IT

Information society technologies (IST)

Objective

The activities carried out in this area, pursuant to the conclusions of the Lisbon European Council and the objectives of the e-Europe initiative, are intended to stimulate the development in Europe of both hardware and software technologies and applications at the heart of the creation of the information society in order to increase the competitiveness of European industry and allow European citizens in all Union regions the possibility of benefiting fully from the development of the knowledge-based society. Concentration on the future generation of IST will bring IST applications and services to everyone and enable the development of the next generation of technologies to be more user-centered.

Justification of the effort and European added value

At the dawn of the 21st century, information and communication technologies are revolutionising the functioning of the economy and society, and are generating new ways of producing, trading and communicating.

This has become the Union's second most important sector of the economy, with an annual market of EUR 2000 billion and employing more than 2 million persons in Europe, a number that is steadily rising.

Europe is well positionedto lead and shape the future development not only of technologies but also of their impact on our life and work. The future competitiveness of all European industry and the living standards of Europe's citizens depend largely on future efforts in IST research in order to prepare the future generation of products, processes and services.

Industrial and commercial successes of the kind that Europe has achieved in mobile communications as a result of the global system for mobile communication (GSM) standard will not be repeated unless a concerted effort is made to invest a critical mass of research resources in this area, by integrating public and private sector efforts on a European scale.

With a viewto exerting maximum impact in economic and social terms, effort should focus on the future generation of those technologies in which computers, interfaces and networks will be more integrated into the everyday environment and will render accessible, through easy and "natural" interactions, a multitude of services and applications. This vision of "ambient intelligence" (interactive intelligent environment) seeks to place the user, the human being, at the centre of the future development of the knowledge-based society.

Community actions will concentrate on the technological priorities that will make it possible to realise this vision. They will aim at mobilising the community of researchers around targeted initiatives, such as the development of the next generations of mobile communication systems, so as to achieve medium and long-term objectives while being able to react to the new needs and demands of markets as well as those of public policy and citizens.

Actions envisaged

The actions undertaken will therefore address the following technological priorities:

Integrating research into technological areas of priorityinterest for citizens and businesses

Completing and building on progress expected in the development of basic technologies, research aimed at finding solutions for major societal and economic challenges, faced by an emerging knowledge-based society including the consequences for work and the workplace environment, and, accordingly, focusing on:

(a) research on technologies addressing the key security challenges posed by the "all-digital" world and the need to secure the rights and privacy of citizens;

(b) "ambient intelligence" systems offering access to the information society for all, regardless of age and situation (such as disability or other individual circumstances), as well as interactive and intelligent systems for health, mobility, security, leisure, tourism, access to and preservation of the cultural heritage, and environment;

(c) electronic and mobile commerce, as well as technologies for secure transactions and infrastructures, new tools and new methods of work, technologies for learning (such as e-learning) and systems for corporate knowledge management, for integrated business management and for e-government taking account of user needs;

(d) large-scale distributed systems and platforms, including global resource information database (GRID) based systems that provide effective solutions to complex problems in areas such as the environment, energy, health, transport and industrial design.

Communication and computing infrastructures

Mobile, wireless, optical and broadband communication infrastructures and computing and software technologies that are reliable, of wide application and can be adapted to meet the growing needs of applications and services. Work will focus on:

(a) the new generations of wireless and mobile communications systems and networks; satellite communications systems; all-optical technologies; integration and management of communication networks, including interoperable network solutions; capacity-enhancing technologies necessary for the development of systems, infrastructures and services, in particular for audio-visual applications. Work will also lead to the development of next Internet generation;

(b) software technologies architectures, distributed and embedded systems supporting the development of multifunctional and complex services that involve multiple actors engineering and control of complex and large-scale systems to ensure reliability and robustness.

Components and microsystems

Miniaturised and low-cost components based on new materials and integrating extended functionalities, with the effort focusing on:

(a) the design and production of nano-, micro-, and opto-electronic and photonic components, including those used for information storage, pushing the limits of miniaturisation and minimising the costs and power consumption of micro-electronic and micro-system components, and taking account of the environmental impact of IST systems;

(b) nano-electronics, micro-technologies, displays and micro-systems, and multi-disciplinary research into new materials and quantum devices; new computing models and concepts.

Information management and interfaces

Research into information management tools and interfaces, with a view to enabling easier interaction everywhere and at all times with knowledge-based services and applications, addressing:

(a) knowledge representation and management systems based on context and semantics, including cognitive systems, as well as tools for creating, organising, navigating, retrieving, sharing, preserving and disseminating digital content;

(b) multi-sensorial interfaces capable of understanding and interpreting the natural expression of human beings through words, gestures and the various senses, virtual environments, as well as multilinguistic and multicultural systems indispensable to the establishment of the knowledge-based society on a European scale.

