Information Society Technologies

Information Society Technologies Key Action III Multimedia Contents and Tools 6th Call for Proposals Norbert Brinkhoff-Button DG Information Society European Commission

Agenda 1 Objectives 2 Implementation 3 Call 6 4 Call 7 5 Do‘s and don‘ts 6 Non-research actions

KA1Systems & services for the citizen KA3Multimediacontent & tools KA2 New methods of work & Electronic Commerce KA4Essential technologies & infrastructure Research networking Future & emerging technologies IST Research Programme Cross Programme Themes Textual, audio-visual, 3-D, VR… content, streamed over Web, IDTV, broadband, WAP, GPRS, UMTS

KA3 Strategic goals • Convergencein media production • Creative & innovativemultimedia businesses • Competitivemobile services • Skills & competenceof European workforce • Cultural identity/ diversity

Thematic thrust • Knowledge acquisition, representation & management • Middlewareto create, access, filter, search & retrieve, visualise, spatialise, auralise, translate, summarise, deliver, … • Applications: E-publishing for TV or Internet broadcasts; Virtual learning labs; Libraries online; Multilingual e-business; • Universal multimedia access • intuitive interfaces for natural interaction: voice, visual, haptic… Example: Natural WAP, GPRS, UMTS… • Standardization • contribution to content standards (JPEG, MPEG…)

Actions & time to market Short term (2-4 years) - Longer term (up to 10 years) Applications Futures Apply new content technology in publishing, eBusiness, training,heritage, etc Investigate content forms and service models radically different from today's; eg: e-Learning,digitallibraries, etc Technology Develop innovative middleware to create, access, filter, search & retrieve, visualise, spatialise, auralise, translate, summarise, deliver, … digital content Research, develop and embed natural, personal, interactive, multimodal and multilingual capability at all levels Support Build IT & multimedia competence Showcase, document and publish research results, including standardsConduct technology foresight and market watch

Example: VISIONS - Virtual Storytelling http://www.visions4d.com/index2.html

Example: ARTISTE An Integrated Art Analysis and Navigation Environment Advanced image content analysis techniques, distributed hyperlink-based navigation methods, and object relational database technologies. http://www.artisteweb.org/

Example: DERIVE Distributed real and virtual Learning-Environment for Mechatronics and Tele-Service Integration of different reality and virtuality oriented views for distributed learning. A construction kit (suite of modular building blocks) will enable students and teachers to link real local learning resources (machines, devices, actors, sensors) with distributed virtual ones (simulators, animators) by means of a new kind of telecoupling mechanism. The DERIVE project, experimenting with mixed reality-virtual reality

Example: E-MATTER E-Mail Access through the Telephone using speech TEchnology Resources. Mutilingual e-mail access using spontaneous speech and text verification through the fixed and the mobile networks.

Example: AVIR: Audio-Visual Information Retrieval for Interactive TV Can be separately edited and even taken out of the scene A video object (the player) AVIR has developed state-of-the-art DVB technology for the next-generation interactive TV with high-capacity home recorders. This involves an Electronic Program Guide on a personalized TV receiver+recorder with intelligent search & filtering for consumers to browse more easily through TV channels. It has contributed directly to MPEG7 standards for video editing (see pictures) and was one of the “hits” at IBC2000 in Amsterdam. Philips - NL & F (LEP); RAI Radiotelevisione Italiana - I; Tecmath - D; TV Spielfilm Verlag - D; University of Brescia - I; University of Paris, Pierre et Marie Curie - F ; + BBC Archive - GB (sponsor)

Overview of calls Projection over 5 Calls: • 1,218 proposals received • 274 actions selected 22,5 % global success rate • Total of 624 contracts handled by INFSO.D in 2001 (FP4 legacy + IST + eContent + INFO2000 + MLIS + IAP) Props 577 202 207 206 26

Budget overview Projection over FP5 • Total net intervention: 438 M€ • 73% of which com-mitted in Calls 1-5 • 117.9 M€ left for Calls 6-8 Note: All figures relating to 5th Call or higher are purely indicative.

Success indicators % of proposals ranked: % of proposals selected: Quality and success consolidating at high level (success in RTD: 25%)

Distribution of participants(Call 4) SME = Small and Medium sized Enterprises HEE = Higher Education Establishments RC = Research Centres NrPS = Non-research Public SectorLE = Large EnterprisesNrPNp = Non-research Private Non-profit Record share of SME‘s

Partnership patterns Depending on scope: • 6-8 participants • 20-30 months duration • 1.8 M€ funding, on average • 3-4 M€ funding when justified • Corsortium: technology, business & users (citizens/consumers) • Efficient management

WP 2001: what‘s new in KA3 • Concentration: from 17 to 11 AL‘s • Longer term RTD (5-10 years) • „x-Content futures“ • New paradigm: „Semantic Web“ • International Cooperation encouraged • Re-focussing of Take-up • More articulated support needs

