econtentplus

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This is a multiannual Community programme to make digital content in Europe more accessible, usable and exploitable and facilitate the creation and diffusion of information, in areas of public interest at Community level.

The Commission has issued a call for proposals for indirect actions under the multi annual Community Programme to make digital content in Europe more accessible, usable and exploitable, the eContentplus Programme. It aims to improve the usability and quality of existing digital content in specific contexts of use in order to create the conditions for the emergence of quality trans-European content-based services.

There will be two project types for the 2006 Work Programme:

  • Targeted Projects (TP), which address specific barriers that prevent or limit access to and the use of digital content at any stage of the chain - production, exposure, discovery, acquisition and use. Ensuring the interoperability and increasing the usability of existing datasets at cross-border level is a typical example.
  • Thematic Networks (TN), which bring together relevant stakeholders, expertise and facilities with the objective of identifying best practices and coordinating the development of specific approaches for improving the availability and usability of digital content. They aim to achieve a broad consensus on methods and standards and to impact on a critical mass of digital content at European level. Activities may include coordination and assessment, the exchange of information between teams working around a common theme, improvement plans, the organisation of conferences and information brokerage.
Eligible applicants
Participation in the eContentplus programme is open to legal entities established in the 25 Member States. It is further open to legal entities established in Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania, Turkey and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, if a bilateral agreement with the relevant country has been concluded to this effect. It is open to legal entities established in EFTA States that are contracting parties to the EEA Agreement (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway), in accordance with the provisions of that Agreement 2. The participation of legal entities established in third countries and of international organisations is possible, though without financial support from the Community.

Actions open in 2006
The decision on the actions under which activities will be funded in 2006 is based on the results of the evaluation of the first call for the programme in 2005 and on the available budget. The indicative overall budget available for this call is €27.3 million as the Community contribution the indicative breakdown is in brackets following each action:

Geographic Information (30%)

  • Targeted projects for geographic information
  • Thematic network on geographic information

Educational content (25%)

  • Targeted projects for educational content
  • A thematic network on educational content

Digital libraries (cultural and scientific/scholarly content) (40%)

  • Targeted projects for digital libraries
  • A thematic network on cultural content

Reinforcing cooperation between digital content stakeholders (5%)

  • A thematic network on public-domain and related issues

The deadline for receipt of proposals by the Commission is 19 October 2006

For a full rundown on econtentplus, background and the full call for applications please visit here


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