 European IST Research 2005-06, Building on Assets, Seizing Opportunities. click here (pdf)

Links

FP6 - Information Society Cordis - IST Europa - Information Society Information Society Technologies Programme

News  

1 July 2008:  Researchers are developing a miniature refrigeration system small enough to fit inside laptops and personal computers, a cooling technology that would boost performance while shrinking the size of computers.  Read more

1 July 2008:  Scientists may have found a new way to combat the most dangerous form of computer virus.  Read more

1 July 2008:  The odd behavior of a molecule in an experimental silicon computer chip has led to a discovery that opens the door to quantum computing in semiconductors.  Read more

30 June 2008: Orbiting robots could repair satellites on the fly. Read more

27 June 2008: The WINSOC project, supported by the EU with EUR 2.44 million in funding, is developing innovative sensor networks that mimic biological systems. Read more

27 June 2008: IST research in Europe: good, but could do better. Read more

27 June 2008: Food inspection technology could kill waiter jokes. Read more

27 June 2008: Laser headband brings Alzheimer's out of the shadows. Read more

27 June 2008: Device blocking stomach nerve signals shows promise in obesity. Read more

26 June 2008: 'Time reversal' allows wireless broadband under the sea. Read more

26 June 2008: Physicists Produce Quantum-Entangled Images. Read more

26 June 2008: Managing fisheries with semantic technologies. Read more

26 June 2008: Supercomputers join cancer fight. Read more  

26 June 2008: EU funding for information society technologies (IST) research under the Sixth Framework Programme (FP6) has helped make Europe a world leader in a number of key areas, including high-speed networking and nano-electronics. Read more

25 June 2008: Radio ID tags can play havoc with hospital devices. Read more

25 June 2008: A new and more accurate method of assessing people at risk from cardiovascular disease (CVD) is set to improve national diagnosis rates and identify those at risk among black and minority ethnic groups. Read more

25 June 2008: Ministers give green light to EUROSTARS and assisted living programmes. Read more

24 June 2008: Idle computers offer hope to solve cancer's mysteries through grid computing project. Read more  

24 June 2008: Automated microfluidic device reduces time to screen small organisms for genetic studies. Read more

24 June 2008: Nasal spray using body's immune system provides hope of cure for common cold. Read more

24 June 2008: Tethered molecules act as light-driven reversible nanoswitches. Read more

24 June 2008: UBC physicists develop 'impossible' technique to study and develop superconductors. Read more

24 June 2008: Princeton engineers have invented an affordable technique that uses lasers and plastic beads to create the ultrasmall features that are needed for new generations of microchips. Read more

23 June 2008: Fastest-ever flashgun captures image of light wave. Read more

23 June 2008: How to store a picture in a cloud of gas. Read more

20 June 2008: Canada-India RFID project looks to improve traffic flow, reduce pollution. Read more

20 June 2008: Exciton-based circuits eliminate a 'speed trap' between computing and communication signals. Read more  

20 June 2008: Tiny refrigerator taking shape to cool future computers. Read more

20 June 2008: In work that solves a long-standing mystery in neuroscience, researchers at MIT's Picower Institute for Learning and Memory have shown for the first time that star-shaped brain cells called astrocytes—previously considered bit players by most neuroscientists—make noninvasive brain scans possible. Read more

20 June 2008: Budapest wins race for EIT seat. Read more

20 June 2008: Car insurance companies and people in charge of analysing satellite mission quality are just two of the beneficiaries of the EU-funded OntoGrid project, which came to an end recently. Read more

20 June 2008: Multicore technology, which combines two or more processor cores on a single silicon chip, allows computers handle separate tasks at the same time, thereby increasing their performance. Read more

19 June 2008: Scientists discover way to color MRI scans. Read more

19 June 2008: A kind of virtual colonic irrigation could help to reduce the occurrence of colorectal cancer. Read more

19 June 2008: Surgeons may get Minority Report-style display. Read more

18 June 2008: Computer predicts anti-cancer molecules. Read more

18 June 2008: Discovery will assist treatment and research into fatal brain disorder. Read more

18 June 2008: OSU's Transparent Electronics Key to Solar Energy Breakthrough. Read more

17 June 2008: Lighting up polymer LEDs through nanotechnology. Read more

17 June 2008: PET imaging detects early, 'silent heart' stage of disease in asymptomatic diabetic patients. Read more

17 June 2008: UCSF and YouTube create novel channel to drive medical research. Read more

16 June 2008: Untangled Quantum Quirk Is Significant Step Toward Quantum Computing. Read more

13 June 2008: Ontario is investing $18 million into nanotechnology and quantum computing research. Read more

13 June 2008: A way to close of diseased blood vessels with unprecedented accuracy using a zap of laser light has been tested in mice. Read more

13 June 2008: 'Electron turbine' could print designer molecules. Read more

13 June 2008: Carbon Nanotubes as a Single-Photon Source. Read more

13 June 2008: The silky skills of Europe’s top footballers will not be the only eye catcher this summer as the movement of the fans themselves fall under the watchful gaze of state-of-the-art video surveillance. Read more

13 June 2008: Samsung Introduces 90-Nanometer High Performance Smart Card IC. Read more

13 June 2008: Computer models show major climate shift as a result of closing ozone hole. Read more

12 June 2008: Study Finds New Properties in Non-Magnetic Materials. Read more

12 June 2008: 'N-variant' microchips could protect intellectual property, enable new services. Read more

12 June 2008: Researchers untangle quantum quirk. Read more

12 June 2008: Microwave Synthesis Connects With the (Quantum) Dots. Read more

12 June 2008: Measuring The Footprint Of Cells For Health And Competitive Sports. Read more

12 June 2008: European researchers have developed solutions to help weld a mishmash of different technologies, protocols and system architectures, making it easier to run research and education networks. Read more

12 June 2008: The European Commission has announced that it will double its investment in European robotics research between 2007 and 2010. Read more

11 June 2008: Real time video to help fight forest fires. The scientists are currently looking at how their system could be adapted for use in unmanned airborne vehicles, as part of the EU-funded AWARE project. Read more