KA3 Roadmap 2001 Use of geographic information E-Learning for youth Publishing digital content Heritage for All Semantic Web Technologies Multilingual Web Natural & multilingual interactivity Next generation digital collect. E-Learning futures Self-Learning for Work Multimodal & multisensorial dialog X-Content futuresCompetence buildingKA3 Support Measures X-Content futuresCompetence buildingKA3 Support Measures Call 6 Call 7 ElectronicPublishing Digital Content & CulturalHeritage Area Education & Training Human LanguageTechnologies Information Access Cross-programmeActions

Call 6 Timetable • Publication: 27 January • Close: 25 April • Evaluation: end of May • Commitology: June • Negotiation: July-August • Contracts: from September on Bring time-to-contract down to 180 days !

Digital Content & Cultural Heritage Strategic RTD objectives through to 2005: • improve the accessibility of Europe’s scientific and cultural collections (cultural landscape) • develop sustainable cultural environments • focus on high-quality representations of artefacts and collections • provide a test platform for technology trials • expanding the vision towards other areas of culturalmultimedia activities driven by the research problem not the content

Core research agenda • unified access - easy, integrated access for the user to multiple collections, and formats • access, navigation, interoperability & networking • improved functions and services from digital collections • systems and tools for managing resources, digital objects, high volume resources • digital preservation - sustainability over time • digitisation & surrogates; born-digital Implemented through annual workprogrammes defined in Action Lines

Projects and emerging clusters • Cluster 1: DL applications • distributed resources, DL models and tools • multiple formats - text to broadcast archives • cultural (eg fine arts) and scientific (data & software) resources • metadata and interoperability • new services and business models 22

Projects and emerging clusters • Cluster 2: Virtual Heritage • visual representations using streaming video, animation, 3-D, VR • enhancing learning and game playing • improving user interactions and understanding of content. • innovative Web-based services

Projects and emerging clusters • Cluster 3: Culture economy: new business models • creating an open framework for a European cultural economy (OPEN HERITAGE) • building regional networks supporting a cultural economy (REGNET)

AL III.1 2 - Heritage for All Aims to: • Improve synergies and cooperation between cultural institutions • Increase visibility and improve content building by local/regional institutions • Encourage a bottom-up, grass roots approach - mobilise, examples of good practice • Overcome social and cultural exclusion Establishing an infrastructure for a dynamic citizen-driven record of the cultural scene across Europe

AL III.1 2 - Heritage for All Timeline:3-7 years • Objective • Support online communities in creating &documenting the digital record of their societies • Safeguard this record for the future • Focus • Local resources in the global context - replicable experiments in creating, discovering & aggregating local resources • Active participation of end users through online communities • Digital archiving and community memory

Next generation digital collections • Aims to: • Build on previous access and DL work - develop leadership & excellence in research • Address new distinct communities of users • Improve resource interoperability & comparability • Address issues surrounding diversity of content and its accessibility over time Developing content infrastructures for inclusive cultural ecologies

AL III.1.3: Next generation digital collections Timeline:5-10 years • Objective: • Improve access: quality, quantity for citizens & professionals • Focus: • Advanced DL applications - visualisation & VR in DLs large scale networking archive/lib/museum resources • Thematic ‘contextualised’ collections - interoperability, ontologies, schemas • User-driven - collaboratories, personalisation • Dynamic content - preservation & archiving reference environments

Practical information: partnerships • Players (consortia of European dimension) • Cultural institutions - archives, libraries, museums • Local and regional authorities (Heritage for All) • Public/private sector partnerships for technologies • Research institutes and universities (esp. DLs) • Cooperation • National and regional programmes for heritage & digitisation (Heritage for All) • Other national and international DL programmes - specifically EU/NSF agreement

Practical information: project models • Vertical (technological) RTD project: technology challenges, mid to long-term, technology & research teams lead, content owners - needs, validation, content, demo of service applications • Horizontal (integrative) RTD project: consensus driven, EU-wide infrastructures, scalability of integration, alliances multiple institutional players, organisational/service innovation, unique ownership of content or uniquely competent to deliver the service

Education and Training • Objectives • Blueprint flexible and cost-effective learning - supported by advanced ICT • Support new learning processes - life-long learning & innovative pedagogical content • Research priorities • Improve the learning process • Develop high quality learning materials • Ensure broad access to learning resources & services

III.2.1 Self learning for work • Objective • Empowering individuals to define, procure and manage their own learning for work • Focus • Learner models • Soft skills and informal learning • Communities of learning • Personal intellectual capital Reflects a growing trend in industry away from centralised, prescriptive training departments, towards investment in individuals’ own learning programmes

III.2.2 eLearning futures • Experimental, longer term research aimed at exploring new paradigms for learning, supported by ICT • Driven by experts from cognitive, social and pedagogical sciences • Anticipates future learning needs • Provides proof of concept

