From ESPRIT to H2020: The Evolution of ICT in the

European Research Framework Programmes

Filipa Duarte

Research and Innovation Accelerator, Faculdade Ciências e Tecnologia,

Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Campus de Caparica, 2829-516 Caparica, Portugal

fc.duarte@fct.unl.pt, http://sites.fct.unl.pt/ria

Abstract. The European Research Framework Programmes have been around

since 1984. The Framework Programmes have suffered many changes through

the years and saw several increases in budget and impact. The area of infor-

mation and communications technologies was triggered with ESPRIT in 1982

and has been financed up until Horizon 2020. This paper presents that evolution

focusing in the Information and Communication Technologies area.

1 Introduction

In 2014, the European Union commemorated the 30 years of the European Union

Research Framework Programmes. It is the right time to have a look on how the

Framework Programme has evolved both in terms of budget and areas as well as

impact. Figure 1 presents the budget allocated to the Framework Programmes over the

years, since 1984 to 2014 (including the correction for EUR) [1].

Fig. 1. Evolution of the Framework Programmes over the years and their budget (including the

correction for EUR) [1].

Duarte F.

From ESPRIT to H2020: The Evolution of ICT in the European Research Framework Programmes.

DOI: 10.5220/0006164000030022

In European Project Space on Computer Vision, Graphics, Optics and Photonics (EPS Berlin 2015), pages 3-22

ISBN: 978-989-758-156-4

Not trying to be exhaustive, this paper focus on the evolution of the loosely called

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) area, which represents several

scientific disciplines stressing the study of the technology used to handle information

and aid communication. I.e., the role of unified communications and the integration of

telecommunications (telephone lines and wireless signals), computers as well as nec-

essary enterprise software, middleware, storage, and audio-visual systems, which

enable users to access, store, transmit, and manipulate information. The term ICT is

also used to refer to the convergence of audio-visual and telephone networks with

computer networks through a single cabling or link system.

2 Leading to ESPRIT

2.1 Before ESPRIT

The European research programme is closely linked with the establishment of Euro-

pean Union, a couple years after the Second World War. During the 1950s, interest in

scientific and technological research sprang from the requirements of two different

groups. On the one hand, governments saw the control of energy sources as the key to

political stability and industrial development. Political attention was focused on two

sources of energy: coal, the traditional source, and nuclear energy, which was regard-

ed as the energy source of the future. On the other hand, the European scientific

community, with the support of some of those responsible for policy making in this

area, asked national governments to provide new structures for research which would

enable Western Europe to regain the ground which it had lost to the superpowers, and

to the United States in particular.

The interests of scientists and politicians converged, and during the 1950s this led

to the birth of several organisations with certain supra-national characteristics, such as

the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), in 1951;and the European Atomic

Energy Community (EURATOM), in 1957, by 6 European countries: Belgium,

France, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands and West Germany.

From the beginning, science and technology were essential to the work of the

EURATOM. The choice of nuclear physics as the priority area in which to concen-

trate European scientific research also reflects the spirit of the time.It was profoundly

influenced by the myth of the atom, the new symbol of progress, power and prestige.

Leading to this choice was a report made by Louis Armand, Franz Etzel and Frances-

co Giordani, known as “the 3 wise-man”, where it was noted that “the nuclear energy

has emerged from the scientists laboratory and passed onto the engineers drawing

board ... and has now reached the industrial phase”.

Article 4 of the EURATOM Treaty gave the Commission, the executive arm of

the and European Economic Community (EEC), the task to integrate nuclear research

through the implementation of the Community’s research and training programme

with the objectives to avoid duplication, to coordinate national contributions and to

cover the gap in national programmes, through the creation of a Joint Research Centre

(JRC).

Article 215 of the EURATOM Treaty setup an initial programme for research and

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training for the next 5 years (1958 to 1962) with a budget of up to 215 million UA

divided in 2 parts:

• A Joint Research Centre (JRC) – where research was performed by direct means

• External contractors – research performed by indirect means

In the next 5 years (1963 to 1967), the EURATOM Treaty doubled the budget to 425

million UA and in 1964 increased it even further to 430.5 millionUA.

EURATOM gave a kick start to research programmes. As a consequence, a work-

ing group was set up in 1965, to examine scientific research and technology policies

(the PREST or Marechal group, from the name of its president, who was also director

of the French agency for science policy). Its mission was to “examine the problems

involved in developing a coordinated or common policy for scientific and technologi-

cal research; and to propose measures enabling such a policy to be set up, bearing in

mind the eventual possibility of cooperation with non-member countries”[2].

In 1968, the Aigrain Report (named after the new president of PREST) presented

47 proposals for research to be undertaken in the seven areas: high-performance com-

puter; standardisation of software; electronic aids for motor traffic; gas turbine engine

for trains; a giant hovercraft; development and standardisation of meteorological

instruments; and numerous suggestions for the battle against air and water pollution.

The first idea for the European Scientific Area appeared in 1973/74 leading to the

approval by the European Council on the 14

of January of 1974 of 4 resolutions in

the field of science and technology:

• Coordination of national policies and definition of projects of Community’s

interest in the area of science and technology;

• Establishment of the European Science Foundation (ESF);

• Create the Community’s science and technology policy;

• A preliminary science and technology programme to last 1 year.

In 1977, the Commission presented the Community’s involvement in six great are-

as: energy; resources; environment; living conditions; services and infrastructure; and

industry; and how it intended to develop these areas in the future. The Community's

research activities during this period assumed three forms, which have remained prac-

tically unchanged until today (there has been a change in terminology but not in con-

cept): direct action, indirect action, and concerted action. The first two derived from

those used during the EURATOM research; the third represents a new departure.