11 June 2008: New Wireless Sensor Network Keeps Tabs On The Environment. Read more

11 June 2008: Managing symptoms by mobile phone may revolutionize cancer care for young people. Read more

11 June 2008: CT lung cancer screening no cure-all for smokers. Read more

11 June 2008: The EU's top antitrust official called Tuesday on member governments to use open-source software, an apparent jab at Microsoft Corp.'s proprietary technology. Read more

11 June 2008: Industrial dye holds the key to advancing spintronics. Read more

10 June 2008: Open Patent Alliance Formed to Advance WiMAX 4G Technology. Read more

9 June 2008: Researchers develop new PET scanning probe that will allowing monitoring of the immune system. Read more

9 June 2008: For the first time, a team of Dutch, German and South Korean scientists have shown how light can squeeze through any hole regardless of its size using Terahertz (THz) radiation. Read more

6 June 2008: New MRI to debut in African nation of Malawi; will save lives, advance malaria research. Read more

5 June 2008: Nanotech: Hot Technology Gets a Cool Down. Read more

5 June 2008: Tongue stimulator can boost ailing senses. Read more

5 June 2008: Public funding impacts progress of human embryonic stem cell research. Read more

5 June 2008: New wireless sensor network keeps tabs on the environment. Read more

5 June 2008: A new software solution developed as part of the EU-funded SIMDAT ('Data grids for process and product development using numerical simulation and knowledge discovery') now gives aerospace engineers access to more computing power. Read more

4 June 2008: EU sees security threats lurking in printers. Read more

3 June 2008: Latest Competitiveness Council brings progress for research. Read more

30 May 2008: Commission sets target for IPv6 deployment. Read more

28 May 2008: Computer scientists devise a 'P4P' system for efficient Internet usage. Read more

28 May 2008: Carbon nanoribbons could make smaller, speedier computer chips. Read more

27 May 2008: Transforming buses into mobile sensing platforms. Read more

27 May 2008: Nanotechnology could offer jolt to memory chips. Read more

27 May 2008: CT May Better Predict Those At Higher Risk For Heart Disease. Read more

23 May 2008: Access to next-gen Internet may be uneven. Read more

22 May 2008: Chip-Based Device Measures Drug Resistance in Tumor Cells. Read more

22 May 2008: Mass-Producing Tunable Magnetic Nanoparticles. Read more 

22 May 2008: Targeting A Pathological Area Using MRI. Read more

21 May 2008: Scripps Research Institute awarded patent for remarkable chemical technology. Read more

20 May 2008: Jaguar Upgrade Brings ORNL Closer To Petascale Computing. Read more

19 May 2008: New Tool To Understand Evolution Of Multi-domain Genes Developed. Read more

19 May 2008: Military European Land-Robot Trial, Hammelburg, Germany. Read more

16 May 2008: Student Innovation Could Improve Data Storage, Magnetic Sensors. Read more

16 May 2008: ICT to the rescue of Europe's carbon footprint. Read more

16 May 2008: Europe sees BRIGHTER future with laser diode technology. Read more

14 May 2008: Adding ultrasound to mammography may improve breast cancer detection in high-risk women. Read more

14 May 2008: Rensselaer student invents alternative to silicon chip. Read more

13 May 2008: New MRI technique developed at UT Southwestern detects subtle but serious brain injury. Read more

13 May 2008: Biochips can detect cancers before symptoms develop. Read more

13 May 2008: New process may convert toxic computer waste into safe products. Read more  

12 May 2008: Improving Anxiety Treatment Through The Help Of Brain Imaging: A Potential Future Treatment Strategy. Read more

9 May 2008: Warming up for Magnetic Resonance Imaging. Read more

9 May 2008: Made-to-order isotopes hold promise on science's frontier. Read more

9 May 2008: NCAR installs 76-teraflop supercomputer for critical research on climate change, severe weather. Read more

8 May 2008: Ultrasound first, not CT, for diagnosing suspected acute appendicitis. Read more

8 May 2008: Vienna and Bratislava present joint candidature for EIT headquarters. Read more

6 May 2008: Delaying data could cut net's carbon footprint. Read more

6 May 2008: Data protection authority to monitor EU research policy and projects. Read more

5 May 2008: Smarter electric grid could be key to saving power. Read more

5 May 2008: IT gurus launch software cleanup of Estonia. Read more

2 May 2008: 'Nanomechanical Oscillators' Could Lead to New Class of Computers. Read more

1 May 2008: Engineers find 'missing link' of electronics. Read more

18 April 2008: A leading contender to replace silicon as the basis for computing has made another step forward. Read more

18 April 2008: Nanotech to slash gadget power consumption. Read more

18 April 2008: Tiny robotic hand has the gentlest touch. Read more   

17 April 2008: From cartilage to fruit-fly wings, physicist studies 'squishiness' in everyday things. Read more

17 April 2008: New technique yields more detailed picture of chromatin structure. Read more

17 April 2008: The idea that girls are not interested in science and technology is a popular misconception. For the past five years, school girls have been working with robots in "Roberta courses". Read more

17 April 2008: Fast AFM probes measure multiple properties of biomolecules or materials simultaneously. Read more

17 April 2008: Researchers discover chromium's hidden magnetic talents. Read more

16 April 2008: University of Utah engineers took an early step toward building superfast computers that run on far-infrared light instead of electricity: Read more

16 April 2008: EU-funded scientists have developed a platform which allows users to stroll freely through virtual worlds. Read more

15 April 2008: Folks below the 'digital divide' would use the Internet more if they had it, research suggests. Read more

14 April 2008: The "Bernstein Award" is equipped with up to 1.25 Mio Euros in the form of a grant over a period of five years. It will be awarded to a highly qualified young researcher, considering the candidates' verifiable research profile in the field of Computational Neuroscience and the scientific concept for a future young research group. Read more