Practical information • Partnerships • schools, universities, and related associations • corporate universities & schools • industry, professional bodies, training providers, etc (esp. for Self-learning) • researchers, technologists • pedagogic staff, teachers, educators • Budget • ~ 23-28 M€ total budget (two AL’s) • i.e. 15-20 projects à1.5 M€ / project

Human Language Technologies • Mission:support e-business in a global context and to promote a human centred infostructure • Topical areas:speech, natural interactivity, knowledge management, translation and multilingual tools • eCentres of gravity:mobility, eBusiness, eSociety • Approach:relatively short term applicative showcases and longer term research

III.3.2 Natural and multilingual interactivity • Objective • more intuitive interactionwith intelligent network services and appliances thru robust dialogueand unconstrained speech/language understanding • Focus • At home: interaction with networked information and entertainment appliances; command and control of complex home services and devices • At work: technology-assisted interpersonal and group communication, including virtual meetings and multilingual dialogues • On the move: interaction with and control of personal information and communication appliances

Implementation • Examples of target actors • Telecom, eTailers, Terminal manufacturers • Home appliances, eGames, Information appliances manufacturers • Video conference software and services • Car manufacturers, in-vehicle devices OEM suppliers • Language technology industry • Research centres and academia with the relevant competencies • Other clues • Big projects are not excluded, if justified • Longer term, more researchy activities, are also welcome • « Multilingual Web » open in 7th call

III.5.1 x-Content futures • Experimental AL, addressing new concepts and paradigms and providing opportunities for breakthrough research / high risk • Topics between / beyond current AL‘s in KA3 • Time to market: 0-10 years (breakthrough RTD is not necessarily long-term !) • Initial phases of RTD projects as well as full blown RTD • Open in Calls 6 AND 7

III.5.2 Competence building • Multimedia skills acquisition • Addressing the IT/multimedia skills gap in Europe • Experimenting with innovative eLearning solutions. Demonstration of market potential and plans to roll-out to other sectors. • Access to competence in multimedia • Reinforcing European leadershipfor the future, via: • World-class competence centres existing or emerging • Benchmarking: developments, technology adoption... • Sustainable business models / clear exit strategies

III.5.3 KA3 specific support measures • Emphasis in 2001:demonstrating, assessing & disseminating results, as programme reaches completion • Impact analysis: benchmarking of RTD results, comparative analysis against international developments; technology and market foresight • Spread of know-how: active dissemination of lessons learnt outside the programme • … to be communicated widely in print and electronic form, at relevant events, etc

Highlights in Call 7 • Publishing Digital Content • Interactive authoring, editing and delivery to multiple platforms (iTV, broadband Internet, mobile devices, etc) • Content management tools; new paradigms and business models; E-production workflow • The Semantic Web • Semantics based methods & tools (incl. ontologies), for indexing, categorization, discovery and intelligent filtering and profiling of multimedia information • Information visualisation, for new navigation and searching through unknown & complex information spaces

More highlights • The Multilingual Web • Collaborative multi-language publishing of online (Web) multimedia documents; automated translation of written and spoken language, multilingual generation • Information delivery over multiple channels according to user preference, and in the language of the user • Cross-programme actions • CPA2: Multimodal and multisensorial dialog modes • CPA3: Use of Geographic Information • CPA8: eLearning for European youth in a digital age • All spanning actions repeated

Do’s and don’ts Warning signs - why proposals are rejected by evaluators • technology proposal èrelevance to area not proven or too general • access proposal: “business as usual” èportals or Web sites • “ignore everyone else” proposal: no state-of-the-art and no references to other work • “echo” proposals: echo the call text, the guidelines, ...

More do’s and don’ts • Remember: • real needs - solutions that people want • research with a purpose- meeting a challenge • realistic objectives - practical results • replicability of results - solutions others can use • right team - develop new alliances

Contacts and resources • Webresources: • documents: http://www.cordis.lu/ist/calls/ • research areas: • http://www.cordis.lu/ist/ka3/iep/home.html • http://www.cordis.lu/ist/ka3/digicult/ • http://www.proacte.com/infocentre/ecinfo/ • http://www.hltcentral.org/ • http://www.cordis.lu/ist/ka3/iaf/index.htm • Contact KA3 staff& get feedback on pre-liminary project ideas

- only just launched ! • To support the production, dissemination and use of European digital contentand to promote linguistic diversity on the global networks • Contributes to eEuropeAction Plan:"stimulate the use of internet” • First call tentatively scheduled for 15/3/01, focussed on • Improving access to and expanding use of Public Sectorinformation • Enhancing content production in a multilingualand multicultural environment • http://www.cordis.lu/econtent/

SaferInternet Action Plan Objective • To tackle the issue of illegal and harmful content on the Internet. Open Call for Proposals • Filtering software and services • close 31 May 2001 http://www.saferinternet.org/ http://europa.eu.int/ISPO/iap/

Information Society Technologies