Citation
(2002), "More than £250 million of European Information Society Funding announced", European Business Review, Vol. 14 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/ebr.2002.05414bab.002
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2002, MCB UP Limited
More than £250 million of European Information Society Funding announced
More than £250 million of European Information Society Funding announced
UK businesses reap rewards of European Information Society involvementUK businesses currently receiving European funding for innovative IT projects have urged others to follow their example by contacting the DTI's support initiative UKISHELP. In the same month that the European Commission announced details of the latest £250 million (E450 million) available from the Information Society Technologies (IST) Programme, current participants have revealed that the funding represents only one of the good reasons to consider involvement. They confirm that the IST Programme can offer "the kind of flashes of inspiration that return real business benefits" whilst another company has been transformed into "an 80 per cent export business in the last two years".
The IST Programme is a major European initiative to help promote the development of technologies and applications and to demonstrate their use. The programme aims to promote industrial competitiveness and improve quality of life in Europe and many UK businesses are ideally placed to benefit. Simply having the appropriate expertise can establish many businesses as potential project consortium partners. The money they receive can support company growth and development by funding innovative operational projects. This is why more and more prospective UK applicants are waking up to the benefits of involvement.
Ricky Kay, who works for UK company Fretwell-Downing Education, explains that the financial benefits of funding received for the EASEL project (www.fd.qroup.com/easel) only tells part of the story:
One of the great things about projects like these is that you get the opportunity to work with some of the brightest people in Europe, from both commercial and academic backgrounds. They bring with them not only a wealth of experience, but also a different perspective, which in turn enables you to see things differently. The end result of this is that you get the kind of flashes of inspiration that return real business benefits. Another spin-off is that the consortium approach has generated useful contacts for us in other countries. This has helped us to identify potential new partners, products and markets.
John Rowley, who works for UK company Geobase Consultants Ltd, has worked on the ETeMlI project and could not agree more:
The consortium approach has generated a large number of contacts for us. We've found the programme helps place us at the same tables as organizations of all kinds and all sizes. If we were to achieve a similar level and quality of contacts through European sales activity it would be an especially costly exercise. We've become an 80 per cent export business in the last two years – two years which have seen us increasingly involved with the IST programme.
UK/SHELP is the DTI's support initiative that offers advice and a programme of support events especially targeted to those companies with most to gain from involvement. UK organisations are urged to find out more by visiting the UK/SHELP Web site (www.ukishelp.co.uk) or calling the telephone support line on 0870 606 1515.