11 April 2008: Sweet nanotech batteries: Nanotechnology could solve lithium battery charging problems. Read more

11 April 2008: Researchers find the ties that bind electrons in high-temperature superconductivity. Read more

10 April 2008: EU Report Urges Search Data Deletion. Read more

9 April 2008: Nanophysicists have made a discovery that can change the way we store data on our computers. Read more

9 April 2008: Habit Plays Major Role in Continued Use of Information Technology, Study Finds. Read more

9 April 2008: Researchers take step toward creating quantum computers using entangled photons in optical fibers. Read more

9 April 2008: Team simulates first merger of 3 black holes on a supercomputer. Read more

9 April 2008: IBM Turns on the Water for Energy-Efficient Supercomputer. Read more

9 April 2008: Needle-size device created to track tumors, radiation dose. Read more  

8 April 2008: Newly discovered 'superinsulators' promise to transform materials research, electronics design. Read more

8 April 2008: New EU project to boost online security. Read more

8 April 2008: The not-so-digital future of digital signal processing. Read more  

8 April 2008: Robot-assisted minimally-invasive CABG surgery. Read more

8 April 2008: Data-handling technique finds genes to be team players in curbing brain cancer cell growth. Read more

3 April 2008: Bon MOT: Innovative atom trap catches highly magnetic atoms. Read more

2 April 2008: Euro-India ICT information day, Bangalore, India. Read more

2 April 2008: Data storage using ultra-small needles. Read more  

2 April 2008: Hypercubes Could Be Building Blocks of Nanocomputers. Read more  

31 March 2008: Communicating your way to a healthy heart. Read more

31 March 2008: Real-time Imaging Device May Improve Surgery For Congenital Colon Disease. Read more

31 March 2008: Future Of Computing: Carbon Nanotubes And Superconductors To Replace The Silicon Chip. Read more

28 March 2008: Astrotechnology Brings Nanoparticle Probes Into Sharper Focus. Read more

28 March 2008: Femtogram-level chemical measurements now possible. Read more

28 March 2008: SUNY researcher issued patent for virtual telemicroscope. Read more

28 March 2008: Basis created for directing and filming blood vessels. Read more

27 March 2008: Researchers hoping to use carbon nanotubes for quantum computing -- in which the spin of a single electron would represent a bit of data -- may have to change their approaches, according to new Cornell research. Read more

27 March 2008: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) falsely detects breast cancer in five out of every six positive scans according to new research into the use of MRI for women with a high, inherited risk of developing the disease. Read more

27 March 2008: PET confirmed as valuable cancer diagnostic and disease-staging tool. Read more

26 March 2008: A new study from Tufts University shows that while the "digital divide" may be narrowing in terms of access to the Internet, a significant "digital skills divide" is emerging. Read more

25 March 2008: MRI: A window to genetic properties of brain tumors. Read more

20 March 2008: Microsoft Corp. has announced the Microsoft HealthVault Be Well Fund and Request for Proposals. The $3 million initiative is designed to empower providers with targeted funding to stimulate the research and development of online tools that improve health. Read more

20 March 2008: Chemical 'Keypad Lock' for Biomolecular Computers. Read more

20 March 2008: More than 50,000 European homes and offices added a high-speed broadband Internet connection every day last year, according to the European Commission. Read more

20 March 2008: Researchers Prove Bridge from Conventional to Molecular Electronics Possible. Read more

20 March 2008: Team Finds 'Metafilms' Can Shrink Radio, Radar Devices. Read more

19 March 2008: IBM scientists today took another significant advance towards sending information inside a computer chip by using light pulses instead of electrons by building the world’s tiniest nanophotonic switch with a footprint about 100X smaller than the cross section of a human hair. Read more

19 March 2008: Better Graphene Transistors. Read more

19 March 2008: A machine that churns out three-dimensional artificial tumours could help improve anti-cancer drug testing, Read more

19 March 2008: Doctors may one day be able to detect early stages of colon cancer without a biopsy, using a new technique developed by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine. Read more

19 March 2008: Computational tools could become a vital resource for detecting rogue genetically engineered bacteria in environmental samples. Read more

19 March 2008: UCLA researchers have developed a feedback control scheme that can search for the most effective drug combinations to treat a variety of conditions, including cancers and infections. Read more

19 March 2008: The 2008 DEISA (Distributed European Infrastructure for Supercomputing Applications) symposium will take place on 28 and 29 April in Edinburgh, UK. Read more

14 March 2008: Physicists discover how fundamental particles lose track of quantum mechanical properties. Read more

14 March 2008: The European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) will open for business by the summer following the European Parliament's approval of the Council's common position on its establishment. Read more

14 March 2008: For accuracy's sake, medical professionals should use the same software for comparing and analyzing diagnostic heart images taken from different time periods and laboratories, a team of researchers has concluded. Read more

14 March 2008: The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory and Toda Kogyo Corp. (Toda) of Japan have reached a world-wide licensing agreement for the commercial production and sales of Argonne’s patented composite cathode materials for lithium-ion batteries, which result in longer-lasting, safer batteries for hybrid-electric vehicles, cell phones, laptop computers and other applications. Read more

13 March 2008: In response to the electronics industry’s rallying cry of “smaller and faster,” the next breakthroughs in the electronics size barrier are likely to come from microchips and data storage devices created out of novel materials such as organic molecules and polymers. Read more