Research by direct action was carried out by the JRC and was totally financed from

the general budget of the Community. Indirect action referred to research activities

contracted out to public research centres or private laboratories in Member States, for

these the Community generally paid about 50% of the cost (this percentage has

changed over the years and can be in some cases 100% of the cost). In concerted

actions, the Community guaranteed and financed only the coordination of the research

(reimbursing travel expenses, meetings, etc) and the circulation of the results of the

research. This last type of financing also provided an opportunity to evaluate the use-

fulness of individual projects which might subsequently be the object of indirect ac-

tion, where this seemed to be in the Community's interests.

Unit of Account (UA): In 1971, 1 UA was 0.88 grams of gold or 1 US dollar.

From ESPRIT to H2020: The Evolution of ICT in the European Research Framework Programmes

In the area of information technology, the 1970s saw many interventions on the part

of European governments to defend their national industries, threatened by the in-

crease of large American companies. Between 1966 and 1980, France launched three

successive plans for the development of the information technology industry, and

national semiconductor industries that were heavily subsidised by the state. Similar

programmes were also launched in Germany and Great Britain. As well as subsidising

research and development programmes, governments became actively involved in

encouraging mergers between national companies in the sector. However, the history

of attempts to come to agreements between the national companies is a one of failure:

• In 1969, a consortium called Eurodata was formed between ICL from Great

Britain, CII from France, Philips from the Netherlands, AEG-Telefunken from

Germany, Saab from Sweden and Olivetti form Italy to supply computers to

the European Space Research Organisation (ESRO), but the initiative petered

out in the face of German resistance.

• In 1973, Siemens from Germany, Philips from the Netherlands and CII from

France decided to launch a joint venture, Unidata, to produce a new line of

computers, but this attempt was also soon to be abandoned because of the dif-

ficulties of working together.

After these failures, the Commission presented a first Action Plan for the infor-

mation technology (IT) sector in 1976. Presented once again, with minor modifica-

tions, in 1978, the programme was approved by the Council in September 1979. It

was a programme for the years 1979-1983, with a planned maximum expenditure,

over four years, of 25 million UA.

2.2 ESPRIT I

In February 1980, the Commission decided to call a meeting of senior executives

from ten companies to discuss the future of information technology in Europe. At the

end of 1981, the first “Round Table” meeting took place, attended by the 12 largest

European Information Technology companies: ICL, GEC and Plessey from Great

Britain; AEG, Nixdorf and Siemens from Germany; Thomson, Bull and CGE from

France; Olivetti and STET from Italy; and Philips from the Netherlands

. The prob-

lems of the IT sector were discussed in June 1982, where the Commission presented

the Council with a proposal for the pilot phase of the ESPRIT programme, which the

Council approved in December that year.

The kind of research which the ESPRIT programme was intended to finance was

called “precompetitive”. It was a kind of no-man's land between basic and industrial

research. It was industrial research, but sufficiently distant from the market: its results

would not be products ready for commercial exploitation. The choice of “precompeti-

tion” arose from a complex search for an equilibrium between the various interests

involved. In practice, precompetitive research was the research which industries, at

the time when ESPRIT was set up, would agree to undertake together. The uncertain-

ties and the caution of both companies and governments were such that the Council's

decision of 21 December 1982 was to set up a pilot phase to last only one year initially.

This group would become known as the Big Twelve.

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The Council identified 16 pilot projects, belonging to three areas of Information

Technology development (micro-electronics, software, and advanced data pro-

cessing); two kinds of applications (office systems and factory automation); and sys-

tems and infrastructure for the dissemination and exchange of information. The

Community's contribution to these projects was 11.5 million ECU

, equal to 50% of

the entire cost of the research, while the remaining 50% was provided by the partici-

pants in the programme. Each individual project was obliged to have at least two

companies from different Member States. Participation on behalf of universities or

public and private research centres was not compulsory, but it was encouraged.

In February 1983, the invitation to tender was published; about 600 companies and

research bodies responded, putting forward a total of 145 proposals. Expert groups

evaluated the proposals in each area of research, and in May the first contracts were

signed, for 36 specific R&D projects, corresponding to an acceptance rate of 24.8%.

Predictably, the Big Twelve were represented in 70% of the projects approved. The

running of the research consortium was entrusted to a project leader, while the Com-

mission maintained the power of control and monitoring of management and results.

The latter were to be owned jointly by all the participants in a single project, and

companies involved in other ESPRIT projects would have privileged access to these

results.

Given that the response of industry, the universities and research institutions to the

pilot phase had been of high quality and have shown a high level of interest, the

Council approved the first phase of ESPRIT (called ESPRIT I) for the years 1984-

1987, assigning it 750 million ECU (corresponding to 50% of the cost of ESPRIT I).

To give some idea of the scale of the programme, the Review Board estimated that

the entire 1500 million ECU to be spent on ESPRIT I represented 6% of total Com-

munity investment by industry in R&D for Information Technology [3].

3 From ESPRIT I to ESPRIT III

ESPRIT I main focus was unchanged with respect to the pilot phase (although the

sector relating to an infrastructure for the exchange of information was eliminated)

but the specific areas had grown from 16 to 27 in 1984 and to 30 in 1985. This meant

that the programme became much more open and flexible: almost all areas of IT were

covered [4].

