Austrian Federal Ministry for Transport, Innovation and Technology of Austria launches call for proposals under the FIT-IT programme in the field of embedded systems

On July 19th, 2005 the Austrian Federal Ministry for Transport, Innovation and Technology (BMVIT) and Austrian programme management agency eutema organised a kick-off event entitled "Embedded in Europe" to promote opportunities for international cooperation under the 5th call for proposals of Austria's FIT-IT embedded systems research programme.

The 5th call for proposals in embedded systems was launched on 6 June 2005. The call is a part of the Austrian Federal Ministry for Transport, Innovation and Technology's FIT-IT programme. The programme has supported projects in the embedded systems area since 2002 and is expected to continue through 2007 and beyond. Since 2004 FIT-IT addresses three programme lines, embedded systems, semantic systems, and systems on chip, however, at the moment only embedded systems is open for international co-operation. In 2005 the programme budget is around 12 million euros, with 4 million euros dedicated to call 5 to support the programme line of embedded systems. The call places special focus on solutions for complex, highly interactive physical control processes, for example control systems for smart structures. Other topics may include the research areas of ES-design, embedded input-output technologies, interoperability of ES, management of limited resources, and potential application fields. The deadline for the submission of proposals is 12 October 2005.

The FIT-IT programme has pursued international activities and relations both at programme and project levels. International expert juries participate in the evaluation of proposals, and for the first time, the programme has introduced the opportunity for international cooperation at the project level. Funding for international partners is expected to be realised in close cooperation with respective national funding agencies. The international cooperation scheme was introduced in collaboration with the IST ERA project COSINE. Furthermore, FIT-IT programme management  maintains tight links to the European Technology Platfofm ARTEMIS, and is active in the preparations of an article 171 initiative in embedded systems. In addition to improving European and international visibility and linkage of Austrian researchers, the international outreach will contribute to supporting to the development of substantial innovations with the potential to boost competitiveness and deliver high economic impact.

On the July 19th kick-off event representatives of the programme management agency eutema announced opportunities for international cooperation at the project level, while representatives from Belgium, Czech Republic, Germany and Hungary also held presentations on their respective national research activities in the field of embedded systems. To set the context for future cooperation, a selection of the 21 austrian projects funded under FIT IT demonstrated prototypes and project results. The event also provided a setting for discussions of the ARTEMIS strategic research agenda.

Further information:
FIT-IT
http://www.fit-it.at/
Austrian Federal Ministry for Transport, Innovation and Technology
http://www.bmvit.gv.at/