13 March 2008: An MIT materials scientist's research on sea snails has helped transform battery technology and may end the era when cell phones die if they're dropped and PDAs must be replaced if they get dunked in the tub. Read more

13 March 2008: Researchers Hack Defibrillators. Read more

13 March 2008: The European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) will open for business by the summer following the European Parliament's approval of the Council's common position on its establishment. Read more

12 March 2008: A team of researchers has developed a device which promises 100 times faster broadband speeds and 75% cheaper costs. Read more

12 March 2008: A researcher at the National University at San Diego has taken a mathematical approach to a biological problem - how to design a portable DNA detector. Read more

11 March 2008: The European Commission's Directorate General for Information Society and Media has issued a call for tenders for a feasibility study on the interconnection of south and eastern African research networks to GÉANT. Read more

11 March 2008: An information day on the ARTEMIS (embedded computer systems) and ENIAC (nano-electronics) JTIs (Joint Technology Initiatives) will be held in Brussels, Belgium, on 4 April. Read more

11 March 2008: Team achieves nuclear fuel performance milestone. Read more

11 March 2008: New detector can 'see' single neutrons over broad range. Read more

11 March 2008: Mind over body: new hope for quadriplegics. Read more

11 March 2008: Researchers develop more computer-aided drug design. Read more

11 March 2008: A new blood test could enable doctors to rule out tuberculosis (TB) infection within days rather than weeks, according to a new study. Read more

10 March 2008: A team led by a Purdue University researcher has achieved images of a virus in detail two times greater than had previously been achieved. Read more

10 March 2008: For the first time, researchers have created solar cells made of different-sized quantum dots, each tuned to a specific wavelength of light. By arranging these quantum dots in an ordered pattern, the scientists hope that they can one day fabricate “rainbow” solar cells, which can efficiently harvest a large part of the useful spectrum of sunlight. Read more

10 March 2008: Capitalizing on a cell’s ability to roll along a surface, MIT researchers have developed a simple, inexpensive system to sort different kinds of cells — a process that could result in low-cost tools to test for diseases such as cancer, even in remote locations. Read more

7 March 2008: A new EU-funded information and communication technology (ICT) project is tackling issues of safety in newly developed drugs. Read more

6 March 2008: Unique locks on microchips could reduce hardware piracy. Read more

6 March 2008: A summer school on technology enhanced learning (TEL) will be held in Ohrid, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), on 15 to 21 June. Read more

6 March 2008: SENIOR project initiates ethical debate on ICT for the elderly. Read more

5 March 2008: AMD is announcing the availability of the AMD 780G chipset, designed to deliver the ultimate mainstream computing experience. Read more

5 March 2008: Pentagon worried by China in space and cyberspace. Read more

5 March 2008: New project to deliver next generation electronic chips. Read more

5 March 2008: A conference and exhibition on 'infocommunication in the service of everyday life' called eVITA 2008 will be held in Budapest, Hungary on 3 to 5 April. Read more

5 March 2008: A conference entitled 'Security research: technology solutions to enhance systems interoperability' will take place in Ankara, Turkey, on 17 to 18 April. Read more

4 March 2008: Coming soon to Japan: remote control with a wink. Read more

4 March 2008: A marathon contest longer and more complex than any race at the Olympic Games is unfolding behind the windowless facade of Digital Beijing. Read more

3 March 2008: With efforts to fight climate change growing apace around the world, the IT industry is also doing its bit, as the world's largest technology fair starting next week in Germany aims to show. Read more

3 March 2008: The world's highest-speed computer network, Europe's GEANT, is linking up with others worldwide to create a global research network, the European Commission announced. Read more

29 February 2008: The Valencian Regional Government offers sixty Santiago Grisolia grants for foreign fellow investigators interested in participating in specific research programmes in a range of subjects. Read more

29 February 2008: Academia and industry join forces to make technology more resilient. Read more

29 February 2008: Google Inc is offering a simple Web site publishing tool for office workers to set up and run their team collaboration sites. Read more

29 February 2008: IBM researchers unveil green optical network technology prototype. Read more

29 February 2008: Japanese cell phones to turn into 'robot' buddies. Read more

29 February 2008: The European Commission is to spend €3bn (£2.3bn) on nanoelectronics research and €2.5bn (£1.9bn) on embedded computer systems over the next 10 years. Read more

28 February 2008: EU-funded project develops microchip specification language. Read more

28 February 2008: Microsoft Corp has released the latest version of its Windows operating system for powerful servers, thrusting itself into the red-hot market for virtualization technology that allows one computer to act like many machines. Read more

27 February 2008: Google Inc has agreed to build an undersea cable with five telecoms operators that will link the United States to Japan, and provide the capacity to sustain a surge in Internet traffic between the continents. Read more

27 February 2008: IBM is set to launch the latest update of its powerful mainframe computer, a more energy-efficient machine that it hopes will compete with high-end computers from rivals. Read more

27 February 2008: Analogue logic for quantum computing. Read more

26 February 2008: An international conference on Computational Cell Biology will be held in Hinxton, UK, from 26^th – 29^th March. It is the second in a series of conferences dedicated to this research field. Read more

26 February 2008: An official ceremony on 22^nd February marked the inauguration of the fastest civil supercomputer JUGENE in the world at the moment. Read more

26 February 2008: Criminal investigations will benefit if a straightforward modification is made to computer operating systems, say engineers. Read more

26 February 2008: A team of researchers has demonstrated a new class of computer attacks that compromise the contents of "secure" memory systems, particularly in laptops. Read more

