Have your say on Future and Emerging Technologies!
6 May 2014 03:07 PM
Do you have a great idea for a new technology
that is not possible yet? Do you think it can become realistic by putting
Europe's best minds on the task? Share your view and
the European Commission – via the Future and Emerging Technologies
(FET) programme @fet_eu #FET_eu – can make it happen.
The consultation is open till 15 June 2014.
The
aim of the public consultation launched recently is to identify promising and
potentially game-changing directions for future research in any technological
domain.
Vice-President of the European Commission @NeelieKroesEU, responsible for the Digital
Agenda, said: "From protecting the environment to curing disease -
the choices and investments we make today will make a difference to the jobs
and lives we enjoy tomorrow. Researchers and entrepreneurs, innovators,
creators or interested bystanders – whoever you are, I hope you will take
this opportunity to take part in determining Europe’s
future".
The
consultation is organised as a series of discussions, in which contributors can
suggest ideas for a newFET
Proactive initiative or discuss the 9 research topics identified in the previous
consultation to determine whether they are still relevant
today.
The
ideas collected via the public consultation will contribute to future FET work
programmes, notably the next one (2016-17). This participative process has
already been used to draft the current work programme
(2014-15).
Background
€2,7 billion will be invested in Future and Emerging Technologies (FET) under
the new research programmeHorizon 2020 #H2020 (2014-2020). This represents a nearly threefold
increase in budget compared to the previous research programme, FP7. FET
actions are part of the Excellent science pillar of Horizon
2020.
The
objective of FET is to foster radical new technologies by exploring novel and
high-risk ideas building on scientific foundations. By providing flexible
support to goal-oriented and interdisciplinary collaborative research, and by
adopting innovative research practices, FET research seizes the opportunities
that will deliver long-term benefit for our society and
economy.
FET
Proactive initiatives aim to mobilise interdisciplinary communities
around promising long-term technological visions. They build up the necessary
base of knowledge and know-how for kick-starting a future technology line that
will benefit Europe's future industries and citizens in the decades to
come. FET Proactive initiatives complement FET
Open scheme, which funds small-scale projects on future technology,
and FET Flagships, which are large-scale initiatives to
tackle ambitious interdisciplinary science and technology
goals.
FET
previously launched an online consultation (2012-13) to identify
research topics for the current work programme.
Around 160 ideas were submitted. The European Commission did an exhaustive
analysis and produced an informal clustering of these ideas into broad
topics. 9 topics were identified as candidates for a
FET Proactive initiative. Three are included in the current programme, namely
Global Systems Science; Knowing, Doing, Being; and Quantum
Simulation.
See examples of FET projects.
Email: comm-kroes@ec.europa.eu Tel: +32.229.57361 Twitter: @NeelieKroesEU