• Advanced microelectronics: To provide the technological capability to design,

manufacture and test very high-speed and very large-scale integrated circuits

(VLSICs);

• Software technologies: To provide the techniques and criteria for organising,

managing and optimising all elements of software application technology and

the software industrial production process;

• Advanced information processing: To create an industrial exploitation basis for

the transition from data processing systems to knowledge processing systems

which is the key to the next computer generation;

European Currency Unit (ECU): The value of the ECU is based on a "basket" of currencies of

Member States. In January 1979, one ECU was worth 1.388 US dollars;

From ESPRIT to H2020: The Evolution of ICT in the European Research Framework Programmes

• Office systems: To carry out research on the information systems that will

support the wide range of non-routine tasks performed by humans in the office

environment;

• Computer integrated manufacture: To establish the technology base for pro-

gressive introduction of IT to all phases of the manufacturing cycle leading ul-

timately to fully integrated production systems. The main emphasis is placed

on manufacturing elements as they are needed for discrete batch manufacturing.

• The infrastructure activities included:

o the coordination of Community and Member States' research and devel-

opment programmes and the acquisition and dissemination of infor-

mation, both within the ESPRIT programme and from the world at large;

o the coordination and documentation of standards within the ESPRIT pro-

gramme and their relationship to national and international standards;

o providing an information exchange system backing for R&D projects.

Between the beginning of 1984 and the end of 1986 there were three invitations to

tender: 226 projects were approved, involving 240 companies (57% of which be-

longed to the category of small and medium-sized enterprises) and 210 research bod-

ies. Around one in five of the proposals made to the Commission received financial

aid. Table 1 presents the division of budget per subarea.

Table 1. Budget allocation per area of ESPRIT I [4].

Despite the “precompetitive” clause, with the passing of time, cooperation crept clos-

er to the market: the percentage of projects resulting in the manufacturing of proto-

types went up from 13% in 1983 to an average of 20% in 1984-1985. Further, many

ESPRIT I projects were involved in the setting of standards (“pre-normative” re-

search), which had a direct influence on the commercial potential of a product. Still

others led to products and processes which stood a good chance of coming onto the

market within a year or two of the end of the project. As to the type of participation,

11.6% of ESPRIT I projects involved only companies from the Big Twelve; 50.7%

involved Big Twelve companies together with some smaller firms; and the remaining

37.7% of projects were undertaken only by companies other than the Big Twelve.

Research bodies took part in 71% of ESPRIT I projects.

When the Council set up ESPRIT I, it was decided that the first evaluation of the

programme should take place after two and a half years, or when 60% of the funding

had been spent: The very positive response of industry and the scientific world to the

1983/84 1985

1. Microelectronics 91.8 74.4 166.2 24.5%

2. Software Technology 72.8 54.1 126.9 18.7%

3. Advanced Information Processing 89.5 60.9 150.4 22.2%

4. Office Systems 94.9 48.7 143.6 21.2%

5. Computer Integrated Manufacturing 49.0 41.6 90.6 13.4%

Total 398.0 279.7 677.7 100.0%

Year of Call for

Proposals (MECU) Total % totalSubprogramme

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first two invitations to put forward proposals in 1984 and 1985 meant that the projects

already chosen on the basis of these invitations would use up almost the entire alloca-

tion of funds for the first five year period of the programme. Figure 2 presents the

number of participations of ESPRIT I per country.

Fig. 2. Number of participations (same institution participates in several projects) of ESPRIT I

per country and type of establishment, as of April of 1988 [3].

For this reason, the ESPRIT I Review Board was set up and their task was to evaluate

the advancement of the programme, and, in particular, to assess the objectives, the

management of the programme, the means of communication between the partici-

pants, the spread of information and relationships with national programmes. The

results of the Review Board were clear: the cooperation between firms, universities

and research bodies was considered very profitable, and there were the first signs of a

willingness to pursue joint research and development even outside ESPRIT I. The

projects regarding standardisation, which were contributing to growing European

influence in international negotiations on standards, proved particularly useful. The

report recommended that ESPRIT I should pass on to its second phase, perhaps with

greater finance, in order to support finalised demonstration projects, to set up stable

centres of excellence for research and development, and so that the programme might

be more widely publicised.

The money made available for the second phase of ESPRIT (ESPRIT II), for the

period 1987-1991, was twice the amount allowed in the first phase, reaching 1600

million ECU; and the programme also saw some changes along the lines suggested by

the Mid-Term Review Board. There was a shift in research towards the market: the

number of projects for the development of prototypes continued to grow, reaching

30% of the total for 1989. And greater attention was paid to market demands, with an

increase in research on applied technologies. Small and medium-sized firms were

represented in a larger number of projects, and received a higher proportion of the

From ESPRIT to H2020: The Evolution of ICT in the European Research Framework Programmes

overall budget. More ambitious projects, consortia with fewer participants, and a

better flow of information were other objectives which the programme established.

ESPRIT II was part of the FP2 (1987-1991) under subactivity 2.1.: "Information

technologies"; and included research and development projects, complementary basic

research and accompanying measures. There were three research and development

areas [4]:

• Microelectronics and peripheral electronics: To enable the Community's mi-

croelectronics industry to supply the IT sector with the necessary state-of-the-

art semi-conductor technology to provide complete IT systems;

• Information processing systems: To combine software and hardware into the

high-quality complex systems required in the nineties;

• IT application technologies: To enhance the integration of IT in a broad range

of applications, including computer-integrated manufacturing and office, home

and business systems.

