The "2005 Euro-Thailand ICT cooperation event" (EuroThailand2005), has been successfully organised from June 5 to 8, 2005 at the Plaza Athenee Hotel in Bangkok, in the framework of the GAPFILL Project supported by the European Commission (DG Information Society and Media), coordinated by Sigma Consultants and counting in its partnership the National Science and Technology Development Agency, Thailand (NSTDA).
The event attracted over 250 delegates (among them around 50 European participants), and provided them with various opportunities to exchange information, experience and visions, and to better evaluate the opportunities offered by the IST Programme of the European Commission to support R&D projects in the ICT field involving Thai and European organisations (universities, SMEs, manufacturers and service providers, institutions, NGOs, etc.).
The event programme included on June 5 a cultural tour at Vimarnek Palace in Bangkok and a reception cocktail at the Plaza Athenee Hotel, both allowing European delegates to get together and be given last minute information on event organisation.
The core part of the programme was a conference that took place on June 6 and 7, and included:
- an opening session during which H.E. Mr Korn Thapparansi, Minister of Science and Technology, Thailand and H.E. Dr Friedrich Hamburger, Ambassador, Head of the Delegation of the European Commission in Thailand gave warmly opening addresses, followed by several keynote addresses setting the scene of the conference,
- the afternoon of June 6 devoted to parallel thematic sessions, allowing European and Thai organisations to introduce over 38 "expressions of interest to cooperate", "pre-proposal ideas", and some cooperation initiatives in an even more advanced stage,
- a workshop on "EU-Thailand perspective on ICT for natural disasters" and a panel discussion on "Lessons learned (by leading regional organisations) from the recent tsunami disaster on how could ICT help in the process", proposed to delegates in the morning of June 7,
- a closing plenary session including a coaching seminar on "How to prepare an IST Proposal" presented by Mr Thierry Devars (European Commission), a "Working session on ICT for natural disasters (in the perspective of IST Calls 5 and 6)" presented by Mr Peter Martin (European Commission), and a panel discussion on "Building upon EuroThailand2005: the next steps" moderated by Mr Roger Torrenti (Sigma Consultants).
In their closing remarks, Mr Sakarindr Bhumiratana, President of NSTDA, and Mr Thierry Devars (European Commission) expressed their confidence in the fact that the event will be seen in the future as an important milestone in the development of S&T cooperation between Europe and Thailand in the ICT field and their satisfaction when considering the great number of participants who expressed, during the event, their readiness to launch joint cooperation projects, in particular in response to IST Calls of the 6th Framework Programme (FP6).
During the two days, delegates were invited to visit exhibition booths of the European Commission and of leading Thai and regional institutions, installed in the conference venue, and to take advantage of numerous networking moments (lunches, session breaks, and dinners).
On June 8, European delegates were given, before a last networking lunch and their flight back to Europe, the opportunity to visit NSTDA laboratories at the forefront of international developments: the solar cell laboratory, the Metals and Materials Technology Center (MTEC), the National Center for Genetic engineering and biotechnology (BIOTEC), and the National Electronics and Computer Technology Center (NECTEC).
Detailed information on EuroThailand2005 can be accessed through the following links:
An important reminder to conclude: organisations interested in the cooperation perspectives addressed by EuroThailand2005 are invited to contact the GAPFILL European Help-Desk and the GAPFILL Thai Help-Desk to receive support in the next phases of their cooperation initiatives and in the preparation of R&D proposals to be submitted to the IST Programme. |
