"FISTERA" starts its activities with ITAS participation [20.12.2002]

The FISTERA project "Foresight on Information Society Technologies in the European Research Area" was officially launched on September 1 of this year. The project is conceived as a "thematic network" funded by the European IST (Information Society Technologies) programme of the European Commission's Directorate General Information Society.

The network consists of a core group, spearheaded by the European Commission's Joint Research Centre, Institute for Prospective Technological Studies (IPTS), and a broader group of institutions selected to give comprehensive geographical coverage. The other core members are TILAB, Telecom Italia Lab, which works on Scenarios of the Future; the Austrian Research Centre Seibersdorf with its Division Systems Research Technology-Economy-Environment (ARC/sr); PREST (Policy Research in Engineering, Science and Technology) of the Victoria University of Manchester, UK; Karlsruhe Research Centre's Institute for Technology Assessment and Systems Analysis (ITAS), Germany; and GOPA-Cartermill International of Brussels, acting as the network's administrative and financial coordinator. There are several further members, drawn mainly from countries not represented in the core group, and the number of these is expected to grow over the duration of the project.

The project has a total duration of three years and consists of five work packages:

  • A review and analysis of national foresight exercise outcomes (ITAS).
  • The development of aggregate pan European technology trajectories (TILAB).
  • A roadmap of the European IST knowledge base (ARC/sr).
  • The setting up and maintenance of an IST futures forum for the exchange of visions and ideas (PREST).
  • The dissemination of results and interaction with the IST community (IPTS).

The core members are each work package leader as indicated in brackets.

The project lays major emphasis on interaction with the various actors at all governance levels in the EU and on the dissemination and discussion of its results. The project is to be seen within the context of the Lisbon process which aims to make Europe a world-class player in the global information society, while at the same time addressing the issue of the enlargement of the European Union.

Since the implications of ICTs are very obviously of global nature, the study will also analyse developments elsewhere in the world, notably the US, Japan and the Pacific Rim countries.

Contact Person in ITAS: Dr. Michael Rader

Links:

Other persons in ITAS involved in FISTERA: Böhle, Orwat, Riehm

  • FISTERAs Webpage

The FISTERA core partners:

  • ARC/sr (ARC Seibersdorf research GmbH, Division Systems Research Technology-Economy-Environment, Seibersdorf), Austria
  • GCI (GOPA - Cartermill International), Belgium, Administrative and Financial Co-ordinator
  • ITPS (Institute for Prospective Technological Studies), part of the European Commission's Joint Research Centre, Scientific Coordinator of the network
  • PREST (Policy Research in Engineering, Science and Technology) of the University of Manchester, United Kingdom
  • TILAB (Telecom Italia Lab - Scenarios of the Future), Italy