The programme also covered basic research in selected areas, which complement the

proposed R&D projects, including:

• Molecular electronics;

• Artificial intelligence and cognitive science;

• Application of solid state physics to IT;

• Advanced System Design.

It also had accompanying measures that were aimed at providing the framework

necessary to make optimum industrial use of R&D activities undertaken under the

ESPRIT programme as well as providing synergy between ESPRIT and related pro-

grammes.

The new programme was different from ESPRIT I in that it allowed the possibility

of financing 100% of the costs of universities and research centre participation; the

programme was enlarged to include all the countries involved in COST; and a review

of the question of the ownership of the results of research, based on a less rigorous

interpretation of the “precompetion” principle whereby only partners directly financ-

ing a project could benefit from its results.

The third phase of ESPRIT (1990-1994) had a Community budget of 1532 million

ECU to be distributed over five areas [6]:

• Micro-electronics: To contribute to the strengthening of a European technology

base on which future manufacturing capability of a broad range of leading edge

ICs can be based (strategic work on very advanced submicron CMOS technolo-

gies will be carried out in synergy with the Joint European Submicron Silicon

project - JESSI); to strengthen the capabilities in the Community with respect to

the chain of designing manufacturing, testing and applying advanced and relia-

ble integrated circuits; and to draw on all the resources available, ensuring wide

participation of the largest number of potential actors (large and small industries,

both producers and users, universities and research centres) in the Community.

Emphasis was on application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs).

• Information processing systems and software: To exploit potential technological

breakthroughs in concurrent architectures, to provide better interfaces to satisfy

the needs of end-users, and to promote the take up of new software production

technologies;

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• Advanced business and home systems; peripherals: To establish function inte-

gration in the business environment as well as in and with the home environ-

ment, easing the use of systems. An especially high priority was given to

prenormative work. Distributed computing, including database management, and

also the corresponding workstations and microprocessor systems and technolo-

gies were of major concern throughout the activities. Two complementary areas

were addressed: R&D activities concerning intelligent homes and intelligent

buildings and R&D work on integrated business systems;

• Computer-integrated manufacturing and engineering: To provide the technology

base for open systems, multivendor systems and distributed operations in engi-

neering and manufacturing environments as well as to contribute to better inte-

gration of advanced IT systems components in engineering industries. The work

will focus on new generations of basic CIM technologies and on demonstrating

their applicability in selected manufacturing and other engineering domains;

• Basic research: To maintain and to expand the knowledge and expertise which

underpin the scientific basis of European Information Technology. Areas that

such actions support were selected on the grounds of:

o Their potential to produce future breakthroughs or important advances even

if they have no immediately visible application. Particular emphasis was

given to topics which are expected to have long-term industrial potential;

o Their ability to benefit from the added value which cooperation on a Euro-

pean scale provides;

o Their positioning clearly upstream of R&D efforts, while contributing to

the overall aims of the programme;

o The reinforcement of interdisciplinary links.

The programme comprised research and technological development (RTD) projects,

accompanying measures and concerted action projects. The concerted action projects

consisted of action by the Community to coordinate the individual research activities

carried out in the Member States. They may benefit from funding of up to 100% of

coordinating expenditure. The accompanying measures consisted of:

• The organization of seminars, workshops and scientific conferences;

• Internal coordination, by the creation of integrating groups;

• Advanced technology training programmes;

• An information exchange system;

• Promotion of the exploitation of results;

• Independent scientific and strategic evaluation of the operation of the research

projects and the programme.

It was the first programme explicitly allocating funds (ECU 15.32 million) to a

centralized scheme for the dissemination and exploitation of results of the pro-

gramme. Specific information on projects was to be provided in close cooperation

with CORDIS (Community R&D Information Service). Between 2 and 5% of the

total appropriation was to be spent on the training of research workers and engineers.

The minimum of two partners independent each other and established in different

Member States, should normally be industrial undertakings, except in the case of

projects relating to basic research.

Project proposals were submitted by over 1650 companies and 720 universities and

From ESPRIT to H2020: The Evolution of ICT in the European Research Framework Programmes

research institutes throughout the European Community and the EFTA countries in

response to the 1

call for proposals (August 1991) made by ESPRIT III.

By April 1992, a number of ESPRIT clubs had been set up to further disseminate

information on the ESPRIT programme. Founded and managed by the individual

countries involved, the groups have various structures and titles. They are established

in all EC Member States with the exceptions of Belgium and Portugal. The clubs

provided information on a range of subjects including calls for proposals, the ESPRIT

conference and publications, associated events, technology transfer from ESPRIT

results, and also helped with specific requests for information concerning matters

such as the analysis of requirements, choice of themes and partner selection. These

clubs later became the National Contact Points of the Framework Programmes, sup-

porting the community in all areas of the Framework Programmes.

By December 1995, there were four calls for proposals under the ESPRIT pro-

gramme. Over 1,700 proposals were received in the first two calls, of which 430 were

selected for funding. The total budget allocated to these is about 500 million ECU.

Over 500 proposals were received for the third call for proposals which was published

on the 15 June 1995. Users were playing a major role and nearly 38% of all partici-

pants were user industries. A new edition of the programme was presented early in

1996.