26 February 2008: STOP terrorism software. Read more

26 February 2008: The European Commission has launched two new Joint Technology Initiatives (JTIs) designed to boost Europe's competitiveness in the fields of nanoelectronics and embedded computer systems. Read more

25 February 2008: Giving e-networks a boost. Read more

25 February 2008: Intel to produce chip for low-cost computer market. Read more

25 February 2008: Computers the size of blood cells will create fully immersive virtual realities by 2033, leading inventor Ray Kurzweil has predicted. Read more

25 February 2008: Large companies are vulnerable to hackers when they network their computers for cost-saving live virtual machine migration, researchers say. Read more

25 February 2008: Flawless data reception for internet and other fibre-based telecommunications. Read more

25 February 2008: A high-tech "virtual fence" on part of the U.S. border with Mexico is finally ready for service and the technology can fight illegal crossings all along the frontier. Read more

22 February 2008: No directions required - Software smartens mobile robots. Read more

22 February 2008: Advanced engineered substrates boost chip performance. Read more

22 February 2008: Giving e-networks a boost. Read more

22 February 2008: Launch event of new project on ICTs and ageing. Read more

22 February 2008: Japanese firm harnesses the power of human touch. Read more

21 February 2008: Harnessing the web for genomics. Read more

21 February 2008: European research project to shape next generation Internet TV. Read more

21 February 2008: Fibre-optic booster on a chip. Read more

20 February 2008: Breaking the performance barrier of 22-nm CMOS technology. Read more

20 February 2008: Intel delivers 'hard-core' eight-core platform for PC performance aficionados. Read more

20 February 2008: CSIRO has developed a prototype portable device that will allow people to do business across the internet on any computer in a trusted manner. Read more

20 February 2008: Microsoft Corp unveiled a new initiative on Monday that will give college and high school students around the world free access to technology tools used to develop and design software. Read more

20 February 2008: Sony to spend $200 million on advanced panel technology. Read more

20 February 2008: Crystal filter clears up fibre optic communications. Read more

20 February 2008: Hacker's firm doubleTwist enables copying of iTunes. Read more

19 February 2008: Fast-learning computer translates from four languages. Read more

19 February 2008: Looming end to DVD war cheers consumers. Read more

19 February 2008: New knowledge base for European Grid Initiatives online. Read more

18 February 2008: Microchip processing technology is being updated at faster and faster rates in our age of silicon chip wizardry. By the time you unpack your smart new laptop or digital camera, the technology that went into making it is already becoming outdated. But a solution to the problem is now at hand. Read more 

18 February 2008: A high-speed wireless technology that is still in development promises to make mobile Web surfing about four times faster, but its impact on the embattled network equipment industry will be much less dramatic, according to industry executives. Read more

18 February 2008: Machines will achieve human-level artificial intelligence by 2029, a leading US inventor has predicted. Read more 

18 February 2008: Computer models give an edge for spotting winners. Read more

18 February 2008: New technology makes 3-D imaging quicker, easier. Read more

18 February 2008: Touch but don't look: EU project to advance touch technology. Read more

15 February 2008: Security systems can now block the first computer viruses attack on cell phones, but the mobile industry sees new risks stemming from upcoming open software platforms such as Google's Android. Read more

15 February 2008: After replacing paper maps for millions of drivers, GPS technology is now being put into mobile phones and was one of the most-hyped developments at this week's Mobile World Congress. Read more

14 February 2008: Researchers are cannibalising the Sony PlayStation 3 console and other gaming hardware, turning them into low-cost supercomputers to model pharmaceutical molecules and black holes, the weekly New Scientist says. Read more

14 February 2008: Users of social network sites like Facebook will soon be sharing their exact whereabouts with their friends in real-time, owing to new technology that uses the mobile phone as a tracking device, experts say. Read more

14 February 2008: Mendacious machines controlled by hackers that reroute Internet traffic from infected computers to fraudulent Web sites are increasingly being used to launch attacks. Read more

14 February 2008: The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has joined forces with Vodafone to work on a standard telecommunications system for aid agencies around the world to improve logistics and response times to disasters. Read more

14 February 2008: The European Joint Conferences on Theory and Practice of Software (ETAPS) will be held from 29 March to 6 April in Budapest, Hungary, where internationally renowned researchers will talk about current issues in software science. Read more

14 February 2008: An EU-funded researcher at the French national centre for scientific research (CNRS) has been selected as one of three winners of the prestigious Turing award. Dr Josef Sifakis is the first French citizen to be awarded the prize that is often described as the Nobel Prize for computing since its creation in 1966. Read more

14 February 2008: Gliding to gold -- world-beating software could boost British swimming. Read more

12 February 2008: Demand for video reshaping internet. Read more

12 February 2008: Researchers design copper connections for high-speed computing. Read more

12 February 2008: New technology allowing a group of vehicles to exchange data automatically with each other and with traffic control centres could pave the way for a more efficient and safer European road network. Read more

12 February 2008: Move over, compact discs, DVDs, and hard drives. Researchers in Japan report progress toward developing a new protein-based memory device that could provide an alternative to conventional magnetic and optical storage systems, which are quickly approaching their memory storage capacities. Read more

12 February 2008: Netflix Inc., the online movie rental company, said Monday it is switching exclusively to the Blu-ray format for high-definition DVDs, following four major movie studios in selecting the Sony technology over one pushed by Toshiba Corp. Read more

