The ICT Call 9 of the FP7 programme opened a few days ago! This call addresses topics related to digital preservation and access to cultural resources asking for:

Target Outcomes of Objective 4.3 – Digital Preservation (Budget 30M€)

• More reliable and secure preservation technologies and methods
• Technologies and systems for intelligent management of preservation
• Interdisciplinary research networks
• Promotion schemes for the uptake of digital preservation research outcomes

Target outcomes of Objective 8.2 – Access to cultural resources (Budget 40M€)

• Technologies for creating personalised and engaging digital cultural experiences
• Open and extendable platforms for building services that support use of cultural resources for research and education
• Improved and affordable technologies for digitisation of special forms of cultural resources, including tools for virtual reconstructions
• Awareness raising of research results

For further information see also the call for proposals

Are you submitting a bid? Please arrange an appointment below to discuss your proposal ideas.

Arrange an appointment now

The European Commission has today presented a package of measures to boost research, innovation and competitiveness in Europe. Commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn has announced Horizon 2020, an €80 billion1 programme for investment in research and innovation. Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou has put forward a Strategic Innovation Agenda for the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), which will receive €2.8 billion of funding under Horizon 2020. In parallel, Vice-President Antonio Tajani has announced a complementary new programme to boost competitiveness and innovation in SMEs, with an additional budget of €2.5 billion. The funding programmes run from 2014 to 2020.

Horizon 2020 is a key pillar of Innovation Union, a Europe 2020 flagship initiative aimed at enhancing Europe’s global competitiveness. The European Union is a global leader in many technologies, but it faces increasing competition from traditional powers and emerging economies alike. The Commission proposal will now be discussed by the Council and the European Parliament, with a view to adoption before the end of 2013.

More information on the related press release

On 04 and 05 May 2011, the Cultural Heritage and Technology Enhanced Learning unit of the European Commission hosted a workshop for invited experts in the field of digital preservation. It was attended by around 60 representatives from universities and research centres, memory institutions, industry and other organisations such as foundations dedicated to digital preservation. The director of K2M, Dr. George Ioannidis, was also invited to this workshop.

The event started with a stock-take of achievements and ongoing activities funded under the ICT programme, presenting the portfolio of digital preservation projects and the research roadmaps proposed by the community so far. This presentation was based on a report commissioned for the event which can be downloaded in the documents section below.

The main part of the workshop consisted in group discussions providing input to the digital preservation research agenda within Horizon 2020, the next EU framework programme for research and innovation (2014-2020).

The full report of the workshop can be downloaded here.

The study report is now available! See also the related press release.

The Study, commissioned by the European Commission, responds to the growing importance of the creative economy, and more specifically of the role of the Cultural and Creative Industries (CCIs), as tools to tackle Europe’s current and future challenges. The report highlights transversal problems common to all these CCIs. It indicates specific challenges that could hamper entrepreneurship and prevent CCIs from benefiting from the internal market and the digital shift. The report provides an understanding of the key determinants for strengthening entrepreneurship for CCIs, such as:

• access to finance;
• market barriers;
• intellectual property rights;
• education and training;
• innovation;
• and collaborative processes.

From these key challenges, the study suggests general approaches for developing a conducive environment as well as specific recommendations to provide support for each determinant, highlighting best practices and taking into consideration sector differences, the different levels of policy as well as the different development phases in which the CCIs find themselves.

Throughout the study, around 40 Best Cases illustrate key approaches and initiatives. Similarly, anonymised relevant comments from the many experts interviewed during the study are presented where appropriate.

If you would like to receive more information please mail to info@k2mark.com.

Professionals and practitioners from the sectors of film, DVD and video, television and radio, video games, new media, music, books and press, architecture, advertising, design and fashion are invited to participate in a survey about the entrepreneurial dimension of cultural and creative industries. The survey will be held in the form of a questionnaire and will take only 20 minutes to fill. When completed you will automatically participate in a contest where you can win: 1 Apple MacBook Pro, 13″, 2 Apple iPhone 3GS 16GB, 4 Apple iPod nano 8 GB.

If you are interested to participate, please mail to info@k2mark.com

Experts from the sectors of film, DVD and video, television and radio, video games, new media, music, books and press, architecture, advertising, design and fashion are invited to participate in a survey about the entrepreneurial dimension of cultural and creative industries. The survey will be held in the form of a questionnaire and will take only 20 minutes to fill.

If you are interested to participate, please mail to info@k2mark.com

K2M together with Hogeschool vor de Kunsten Utrecht (HKU) and Eurokleis Srl have been awarded a study on the entrepreneurial dimension of cultural and creative industries in Europe

This study aims to provide the European Commission with a better understanding of the operations and specific needs of companies in the cultural and creative industries, especially SMEs. It will consider environmental factors, in particular regulatory issues, which influence the development of these companies, as well as access to finance and entry barriers. Research and development is an area of particular interest. A specific focus is on identifying and highlighting the transversal challenges facing these enterprises, regardless of the cultural and creative industry to which they belong, and, as far as possible, pinpoint problems more specifically linked to each of the industries concerned.

If you would like to receive more information please mail to info@k2mark.com

The main aims of this contract are to analyse, design and implement a knowledge-based annotation framework that can be applied to parts of Scalable Vector Graphic (SVG) diagrams, to increase accessibility and re-use of SVG content, to examine and improve the current processing workflow of part-based annotation of SVG files in the client premises, to disseminate internally the relevant information and support the change process.

If you would like more information please mail to info@k2mark.com

ICT results featured the EUAIN project where K2M has provided innovation management expertise. Here the story:

Many people have no access to most published books. European researchers are trying to remedy this by adapting new technologies to provide accessibility on demand for the visually impaired.

The dream is to make all new publications simultaneously available in formats such as Braille, large print and audio. This will mean the blind, the partially sighted and those suffering from reading disabilities such as dyslexia have the same access rights to information as the rest of society.

While the driving force behind the research is helping the ‘print impaired’, who make up between 6-8% of all Europeans, a substantial and hence profitable new mainstream market is also being created.

The ~EU-funded EUAIN project and its successors have brought together the publishing industry in Europe with accessibility organisations for the first time, and a whole new type of publishing is in the process of being created as a result. More …

The importance of improving knowledge transfer between public research institutions and third parties, including industry and civil society organisations was identified by the European Commission as one of ten key areas for action. This gap is largely due to a less systematic and professional management of knowledge and intellectual property by European universities compared to the North America. Moreover, efficient knowledge transfer in European research institutions is hindered by a range of factors, including: cultural differences between the business and science communities; lack of incentives; legal barriers; and fragmented markets for knowledge and technology. All of these factors adversely affect European growth and jobs creation. More …

K2M bridges exactly this gap between knowledge and market and supports you in the dissemination and exploitation of your R&D results, releasing your market potential.