ESPRIT has had three main beneficial effects on the European information tech-

nology industry and its development. Above all, the Community programme has in

many cases allowed research to reach the "critical mass" held to be indispensable for

the profitability of research and development. This came about thanks to the demoli-

tion of a series of traditional barriers separating the various disciplines, which stood in

the way of contacts between firms, research centres and universities, and made it hard

for researchers in different countries to communicate with each other. Secondly, in an

industry characterised by rapid change, ESPRIT has led to a reduction in uncertainties

for firms, because it has allowed a more rational sharing of risks, and because cooper-

ation has at least in part modelled the development of the market. Finally, thanks to

the creation of links between different sectors, ESPRIT has extended considerably the

range of applications of information technology in both traditional and innovative

areas. The electronics companies have increased their contacts not just among them-

selves but also with companies and organisations belonging to very different sectors

which also use information technology: telephonic and aeronautic companies, car

manufacturers, firms in robotics, mechanics, and chemicals, as well as banks, insur-

ance firms, health centres and other enterprises in the service sector.

The economic side effects of the ESPRIT programme are difficult to quantify, if

we exclude the direct financing of half of every project by the Community, but it is

unquestionable that the response of industry was unfailingly positive, and that as time

passed the programme drew closer to the market. Furthermore, such criticism takes no

account of the fact that "precompetion" in itself ruled out very little, and that whenev-

er companies wanted to work together at other levels they were always able to find a

way to do so, either within or, more easily, outside ESPRIT. Nevertheless, much of

the statistical evidence suggests that more than a decade after the launch of ESPRIT,

the European information technology industry was not much more competitive than

before. While some believe that its own structure left ESPRIT unable to give adequate

support to the development of industry in the sector, others defend the programme,

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pointing out that inadequate funds were made available given the size of the problems

it was supposed to tackle.

Overall, there was little doubt that ESPRIT and the other Community programmes

in the area of technological innovation have created a more open, less diffident at-

mosphere in which European firms and that they have discovered that cooperation

and competition are equally necessary and possible in the field of high technology.

4 ICT Evolution within the Framework Programmes

4.1 From FP1 to FP4

ESPRIT started before First Framework Programme [7], with the pilot phase of

ESPRIT (1982-1983), but it was only with ESPRIT II (1987-1991) it was integrated

in the Second Framework Programme, under subactivity 2.1: “Information technolo-

gies”[8]. In FP2, we could also find other smaller (budget wise) programmes in the

ICT areas.

In the area of telecommunications, the definition phase of the programme RACE,

between 1985 and 1986, allocated a budget of 22.1 million ECU and intended to fo-

cus particularly on the introduction of Integrated Broadband Communication (IBC) in

the Member States. Only in FP2, RACE was included under the subactivity 2.2: "Tel-

ecommunications" with a budget significantly higher of 550 million ECU.

Table 2 presents the years and the budget allocated to each programme.

Table 2. Years and budget allocated to each programme.

FP3 included another ICT area not included in the previous Framework Programmes:

the subactivity 2.3: “Development of telematic systems of general interest”, with a

budget of 380 million ECU [9]. The programme sought to contribute to the successful

completion of the single market, improving the performance of large public services

facing the new technological and social challenges implied by European integration.

The areas cover were: Support for the establishment of trans-European networks

between administrations; transport services; health care; flexible and distance learn-

From ESPRIT to H2020: The Evolution of ICT in the European Research Framework Programmes

ing; libraries; linguistic research and engineering; telematic systems for rural areas

[10].

In response to public calls for proposals issued in June-August 1991 [11] with re-

gard to specific RTD programmes in the fields of communications technology

(RACE) and of telematics, close to 800 proposals have been submitted for considera-

tion, involving a total of more than 7,000 organizations from all Member States, from

EFTA countries, and from countries in Central and Eastern Europe, Japan and the

USA.RACE received 183 proposals and the specific RTD programme in telematics

systems of general interest received 541. The EC funding requested by the proposers

totalled ECU 2.9 billion, the total funding available being limited to ECU 869 million.

The Fourth Framework Programme (1994-1998) saw a huge increase in scientific

areas and budget [12]. With a budget of 11 879 million ECU it was divided in “In-

formation and communications technologies”, “Industrial technologies”, “Environ-

ment”, “Life sciences and technologies”, “Non-nuclear energy”, “Transport” and

“Targeted socio-economic research”. It was under FP4 that the JRC started to pro-

gressively compete for the funds available under the activities of the framework pro-

gramme, other than direct action.

Under the research, technological development and demonstration programme

(RTD) of “Information and communications technologies”, there were 3 specific

programmes: “advanced communications technologies and services (ACTS, formerly

RACE), “telematic applications of common interest” (TELEMATICS) and “infor-

mation technologies” (ESPRIT). The budget division of the programme information

and communications technologies was the following:

• Communication technologies (671 million ECU);

• Telematics (898 million ECU);

• Information technologies (2 057 million ECU);

The activities within all three programmes were closely coordinated and would

collectively contribute to the establishment of a European information infrastructure,

which was the priority of ICT research under the Fourth Framework Programme. On

the 1

of January 1995, all the 3 programmes saw their budget increased due to the

accession of three new Member States. ACTS and ESPRIT budgets were further

increased on the 1

of December 1997.

RTD activities under the ACTS programme [13] built on the achievements of both

phases of the RACE programme and contributed to the further success of European

actions in the area of advanced communications technologies. In particular, there was

a stronger focus on stimulating the "innovative use" and closing the gap between the

potential of technology and the reality of applications. The programme promoted a

multi-disciplinary approach and contained measures to strengthen collaboration be-

tween users of advanced communications applications, in both the public and private

sectors.

