Jordan Times
Sunday, April 17, 2005
EUMEDIS conference opens today
AMMAN (JT) — The First International EUMEDIS conference opens at the Dead Sea today.
After four years of sustained activities, the
EUMEDIS Programme partners are meeting to discuss `Closing the digital gap in
the Mediterranean region.'
More than 300 representatives of government organisation, universities,
hospitals and research centres from European, North African and Middle Eastern
countries are expected to attend the two-day conference.
The participants are all active in the exploitation of the most sophisticated IT
tools applied to different sectors from health and distance education, to SME
management, tourism and cultural heritage, according to an EUMEDIS statement.
The conference's main objectives are to consolidate the existing networks
between partners and sectors; exchange experiences and discuss achievements;
increase the visibility of projects and the programme as a whole in the region;
and encourage better exploitation of pilot projects' results.
An exhibition arranged on the sidelines of the event will display the
achievements of the pilot projects. These include live satellite connection for
health diagnosis and second opinion; distance learning in different languages
courses through Internet and TV broadcasting; on-line analysis of SME
competitiveness in the textile sector; new paths for tourism offers combining
old traditions and modern tools; electronic charts for navigation in the
Mediterranean region updated on-line; sharing best practices on the treatment of
common illnesses based on real and consolidated experiences in the region
online; environmental constraints and SMEs competitiveness; enterprise creation
and new job skills for the modernisation of management among others.
The EUro MEDiterranean Information Society (EUMEDIS) initiative, launched in
mid-1999 with a total budget of 65 million euros, is a pilot demonstration of
the concrete advantages ICT can offer in priority sectors of the
Euro-Mediterranean partnership.
The European Commission approved a comprehensive regional MEDA initiative for
the development of EUMEDIS in February 1999, specifically designed to reduce the
region's informational and technological gap vis-?-vis the neighbouring
countries.
EUMEDIS seeks to develop regional applications with user communities in the
largest number of Mediterranean Partners.
EUMEDIS objectives:
• The acceleration of the economic development through the modernisation of the
strategic sectors and the active layers of MEDA societies.
• The reinforcement of the tools and methodologies to support mutual
comprehension and understanding of the different cultures.
• The improvement of the quality of life as a direct consequence of the
large-scale deployment of regional information society initiatives in various
sectors of EUROMED life.
• The expansion and qualitative improvement of the Euro-Mediterranean
Information Society in the pursuit of the overall economic objectives, as well
as objectives on quality of life and mutual comprehension and understanding of
the overall EUROMED cooperation.
For more information about the EUMEDIS Programme, visit www.eumedis.net
Source: http://europa.eu.int