The purpose of this Consultation is to gather input from ICT R&D and innovation suppliers, users and policy makers on shaping a cross-cutting ICT R&D and innovation strategy for Europe.

The new strategy, set for publication in April 2009, is expected to set out key priorities and identify new areas on which the bloc should concentrate its efforts to become strategic leaders. Energy, health and ageing are among possible new areas of focus while Europe is already considered the world industrial and technological leader in telecommunications and embedded systems.

The new strategy will also define the role of public policy in helping to make Europe the world leader in ICT innovation, addressing such issues as the creation of a consolidated EU market for ICT innovation. The role of complementary policy fields such as standardisation, licensing and intellectual property regimes will also be considered in view of adapting them to support the early commercialisation of research results.
The consultation follows an expert panel report on the effectiveness of EU-funded ICT research that concluded that the effectiveness of Europe's high-tech research is too often stifled by red tape, a lack of venture capital and a risk-averse mentality in both national and European administrations. Such report emphasized the need to remove barriers to innovation and promote stronger interaction between users, researchers and business, in particular in regional innovation systems. It also called on politicians to equip the EU with more flexible tools "to better focus European high-tech research and to open it up to more risk and to new international partners".

The public consultation is open until 7 November 2008 and can be accessed via http://ec.europa.eu/yourvoice/ipm/forms/dispatch?form=ICTRDI