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MINOS selection of topics
ICT - INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES

A Theme for research and development under the specific programme “Cooperation”
implementing the Seventh Framework Programme (2007-2013) of the European
Community for research, technological development and demonstration activities

Challenge 3: Components, systems, engineering
The share of electronic components in the value of engineered products and their impact in terms of added functionality and cost-efficiency is expected to reach unprecedented levels over the next few years. Europe has major strengths in the supply of hardware and software components and their integration and deployment into intelligent systems, from portable devices to cars, airplanes, health systems and manufacturing plants.

The challenge is to strengthen Europe’s position as a leading supplier of electronic components and systems. This will support the competitiveness of industrial strongholds such as automotive, avionics, industrial automation, consumer electronics, telecoms and medical systems. In all these domains Europe’s leadership depends heavily on the capacity to engineer and produce electronic components and systems and to integrate these into products across all sectors. Furthermore, the social dimension is not to be underestimated given the increasingly important role of electronics in the functioning of modern society.

In addition to input received through various consultations with a large group of research stakeholders, research orientations under this Challenge are in line with the Strategic Research Agendas of European Technology Platforms ENIAC (on nanoelectronics), EPoSS (on systems integration), PHOTONICS21 (on photonics) and ARTEMIS (on embedded systems).

Research addressing this Challenge in particular will encourage international cooperation under the Intelligent Manufacturing Systems scheme.

This research will enable Europe’s industry to stay at the forefront of electronics developments and applications. As industry depends ever more on chip making and on embedded software, it is of strategic importance to maintain vibrant chip making and chip integrating functions in Europe as well as the related industries further down the electronics“food chain”. All these need early access to latest ICT. Intelligent functions embedded in components and systems will be a key factor in revolutionising many different applications in health, safety and security, transport, and provision of environmentally friendly sustainable applications, and many more. These will also greatly improve industrial production processes by adding intelligence to process control and the manufacturing shop

Objective ICT-2007.3.1: Next-Generation Nanoelectronics Components and Electronics [...] - Open Call: FP7-ICT-2007-1
Objective ICT-2007.3.2: Organic and large-area electronics, visualisation and display systems [...] Open Call: FP7-ICT-2007-1
Objective ICT-2007.3.5: Photonic components and subsystems [...] *
Objective ICT-2007.3.6: Micro/nanosystems [...] *

* - Calls not lunched.

3.8 Future and Emerging Technologies
The challenge is the timely identification and substantiation of new directions that have a high potential for significant breakthrough and that may become the foundations of the information and communication technologies and innovations of tomorrow. This is especially important in
areas where industry roadmaps still contain major roadblocks that cannot be addressed by incremental approaches.
Research will consist of radical interdisciplinary explorations of new and alternative approaches towards future and emerging ICT-related technologies, aimed at a fundamental reconsideration of theoretical, methodological, technological and/or applicative paradigms in ICT. It will deliver proofs-of-concept for radically new options where none existed before, or that demonstrate new possibilities where none were suspected. It will further establish a credible and sufficiently strong science and technology basis in such new and emerging areas, by supporting research for refining visionary concepts, by bringing them to the maturity level where investment from industry can be attracted, and by helping new interdisciplinary research communities to establish themselves as bridgeheads for further competitive RTD.
Expected impact:
Future and Emerging Technologies (FET) research is long-term and high-risk but ‘purpose driven’. It derives its raison d’être from the broader context of the ICT programme to which it explicitly contributes in at least two ways.
First, by being open to a broad spectrum of needs, opportunities and solutions, it avoids the risk of ‘tunnel vision’ in ICT research and acts as an early indicator of new directions and opportunities for research in ICT (‘FET-Open’).
Second, it serves as a pathfinder that prepares for future directions in which the ICT programme, together with industry, may create the critical mass that can really make a difference for Europe in the long run (‘FET proactive’). These directions are motivated by fundamental long-term challenges in ICT that will be key to the long-term sustainability of a technological future in Europe, such as:
• Rethinking the nature of computing, where basic notions of information, computation and communication are revisited, and fundamental characteristics of matter (quantum behaviour, dynamics of atoms, molecules, cells, neurons, photons) are exploited to develop radically new types of logic and components (‘QIPC and other quantum technologies’ and ‘Bio-ICT convergence’).
• Opening new directions for the physical realisation of ICT beyond CMOS that can achieve greater miniaturisation, efficiency and integration; and to learn to design and manage massive numbers of such devices integrated in a single chip (‘Nano-scale ICT
devices and systems’ and ‘Massive ICT systems’).
• To embrace change within ICT systems as a fundamental property, so that they can develop, grow, self-assemble, replicate, evolve, adapt, repair themselves and selforganise over long periods of time, while maintaining essential operational conditions of security and dependability (‘Pervasive adaptation’).
• To understand and harness the transformational forces of new ICTs on society, especially when large-scale deployment (of, for example, massive commercial services, high bandwidth mobile communication, immersive collaborative environments, surveillance systems or ubiquitous robotics) leads to emergent effects that are often unanticipated by the designers but readily exploited for new uses (‘Science of Complex Systems for socially intelligent ICT’).
• To respond to increasing expectation for trustworthy, dependable and long-lasting systems and information – expectations which current technologies cannot meet (‘ICT forever yours’).
• To exploit the understanding of information processing in biological systems in order to develop new perspectives in ICT with clear advantages in terms of functionality, operating conditions (e.g. power needs, packaging requirements), resilience and adaptability, or to achieve technologies that can be naturally combined with biological systems (‘Bio-ICT convergence’).
• To master fundamental aspects of physical embodiment for smart devices in order to pave the way for a whole new range of smart artefacts (e.g. robots) of unprecedented diversity and behavioural characteristics (‘Embodied Intelligence’).
• To address the physical-virtual confluence that is enabled by advanced media and interface technologies but, if it is to become a broader enabler, needs new directions with a solid basis in research on human perception and action, the study of experiences, awareness, and the development of tighter couplings between the human and technological realms, leading to a re-conception of human-machine interaction
and machine perception (‘Human-Computer Confluence’).
This research will establish the scientific and technological foundations of the technologies and innovations of tomorrow, in terms of knowledge, know-how and the readiness of a vibrant research community.
FET-Open will call for STREPs (2-stage submission procedure) and for coordination actions (CAs).
FET-proactive initiatives will call for STREPs, for IPs, or for both. In addition they will call for coordination actions (CAs).
The stimulation of international cooperation on foundational research in the areas addressed by a pro-active initiative is also encouraged. This is particularly relevant in Quantum Information Processing and Communication (QIPC), where such international cooperation will reinforce European leadership in this area. Similarly, international cooperation on foundational research promises to further enhance European leadership in nano-scale ICT devices and systems, and in complexity science, among others.

Objective ICT-2007.8.1: FET proactive 1: Nano-scale ICT devices and systems [...]
Objective ICT-2007.8.3: FET proactive 3: Bio-ICT convergence [...]