12 February 2008: The first mobile phones fitted with Google's Android software platform made their debut at an industry trade show on Monday, a milestone for the Internet giant as it looks to dominate the wireless world. Read more

12 February 2008: Sony Ericsson on Sunday announced a new premium handset aimed at capturing the Web convergence market, blending multimedia with mobile Web communication in its first product using Microsoft Corp.'s operating system. Read more

12 February 2008: 'T-ray' breakthrough signals next generation of security sensors. Read more

12 February 2008: Russia has become a "superpower" of spam e-mail, becoming the second most prolific country after the United States in producing junk emails, a computer security firm said Monday. Read more

11 February 2008: The popular wireless technology known as Bluetooth could get a lot faster next year by taking advantage of Wi-Fi technology already built into many gadgets. Read more

11 February 2008: New research project captures traffic data using GPS-enabled cell phones. Read more

11 February 2008: Taxi! Novel location-based services hailed. Read more

11 February 2008: With a special kick-off meeting in Gothenburg, Sweden, the European Network of Excellence HiPEAC (High-Performance and Embedded Architecture and Compilation) has now been launched. The network will coordinate nine research clusters that will look into on-chip multi-cores technology and customisation, leading to heterogeneous multi-core systems. Read more

11 February 2008: The most established names in telecoms, Internet and media will come together next week in Barcelona for the Mobile World Congress, one of the world's biggest events for the mobile phone industry. Read more

11 February 2008: The EU-funded TEAM research project will be holding a workshop entitled 'Agile Knowledge Sharing for Distributed Software Teams' as part of the Software Engineering 08 conference on 19 February in Munich, Germany. Read more

8 February 2008: A new energy-capturing knee brace can generate enough electricity from walking to operate a portable GPS locator, a cell phone, a motorized prosthetic joint or an implanted neurotransmitter, research involving the University of Michigan shows. Read more

8 February 2008: Three years ago a team from Bell Labs took on a very daunting challenge – put an optical networking system on a commercially manufactured silicon chip, load it with a smorgasbord of sophisticated opto-electronic devices in a combination that’s never been done before, and make it easy to mass produce. Read more

8 February 2008: Human-computer interaction has not improved enormously since Mark Twain's time, when the typewriter was invented. A European research task force hopes to change that by making human-computer interaction, well, ‘similar’ to the way humans do it. Read more

8 February 2008: A new detector combines a laser with a mass spectrometer to provide on-the-spot analysis that researchers hope will have applications ranging from evaluating a tumor as it is removed to quickly detecting explosives in luggage. Read more

8 February 2008: Two researchers from the USC Viterbi School of Engineering have created a send/receive chip that functions as an active array, sending out a matrix of 49 simultaneous ultrawideband radar probe beams and picking up the returned beam reflections. Read more

8 February 2008: The wheels of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) were set in motion this week. Read more

8 February 2008: Stakeholders will discuss 'The future of the internet - perspectives emerging from R&D [research and development] in Europe' from 31 March to 1 April in Bled, Slovenia. Read more

7 February 2008: Drapers’ Company Junior Research Fellowships are given for research in the sciences, and will be offered this year for research in the fields of engineering science, materials science and Earth sciences. Read more  

7 February 2008: A new version of video chat software ooVoo released this week allows users to record chats, perhaps to post them to video-sharing sites like YouTube or just to keep them for posterity. Read more 

7 February 2008: Toshiba Corporation today announced that it has realized the world's fastest circuit technology for embedded DRAM for System LSI, achieving a speed of 833MHz at 32Mb density. The technology will be applied to graphic processing LSI. The technology was today introduced at the ISSCC (International Solid State Circuits Conference), held at San Francisco CA from February 3rd. Read more

7 February 2008: SanDisk Corporation today announced the introduction of Multi-Level (MLC) NAND flash memory using 43 nanometer process technology co-developed with Toshiba Corporation in Japan. Read more

7 February 2008: A new ASTM International standard for urban search and rescue robots and components tackles humble logistics problems that, left unsolved, could hamper the use of life-saving robots in major disasters. Read more

5 February 2008: A comprehensive, clinical nomogram tool, the Sunnybrook Prostate Cancer Risk Calculator – the first to use all known risk factors for prostate cancer – is available online to help men determine individual prostate cancer risk in consultation with their primary care physician. Read more

5 February 2008: Mood disorders could be caused by a loss of our inherent, reflexive avoidance of aversive events, according to a new study. Researchers from UCL in London and Columbia University in New York used computational modeling techniques to integrate what appeared to be blatant contradictions between serotonin's roles in different states of health. Read more

5 February 2008: Researchers at MIT and Texas Instruments have unveiled a new chip design for portable electronics that can be up to 10 times more energy-efficient than present technology. Read more

5 February 2008: Engineers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst have found that a strong electric field can stabilize the surface of metals and other solids that conduct electricity, inhibiting the formation of cracks caused by stress. Read more

5 February 2008: The 2008 IST (information society technologies)-Africa conference and exhibition will take place in Windhoek, Namibia, from 7 to 9 May 2008. Read more

4 February 2007: In a significant step towards improving the design of future catalysts and catalytic reactors, especially for microfluidic “lab-on-a-chip” devices. Read more

1 Feburary 2008: Integrated circuits, such as the silicon chips inside all modern electronics, are only as good as their wiring, but copper conduits are approaching physical performance limitations as they get thinner Read more

31 January 2008: A discovery by scientists at the Carnegie Institution has opened the door to a new generation of piezoelectric materials that can convert mechanical strain into electricity and vice versa, potentially cutting costs and boosting performance in myriad applications ranging from medical diagnostics to green energy technologies. Read more

