Benefits of the Vision (cont.) For industry, –The vision highlights a path to the next generation of computing, communication and media products & services. –Builds on Europe strength in: Mobile communications, infrastructures, consumer electronics, electronic appliances, software integration,.. –Places Europe in a competing position in core businesses: For the delivery of, and access to applications and services For the development and provision of applications and services

Information Society Technologies Programme 12 Conclusion For 2000 workprogramme –ISTAG Report published in September 1999 Orientations for WP2000 and beyond (the Vision) For 2001 workprogramme and beyond –Keep alive the vision (maintenance) –Identify and address the crucial weaknesses between the on-going RTD activities and the needs of the vision (roadmap) –Prevent major potential pitfalls and obstacles –Evaluate the competitiveness of the European IT industry in the perspectives of a full accomplishment of the vision –Activate a dialogue with the comparable exercises done worldwide –Propose a Europewide strategic initiative for the years to come