The specific programme on telematics [14] intended to contribute to the develop-

ment of a European information infrastructure. The activities carried out in the field

of telematics under FP4 were redirected in three new ways to reflect the new priorities

of Information and Communications Technologies in the Community. Firstly, the

emphasis has shifted from data telematics to the new "multimedia telematics", which

covered all distributed and interactive multimedia applications. Secondly, research

EPS Berlin 2015 2015 - European Project Space on Computer Vision, Graphics, Optics and Photonics

would be more user-oriented and focused on market needs. Thirdly, particular atten-

tion was placed on finding cost-effective and affordable solutions.

The specific programme on Information Technology [15] established under the

Fourth Framework Programme built on the achievements of ESPRIT and proposes

new approaches and orientations to meet the requirements of the 1990's. To facilitate

the development of the emerging information structure, the specific IT programme

moves away from the "technology push" policies of previous framework programmes

and contained new orientations both in terms of implementation and technical con-

tent. Figure 3 presents an abstract of the scientific areas of the ICT programmes under

FP4.

Fig. 3. Scientific areas of ACTS, TELEMATICS and ESPRIT Programmes under FP4 [13],

[14], [15].4.2 From FP5 to H2020.

TELEMATICS Scientific Areas ESPRIT Scientific Areas

- Telematics for services of public interest:

Develop telematics

applications facilitating the exchange of information between

administrations, such as image transfer and video-conferencing and

develop applications to improve the management of all modes of

transport, in particular road, air and multimodal transport, whilst

facilitating the safety and comfort of users;

- Telematics for Knowledge:

Research focuses on the development of

new methods of access, sharing and up-dating of knowledge; use of

large computer networks which require high-throughput communication

services; development of distributed multimedia services to support

cooperative research; methods for selecting, searching and presenting

S&T information; development of a new generation of multimedia

distance teaching and group training services, via broad-band networks

or satellites, which are adaptable to different user requirements; new

techniques for personalized training and learning; facilitating access to

library resources and promoting the interconnection of libraries, both

directly with other libraries and within the European infrastructure;

- Telematics for improving employment and the quality of life

: Telematic

systems and services to improve employment and the quality of life by

promoting better use of land, by raising the degree of autonomy of the

less favoured social groups, such as the elderly and the handicapped,

and by permitting more effective protection of the environment.

pp g p

produce reliable, correct, efficient and user-friendly software;

- Technologies for IT components and subsystems:

To provide European industry with the

technologies and capabilities to design and produce components and subsystems in

semiconductors, microsystems and peripherals;

- Multimedia systems:

To support strategic RTD in generic information technologies which

underpin multimedia end-user systems and applications. Activities will concentrate on the

technologies needed for the creation, manipulation, display and storage of multimedia

information. Specific work will be undertaken on technologies for integrated personal systems;

- Open microprocessor systems initiative (OMI):

To coordinate efforts in microprocessor systems

RTD throughout the Community in order to develop the standards and technologies necessary to

enable European industry to compete effectively world-wide (to cover the provision of

components for use in embedded systems applications and advanced RTD in both hardware and

software);

- High performance computing and networking (HPCN):

To exploit the opportunities and expand

the application potential of high performance computer networking (activities include the

development of software to promote the next generation of HPCN, the creation of a pan-

European HPCN infrastructure and measures to demonstrate the economic viability of HPCN);

- Technologies for business processes:

Integration of enterprises into the information

infrastructure so as to increase the contribution of IT to the effectiveness of organizations by,

first, improving the level of understanding of best practice in the use of IT business processes,

and second, to develop the underlying technologies that will support new organizational

developments.

- Interactive digital multimedia services:

Development of new services ranging from specialized telework and professional tools to entertainment services for the general

public, with a view to the wide-spread introduction of European interactive digital multimedia communication services from the year 2000. RTD work will focus in

particular on the interoperability of broadband services with existing digital switched public services (ISDN and GSM) and the development of advanced image

compression systems (e.g. 3D-video communication and "Virtual Presence");

- Photonic technologies:

Introduction of integrated photonic systems, to include the development of the technological basis necessary for the deployment of fully optical

networks ("Transparent Highways") in Europe by the year 2000. RTD covers the development of technology to enable the use of optics throughout the network, for both

switching and transmission, and methods to avoid unnecessary conversions between photonics and electronics;

- High-speed networking:

Provision of integrated high-speed multi-gigabit networks for leading-edge users in European industry and research organizations. RTD will

support broadband services (e.g. videophones and teleworking) and cover customer premises networks, public networks and corporate networks;

- Mobility and personal communications networks:

RTD covers mobile broadband systems and services (including miniaturisation and component integration techniques

for low-power portable transceivers) and the development of a "Personal Communications Space" (personal authentication, security and privacy through voice recognition

schemes and smart card techniques);

- Intelligence in networks and service engineering:

To equip communication networks with the built-in features required for real-time communications, including

networks, services and user access. RTD will provide the basis for cheaper, quicker and more responsive network services;

- Quality, security and safety of communication services and systems:

Development of new technologies providing economically viable and operationally satisfactory

solutions for services and systems. RTD includes investigations, demonstrations, experiments and trials of integrated systems.

ACTS Scientific Areas

From ESPRIT to H2020: The Evolution of ICT in the European Research Framework Programmes

The Fifth Framework Programme (FP5) was executed for the period 1998-2002

and it had two distinct parts: the European Community framework programme cover-

ing research, technological development and demonstration activities; and the Eurat-

om framework programme covering research and training activities in the nuclear

sector [16]. FP5 differed considerably from its predecessors. It was conceived to help

solve problems and to respond to the major socio-economic challenges facing Europe.