31 January 2008: A group of computational biologists at Virginia Tech have created a mathematical model of the process that regulates cell division in a common bacterium, confirming hypotheses, providing new insights, identifying gaps in what is understood so far, and demonstrating the role of computation in biology. Read more

30 January 2008: For some women, digital mammography may be a better screening option than film mammography, according to newly published results from the Digital Mammographic Imaging Screening Trial (DMIST). Read more

30 January 2008: Osteoporosis, a common age-related disease, is being investigated by a group of biomechanical engineers at Vienna University of Technology (TU Vienna). Read more

29 January 2008: A tiny, implantable device has pulled adult stem cells out of a living rat with a far greater purity than any present technique. Read more

29 January 2008: A new medical imager for detecting and guiding the biopsy of suspicious breast cancer lesions is capable of spotting tumors that are half the size of the smallest ones detected by standard imaging systems, according to a new study. Read more

29 January 2008: In a significant step towards improving the design of future catalysts and catalytic reactors, especially for microfluidic “lab-on-a-chip” devices, researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the University of California at Berkeley, have successfully applied magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to the study of gas-phase reactions on the microscale. Read more

29 January 2008: While X-ray images easily show up the difference between bone and soft tissue, there's not enough contrast between the soft tissues to tell them apart. Read more

25 January 2008: A home access network capable of delivering high bandwidth services and content at transmission speeds of one gigabit per second could soon become a reality thanks to a newly launched European research project. Read more

25 January 2008: The Celtic Initiative, a EUREKA cluster, will be holding its third official event from 27 to 28 February in Helsinki, Finland. Read more

25 January 2008: Researchers at the Picower Institute for Learning and Memory at MIT report in the Jan. 24 online edition of Science that they have created a way to see, for the first time, the effect of blocking and unblocking a single neural circuit in a living animal. Read more

24 January 2008: TEAM 0.5, the world's most powerful transmission electron microscope — capable of producing images with half‑angstrom resolution (half a ten-billionth of a meter), less than the diameter of a single hydrogen atom — has been installed at the Department of Energy's National Center for Electron Microscopy (NCEM) at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Read more

23 January 2008: Researchers have developed a new way to detect protein movements inside cells, which signal a variety of cellular changes such as those in cancer cell development. The method could help diagnose cancer in the future. Read more

22 January 2008: The tiny copper wires that connect different areas of an integrated circuit may soon limit microchip-processing speeds. Read more

22 January 2008: Scientists have discovered a way of speeding up the production of hollow-core optical fibres - a new generation of optical fibres that could lead to faster and more powerful computing and telecommunications technologies. Read more

22 January 2008: The EU's Joint Research Centre (JRC) has published a million sentences translated into 22 official EU languages in a bid to help the development of computer-assisted translation technologies and software. Read more

22 January 2008: European researchers have developed a way of producing extremely detailed x-ray images using conventional imaging equipment such as that found in hospitals and airports. Read more

16 January 2008: Around the world, many scientists are working on various models of a quantum computer. One of the proposed models is a quantum computer that makes use of electron spins. Read more

16 January 2008: A supercomputer that could help answer some of science's biggest questions will be unveiled on Monday. Read more

16 January 2008: An international team of scientists under the aegis of the Integrated Infrastructures Initiative for Neutron Scattering and Muon Spectroscopy (NMI3) has discovered a new type of interaction between a magnetic field and electrons on the inside of a superconductor. Read more

16 January 2008: The European Robotics Research Network (EURON) is organising the second European Robotics Symposium (EUROS), to take place from 26 to 27 March in Prague, the Czech Republic. Read more

14 January 2008: U.S. researchers have made a very small research tool that may one day help scientists probe the activity of genes and proteins in a single cell, they said on Thursday, opening the door to a new realm of genetic research. Read more

14 January 2008: A European project using plastic fibre and off-the-shelf components could make optical networking so affordable and simple that installation could be a DIY job, making faster internet technology a reality. Read more

14 January 2008: The Romanian National Authority for Scientific Research (ANCS) and the Romanian Office for Science and Technology (ROST) in Brussels are organising a seminar on science and technology (S&T) cooperation between the EU and the Western Balkan countries, to take place on 17 January in Brussels, Belgium. Read more

10 January 2008: The Ames Lab senior metallurgist and Iowa State University adjunct professor of materials science and engineering is playing a major role in advancing electric drive motor technology to meet the enormous swell in consumer demand expected over the next five years. Read more

10 January 2008: A new report from the National Institute of Standards and Technology shows that investment in measurement science has and will continue to have a dramatic effect on innovation, productivity, growth and competitiveness in and among high technology sectors. Read more

10 January 2008: Strange-behaving Crystals Could Have Impact On Research, Technology. Read more

10 January 2008: Mathematicians at the University of Liverpool have found that it is possible to gain full control of sound waves which could lead to improved medical scans, for technology such as ultra sound machines. Read more

10 January 2008: The European Commission has released details of the first security projects to be financed under the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) theme of the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7). Read more

9 January 2008: Atom-thick sheets of a carbon compound called graphene should smash the record for room-temperature conductivity, say UK researchers. Read more

9 January 2008: Materials that bend sound waves backwards could be used to make perfect sound proofing and sharper medical scans, say UK-based researchers. Read more

9 January 2008: The director of the International Polar Year (IPY) programme office, Dr David Carlson, has called for a comprehensive data storage facility to share the information gathered during the IPY.