European IST Prize

European IST Prize - 430 företag från 29 länder tävlar om €700, 000.

Paris 28 May 2003

The success of this year’s European Information Society Technologies Prize confirms the relevance of stimulating innovation in European IT Industry. 430 candidates from 29 countries compete for this year&apo;s distinguished technology prize. France and The Netherlands have the strongest participation, followed by, Italy, Spain, Germany and UK.

The 70 European IST Prize Nominees and, among them, the 20 Winners, will be announced in late September. The twenty Winners will exhibit their products at the European IST Prize Winners Village at the 2004 IST Event in The Hague on 15-17 November:

http://europa.eu.int/information_society/istevent/2004/index_en.htm

Three Grand Prize Winners will be selected among the 20 Winners. They will receive each €200,000 and the European IST Prize Trophy at an Awards Ceremony organises in early 2005.

The decision on the EISTP Nominees, Winners and Grand Prize Winners will be taken by the European Commission, based on a ranking proposal established by Euro-CASE, the European Council of Applied Sciences, Technology and Engineering.

About the European IST Prize

The European IST Prize is the most distinguished award for innovative European IST products. It provides public recognition and a highly visible profile to teams that excel in generating and converting both R&D and novel ideas into marketable products. The high standard of applications and the competitive selection procedure make this Prize the most distinguished for new IST products in Europe.

A total of €700,000 is awarded annually: twenty Winner Prizes of €5,000 each, and three Grand Prizes of €200,000 each. The Nominees, Winners and Grand Prize Winners receive the European IST Prize quality label and promotion on the European IST Prize website and at various IST events.

The competition is open to any organisation (company, laboratory, university or other institution) that is active in any field of Information Technology within 33 countries. Previous European IST Prize Winners have repeatedly recognised the Prize as decisive in attracting both venture capital funds and new customers, and for opening up new markets. European IST Prize Winners represent the best in European innovation and entrepreneurial vision.

Selection criteria for the Prize include technical excellence, innovative content, potential market impact, capacity to generate employment, contribution to the acceptance and understanding of IST in society, and likely social impact.

In 2004 the European IST Prize celebrates its firs ten years of success. From 1995 to 2004 3,145 proposals have been submitted by candidates from 33 countries. 200 European IST Prize Winners and 24 European IST Grand Prize Winners have been awarded from 1995 to 2003.

The European IST Prize is organised by Euro-CASE with the sponsorship and support of the European Commission within the framework of the IST Programme.

Contact Helle Bonnet

Euro-CASE www.euro-case.org

www.ist-prize.org, mail@ist-prize.org,

tel: +33 1 53 59 53 40