The European Commission launched on 28 September 2010 one of the biggest calls for proposals ever for information and communications technology (ICT) research. The launch of this call, with a contribution of almost 780 million Euro, was made during the celebration in Brussels of the event ICT 2010-Digitally Driven.

This EU funding opportunity called under Call for Proposals on Information and Communication Technologies – Call 7 (FP7-ICT-2011-7) will contribute to boost research on the future internet, robotics, smart and embedded systems, photonics, ICT for energy efficiency, health and well-being in an ageing society, as well as other covered topics.

Under the Digital Agenda for Europe, the Commission has committed to maintaining the pace of a 20% yearly increase of the annual ICT R&D budget at least until 2013, and this new call will allocate almost 780 million Euro as part of the biggest ever annual Work Programme under the EU's 7th  Framework Programme for Research, with almost 1.2 billion Euro budgeted for 2011.

In July 2010 220 million Euro were already made available for public private partnerships focusing on ICT for smart cars, green buildings, sustainable factories and the future internet.

Some topics covered by FP7-ICT-2011-7 Call

• More than 200 million Euro are available to strengthen Europe's position as a leading supplier of electronic systems and photonic components. This supports the competitiveness of the automotive, telecoms, industrial automation, lighting technologies and medical industrial strongholds in Europe.
• Close to 200 million Euro for research in ICT for health and ageing.
• 135 million Euro are available for ICT research that improves energy efficiency in buildings, in transport and logistics, complementing 220 million Euro made available in July 2010 for public private partnerships for an economy based on low carbon cars, buildings and factories.

Universities, research centres, SMEs, large companies and other organisations in Europe and beyond are eligible to apply for project funding under ICT Call 7, and can submit their proposals until 18 January 2011, after which they will be evaluated by independent panels of experts for selection on the basis of their quality.

This call public announcement as well as its publication on the Official Journal of the European Union has been made during the celebration the biggest European event on Information and Communication Technologies, the “ICT 2010-Digitally Driven”, gathering in Brussels experts from varied fields of expertise related to ICT issues between 27 and 29 September 2010.