To maximise its impact, it focused on a limited number of research areas combining

technological, industrial, economic, social and cultural aspects. Management proce-

dures were also streamlined with an emphasis on simplifying procedures and system-

atically involving key players in research.

FP5 had a simplified, multi-theme structure, consisting of seven 'Specific Pro-

grammes': four Thematic Programmes and three Horizontal Programmes. Within the

Thematic Programmes, there was only one covering Information and Communication

Technologies: user-friendly information society (IST) with a budget of 3 600 million

EUR [17]. The objective of IST was to realise the benefits of the information society

for Europe both by accelerating its emergence and by ensuring that the needs of indi-

viduals and enterprises were met. I.e., the transformation from an industrial society to

an information society where European industrial competitiveness, jobs, quality of

life and the sustainability of growth and cohesion depends on it being at the leading

edge of the development and take-up of information society technologies.

The specific objectives were:

• Novelty of the approach. Community-funded research in information and

communication technologies and applications was integral to the overall strat-

egy of the European Union for the information society. This was defined by

the Action Plan 'Europe's way towards the information society' and revised in

the Action Plan adopted in November 1996. The Information Society Technol-

ogies (IST) Programme introduced a new approach to the information society

theme of the Framework Programme.

o Single and integrated programme consisting of complementary activities

particularly concerning the key issues of usability, dependability, interop-

erability and affordability. Each key action had, as appropriate, a balance

of the complete range of RTD activities from basic research to demon-

stration and take-up actions;

o Coordination and integration of the activities through a single work pro-

gramme using clustering and concertation. Integrated application plat-

forms provided a seamless interaction between citizens, businesses and

administrations. This allowed a "theme" to be addressed coherently in

more than one activity. Activities were also appropriately coordinated

with other key actions and initiatives in the Structural Funds;

o Single rolling flexible work programme responding to changes in indus-

trial and societal need and the technological context;

• Socio economic needs. Targeting the quantitative and qualitative benefits that

information society technologies offer in all industrial and societal activities

Socio-economic research, together with the results of other Community initia-

tives that identify needs for information society technologies. Particular atten-

tion was paid to ensuring that the "innovation dimension" is actively ad-

dressed, and to stimulating and supporting the participation of SMEs;

EPS Berlin 2015 2015 - European Project Space on Computer Vision, Graphics, Optics and Photonics

• European added value. Collaborative research and technological development

was needed to create both the critical efforts and the interoperability necessary

to ensure the full potential of the information society is realised in Europe.

Pan-European research was also needed.

• European Competitiveness. To be competitive in the global market place Eu-

rope needs to master both the supply and use of information society technolo-

gies. The programme integrated actions to stimulate the take-up of information

society technologies with the research and technological developments to en-

sure that the conditions and requirements for their use could be met. Actions to

stimulate the development and diffusion of the skills necessary to take-up re-

search and development results.

The programme was structured around four key actions and two research actions:

• Key actions:

o Systems and services for the citizen;

o New methods of work and electronic commerce;

o Multimedia content and tools;

o Essential technologies and infrastructures;

• Research and Technological Development Activities of a Generic Nature:

o Future and emerging technologies - the open domain and proactive initia-

tives

• Support for Research Infrastructures:

o Research networking - broadband interconnection of national research

and education networks;

o Advanced European experimental testbeds.

Between 2002 and 2006, the Multiannual Framework Programme of the European

Community for research, technological development and demonstration activities

aimed at contributing towards the creation of the European Research Area - FP6.FP6

had a budget of 17 883 million EUR [18] and the main objective was to contribute to

the creation of a genuine European Research Area (ERA), with the ultimate goal to

integrate the EU's research at local, regional, national and international level.

The Information Society Technologies (IST) [19] thematic priority aimed to in-

crease innovation and competitiveness in European businesses and industry and to

help all European citizens so that they can fully benefit from the development of the

knowledge-based society. It fell under the "Focusing and Integrating Community

Research" title of the programme in "Integrating and strengthening the European

research area". The strategic objectives of the IST thematic priority are updated regu-

larly. The objectives were defined in a changing environment for undertaking re-

search in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT):

• ICT research was increasingly organised on an international scale, as firms

seek to relocate their R&D activities in the face of accelerating competition in

global markets;

• innovation processes were more open, with wider and faster exchange of ideas,

people and resources;

• technology chains were increasingly complex, making it more difficult for any

single player to establish industrial leadership in any ICT field;

• new promising fields were emerging at the cross-over between ICT and other

disciplines such as biotechnologies, materials and cognitive sciences.

From ESPRIT to H2020: The Evolution of ICT in the European Research Framework Programmes

At the same time, ICT was becoming more pervasive. New ways of using ICT

were at the origin of innovations in most products, services and processes. For the

economy, ICT are central for boosting productivity and improving the competitive-

ness of all businesses and industries. The ICT industry itself is one of Europe's largest

economic sectors, and ICT innovations underpin progress in all other major science

fields. In the public sector, ICT enable services to be delivered more efficiently, as

well as new services that correspond to people's evolving needs. For society at large,

ICT offer new solutions to meet societal demands. Research activities carried out

under IST addressed the following aspects:

1. Strategic objectives

a. Applied IST research addressing major societal and economic challenges:

aimed to extend the scope and efficiency of IST-based solutions addressing

major societal and economic challenges, and to make them accessible in

the most trusted and natural way to citizens, businesses and organisations.

b. Communication, computing and software technologies: aimed to consoli-

date and further develop European strengths in areas such as mobile com-

munications, consumer electronics and embedded software and systems. It

also aimed to improve the performance, cost-efficiency, functionality and

adaptive capabilities of communications and computing technologies.

