Joint call launched by 9 national/regional funding agencies in the field of ICT for traditional manufacturing industries with overall budget of 10 million euros.

The eTranet project has announced the launch of a new joint call for R&D projects in the field of ‘ICT for Traditional Manufacturing Industries’, involving 9 national and regional funding agencies throughout Europe. The call has an indicative budget of €10 million, with the average budget per project expected to be between 0.5 - 1 million euros. The selected projects are expected to be start after November 2007.

The call is open to support for all manufacturing sectors - including sectors such as chemicals, construction products/equipment, engineering/electrical equipment, food & drink, leather, mechanical engineering, metals, minerals, paper, polymers, textiles, transport equipment, and wood - and particularly encourages projects that are expected to have a significant impact on SMEs in traditional manufacturing sectors.

The call requires the cooperation of at least 2 different partners from 2 different countries participating in the call, with proposers being supported by national joint call advisors. The proposals will be evaluated based on three criteria: impact on traditional manufacturing industries, innovation, and mobilisation of resources - in addition to national criteria and requirements . The evaluation procedures will involve initial evaluation of proposals in accordance with national procedures, while a synthesis meeting of eTRANET members will lead to the final decisions on funded projects.The funding for the partners is provided by the national/regional agencies according to their national/regional regulations.

About eTranet
eTranet is one of the ERA-NET Coordination Action projects that were established during the 6th RTD Framework Programme to support the development of the European Research Area. he eTranet project currently involves public sector organisations and agencies from 15 countries. Details of the eTranet project and information on the 2nd Joint Call can be found at www.etranet.net. The eTranet coordination team can be contacted by email at support@etranet.net.