Overview

This work package is tailored to achieve two different but complementary objectives. The first one will be to define and establish a set of topics, whose categorization would be of greatest benefit and interest for the community; according to this preliminary survey the corresponding data will be then collected, analyzed and maintained. The second objective will be to establish and sustain contacts with other RTD communities, and foster links between research, industry, politics and other relevant QIPC stake holders.

Objectives

This work package will be concerned with the collection and presentation of general information about QIPC related topics. Its main objectives are:

• Collect and disseminate QIPC related relevant data;
• Establish and sustain contacts with other communities;
• Foster links between research, industry, politics and other stake holders.

The kind of data that will be collected and analyzed by this work package is not a fixed entity. One of the major tasks is actually to define and establish a set of topics, whose categorization would be of greatest benefit and interest for the community.

Tasks

T1.1 Collect and analyze material for relevant databases

The main work of this work package is to carry out a general work of data mining and analyzing with respect to any information that may be useful, directly or indirectly, to the QIPC community in Europe. This task is concerned with establishing the framework and content of what is actually of interest for the community. In order to ensure maximum community coverage, and enable an unbiased view, a survey will be initiated to collect input from different stake holders.
Once the 'hot' topics have been identified, a general initial concept will be worked out for the procedure of data collection and presentation. This will be carried out in collaboration with WP3, whose responsibility it is to publish and disseminate the final analyzed material vie the project web site.
 

T1.2 Setup and maintenance of databases

This task consists in initiating a general data collection process, built upon the conclusions reached in T1.1. It will first build upon the cluster of databases that have been established by the QUROPE project and that have already proven their value to the community. These include the job database, collection of events and database of industries. The main idea is to go beyond these 'raw' databases and identify pieces of information that are maybe not useful in a directly obvious way, but could provide some indirect 'return on investment' for the QIPC community. This could include obvious material like related web sites, printed media, events, conferences and fairs, but extend to a collection of media coverage, articles and publications sorted by topic or simply counting hits on specialized web sites. Such data, globally viewed, may well provide some hints on current trends which may prove interesting and useful for researchers, stakeholders, decision makers and journalists alike.
An essential prerequisite for the usefulness of such data is the proper statistical evaluation as well as a well-designed and thought-through presentation. This task will guarantee an adequate view of the collected data by presenting them interactively on the project web site, but also as a final report that will include a detailed analysis and discussion of the results.

T1.3 Establish sustainable contacts with industry and policy makers

One of the major successes of the QUROPE project was the initiation and maintenance of an industry database with associated activities of communication and creation of synergies with all kinds of European industries and international companies. The aim of this task is to continue and extend these activities, which have proven a valuable factor of impetus for both the research community as well as various commercial stake holders.
One specific highlight of this task will be the organization of a joint 'industry/policy session' at one of the major QIPC conferences to be organized by WP4. Bringing together representatives from high-level political circles with stake holders from the research community and commercial companies is expected to provide a high level of synergies and cross-fertilization, as has been demonstrated by the precedence of the corresponding activity in the QUROPE project.
The strategic long-term goal of this task is to generally establish and strengthen exchanges and links with interested industries in order to build up a sustainable platform for contacts and cross-fertilization. Specific actions to work towards this goal will be considered after consultation and in collaboration with selected industry representatives.