Work was also set to lead to the next version of the Internet Protocol.

c. Components and Microsystems.

d. Knowledge and interface technologies: aimed to improve the usability of

IST applications and services and access to the knowledge they embody in

order to encourage their wider adoption and faster deployment.

2. Future and emerging technologies (FET)

a. FET open scheme.

b. FET proactive scheme.

In 2006, it was decided by the Council a new Framework Programme, with another

big increase in budget 50 521 million EUR [20]. The objective until 2013 was to build

upon the achievements of FP6 towards the creation of the 'European Research Area'

and carrying them further towards the development of a knowledge-based economy

and society in Europe. The objectives of FP7 were the following:

• support transnational cooperation on every scale across the EU;

• enhance investigator-driven basic research based on excellence;

• strengthen human potential in research and technology in Europe, both quanti-

tatively and qualitatively;

• develop and enhance the excellence of European research institutions and uni-

versities.

FP7 would promote excellence in scientific and technological research, develop-

ment and demonstration through four programmes: Cooperation, Ideas, People and

Capacities. Under the Cooperation programme, we could find the “Information and

communication technologies” theme with a budget of 9 050 million EUR [21]. The

objective of FP7-ICT theme was:

• To improve the competitiveness of European industry and enable Europe to

master and shape the future developments of 'Information and communication

technologies' (ICT) so that the demands of its society and economy are met.

EPS Berlin 2015 2015 - European Project Space on Computer Vision, Graphics, Optics and Photonics

• To strengthen Europe's scientific and technology base and ensure its global

leadership in ICT, to drive and stimulate innovation and creativity through

ICT use and ensure that ICT progress is rapidly transformed into benefits for

Europe's citizens, businesses, industry and governments.

The FP7-ICT theme was organised in the following:

1. ICT technology pillars:

• Nano-electronics, photonics and integrated micro/nano-systems

• Ubiquitous and unlimited capacity communication networks

• Embedded systems, computing and control

• Software, grids, security and dependability

• Knowledge, cognitive and learning systems

• Simulation, visualisation, interaction and mixed realities

• New perspectives in ICT drawing on other science and technology disciplines

2. Integration of technologies in:

• Personal environments

• Home environments

• Robotic systems

• Intelligent infrastructures

3. Applications research:

• ICT meeting societal challenges

• For health

• For governments at all levels

• For inclusion

• For mobility

• In support of the environment, risk management and sustainable development

• ICT for content, creativity and personal development

• ICT supporting businesses and industry

• ICT for trust and confidence

A 'Future and Emerging Technologies' activity was to attract and foster trans-

disciplinary research excellence in emerging ICT-related research domains. Focuses

included: exploring the new miniaturisation and computing frontiers including for

example the exploitation of quantum effects; harnessing the complexity of networked

computing and communication systems including software; exploring new concepts

of and experimenting with intelligent systems for new personalised products and

services.

From 2014 on (and expected to finish in 2020), the current framework pro-

gramme, that this time has a name, is Horizon 2020 (H2020) and has 80 billion EUR

budget [22]. Horizon 2020 will tackle societal challenges by helping to bridge the gap

between research and the market by, for example, helping innovative enterprise to

develop their technological breakthroughs into viable products with real commercial

potential. This market-driven approach will include creating partnerships with the

private sector and Member States to bring together the resources needed.

Under the Industrial Leadership pillar of H2020, we can find the Information and

Communication Technologies (ICT) programme with a expected budget of 16 000

million EUR. However, ICT activities nowadays are transversal (as ICT can be appli-

From ESPRIT to H2020: The Evolution of ICT in the European Research Framework Programmes

cable to almost all areas of knowledge), so we can find ICT activities spread out

H2020 programme, in all the different pillars and even on the horizontal programmes.

Actually, the first ideas on what would be the configuration of H2020 did not in-

clude a specific programme for ICT. Some experts argued that the ICT area was mul-

tidisciplinary and did not make sense to have a specific programme for that. On the

other hand, others argued that there is still a need to develop the technologies that

make ICT and that there should be funding for research. As we have an ICT pro-

gramme is easy to see who won that discussion.

5 From ESPRIT I to H2020-ICT

As curiosity, we present the number of participations on the 1

call of H2020-ICT in

2014 per country, in Figure 4.

Fig. 4. Number of participations (same institution participates in several projects) of H2020-

ICT 2014 per country, as of April of 2014 [23].

Comparing the results of Figure 4 with Figure 2, it is clear that the 1

call of ICT in

H2020 had more participation (1662) than the whole ESPRIT I programme (1120)

that lasted for 4 years. Moreover, there was an increase in number of participating

countries, from 11 in 1988 to 51 in 2014 (4.6 times more countries), including a con-

siderable number of countries outside of the European Union, showing that the

Framework Programmes have become a truly global programme for research, techno-

logical development and demonstration activities

Several other indicators could be used to analyse this impact, however the objective of this paper is

to present the evolution of ICT area throughout the framework programmes and not to focus on its

impact. That can be the object of another very interesting article.

EPS Berlin 2015 2015 - European Project Space on Computer Vision, Graphics, Optics and Photonics

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EPS Berlin 2015 2015 - European Project Space on Computer Vision, Graphics, Optics and Photonics