EUROPEAN ICT Poles of Excellence - an Atlas of EU areas where digital technologies thrive

Wondering what makes an ICT hotspot? Take a look at Munich, London, Paris or smaller cities such as Darmstadt identified in a new EU Atlas of ICT hotspots. This atlas shows where digital technologies thrive and examines the factors contributing to this success. 

A European ICT Pole of Excellence (EIPEs) is a geographical area inside the EU, with best performing activities in ICT production, R&D and innovation, activities with a central role in global international networks.

The report looked at all EU regions in terms of ICT activity and assigned scores according to its relative weight; 14% of the regions scored above 20 points. The top 34 scored between 41 and 100.

The report analysed three elements (business activity, R&D and Innovation in the ICT sector) on the basis of their intensity (e.g. business turnover, turnover growth, number of employees), their internationalisation (e.g. how many international partners businesses/research centres/universities have) and networking (what is the role of each region in networks: which of them are hubs and connect directly to many partners, which of them have links that only allow few exchanges)

Check the Infograf for more details.

PS: Romania has no regions highligthed...

COPERNICUS - 1st satellite launch!

Copernicus is a European system for monitoring the Earth, previously known as GMES (Global Monitoring for Environment and Security), is the European Programme for the establishment of a European capacity for Earth Observation.

Copernicus consists of a complex set of systems which collect data from multiple sources: earth observation satellites and in situ sensors such as ground stations, airborne and sea-borne sensors. It processes these data and provides users with reliable and up-to-date information through a set of services related to environmental and security issues...

The services address six thematic areas: land, marine, atmosphere, climate change, emergency management and security. They support a wide range of applications, including environment protection, management of urban areas, regional and local planning, agriculture, forestry, fisheries, health, transport, climate change, sustainable development, civil protection and tourism.

Sentinel1-A, the first satellite of this family, is scheduled for launch on a Soyuz rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana on Thursday, 3 Apr 2014. Sentinel-1B will be launched in 2015.

The launch was successful – find more pictures on ESA blog.

European cool robots

The EU Robotics Week 2013 has just started!

The European Commission funds over 100 collaborative projects under the 7th Framework Programme on advanced research into robots. The projects aim at helping robots better understand the world around them through sensing, perception, understanding, reasoning and action.

Here are some examples of the best EU-funded Robotics projects:

•   RoboHow – Can a robot learn to make pancakes on its own? The project enables robots to learn on their own how to carry out tasks in human working and living environments by finding instructions online or by observing humans doing them. The goal is to develop robots that can help people in everyday activities, as well as to find out to what extent a robot can learn by itself. 

•   RADHAR – Self-Driving. Driving a wheelchair can be difficult and very tiring. As a result, the user may over-steer the wheelchair or not have enough strength to steer it. The RADHAR (Robotic ADaptation to Humans Adapting to Robots) project has developed an intelligent wheelchair that enables people with cognitive or physical challenges to independently drive around in an everyday-life environment.

•   Stiff-Flop - A Surgical Robot based on an Elephant's Trunk. This robotic arm could be used in keyhole surgery, as it is able to adjust its texture and stiffness to organs inside the human body; it can soften to get through narrow passages and then stiffen again when needed avoiding damage to soft tissue.

•   STRANDS - The Last Robot Standing Wins! STRANDS is an EU-funded project enabling robots to achieve robust and intelligent behaviour in human environments.

•   ROBOFOOT – Robots bring manufacturing back to Europe. The industry for hand-made fashion shoes is one of the important industries in Europe, which faced intense competition from low-cost countries. The EU-funded ROBOFOOT project showed that robots can also be introduced in traditional footwear industry, maintaining most of the current production facilities and help Europe's footwear industry.

I'll end with a quote from Emil Cioran: "Man is a robot with defects."

13.000 KM in a car WITHOUT a driver

European Research Center este prima institutie europeana fondata pentru a sprijini proiecte de cercetare stiintifica cu o abordare "bottom-up", adica pornind de la o idee ;)

Finantat prin FP7, acest centru investeste an de an in proiecte care cu siguranta vor schimba lumea ;)

O lista cu cele mai interesante initiative gasiti aici.

Eu am urmarit acest proiect: Intercontinental Autonomous Challenge

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  13.000 de km in doar 3 luni: din Italia pana in Shanghai
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  intr-o masina ce nu are nevoie de sofer si nici de benzina!
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  live streaming aici. Check them online ;)

Initiativa vrea sa demonstreze ca se pot transporta bunuri de pe un continent pe altul, in conditii climatice normale dar si dificile, cu mijloace de transport complet autonome si nepoluante!

ce bine ar suna viitorul asta...

Repository of scientific publications

JRC (joint research center) a publicat online toata biblioteca lor de materiale, lucrari, teze si studii.

Cine stie cand trebuie sa faceti un referat ceva ;)

Dupa Google, faceti un search si aici.