SPRERS

The overall aim of SPRERS was to improve the participation to European collaborative research activities of research teams involved in software services from new member states. This aim has been addressed by identifying the strengths of these teams and facilitate their collaboration through thematic workshops, expert meetings, a training event, an awarding program, and white papers.

Latest related events:

1. CeBPM

2. WoSS-4

Invitations:

What has provided SPRERS?

The demand

The European Community can face a global competition if it fully utilizes resources available in all member states (EU27).

The analysis of statistical data and results achieved by member States in FP IST/ICT projects demonstrates that the new member states (NMS or EU12) have achieved only a partial integration in the EC-supported ICT area. EU12 research potential is not exploited to the expected scale: NMS teams have insufficient participation in EC funded projects, low number of project co-ordinators, lowering success rates, and poor results in participation in big integrating projects.

Special measures should be undertaken to all levels to improve the contribution of EU teams from NMS to the European Research Area. Skills, expertise and creativity offered by outstanding partners from EU12 can contribute to strengthening Europe’s ICT research excellence.

Providing a solution

A solution to improve the participation of EU12 at FP7-ICT programme is to increase the visibility of research groups from EU12 involved in special fields, like the ones sustained by Objective FP7-ICT-1.2 (Service and software architectures, infrastructures and engineering).

This can be done through raising, first, their awareness of the need of improvements in their European collaboration, and, then, identifying the groups willing to cooperate and having the appropriate competences, and, finally, increasing their visibility at European level and facilitating their networking.

Therefore the main objective of the SPRERS project was to improve and reinforce the cooperation between research teams from EU12 and EU15 in the field of software services, with a particular emphasis on the cooperation with Romanian teams.

SPRERS proposed a set of support actions that intends to lead to a better integration of NMS research teams involved in ICT activities, especially those specialized in software services, to the FP7-ICT work programmes

Project results

• An action plan for better integration of NMS in FP7-ICT programme.
• A white paper about the competences of EU12 teams in software services and their proposal for future developments in the field.
• An expert group consisting of EU12 specialists in software services.
• Reinforcement of cooperation between EU12 teams and EU15 teams through face-to-face meetings in two training events and three workshops.
• Increase of the competitiveness and visibility of best teams from EU12 in software services through an European scientific awards program.
• Reinforcement of cooperation between the Romanian teams and EU15 teams through secondment activities.