Overview

The central piece of work to be delivered by this work package is the QUIE2T web portal, which will serve as the main source of information and focal point to represent the project. Besides its representative function, it will also serve as a major information exchange and communication platform for the community.

As second objective, WP3 aims at increasing the impact on the society via improved public visibility and awareness of the field, through specific initiatives such as articles in specialized/popular science/general press, promotion, a dedicated documentary movie (whose production was initiated by the QUIE2T predecessor QUROPE), etc. It will collect and provide material for the public part of the project web site. It will also regularly produce specific publications to reflect and promote QIPC research in Europe, possibly in cooperation with the funded FP7 Integrated Projects and the EC (through the FET QIPC Proactive Initiative). As another objective WP3 will stimulate and facilitate discussions on QIPC related topics, in particular among, but not restricted to, young scientists, students and the interested general public. The idea is to provide a forum where specific topics and questions may be raised and discussed. This objective will be pursued in close cooperation with WP2 and WP4.

Objectives

The aim of this work package is to increase the general visibility of QIPC related research in Europe, and to assure a constant information flow within the community and beyond. This will be achieved specifically via

• The setup of a comprehensive web site
• The setup of adequate means for efficient information exchange and dissemination
• An increase of the general public visibility of QIPC related research

The central piece of work to be delivered by this work package is the project web site, which will serve as the main source of information and focal point to represent the project. Besides its representative function, it will also serve as a major information exchange and communication platform for the community.
The second main objective of this work package is the outreach to other communities, in particular industries, the general public and political representatives. This will be achieved by a sustained public relations campaign, including publications in political and popular media and press releases.
One specific aim is targeted at the sustained awareness of the general public to ensure broader acceptance and understanding of QIPC related issues in particular, and science in general. The collected media contributions will also provide a helpful indicator for the excellence of European research in the context of international competition.

Tasks

The main responsibility of this work package will be to distribute and disseminate information among the project partners and the research community, as well as to the general public. Most of the internal information exchange will take place by electronic means, via a dedicated web site, mailing lists or discussion forums. Adequate means for feedback collection will be provided so as to monitor the general acceptance of the services by the community.
A main body of work will involve the collection and presentation of data provided by other work packages. This includes the integration of existing databases from the QUROPE CA, as well as the establishment of new databases.

T3.1 Setup an information exchange platform

Work on this task will commence immediately with the project start and run for the first three months. The aim is to define the exact procedure that is to be followed in order to achieve the objective of efficient information exchange and dissemination. This will include a concept for the web site that defines the features that are to be implemented to facilitate the interaction and data collection. It will also define a strategy for public relations and media outreach and formulate eventual additional specific tasks that could aid in the pursuit of the work package objectives.

The result of this task should be reached after extensive consultation of the project members and the whole community. A dedicated space will be reserved on the project web site to collect input on this topic. This feedback channel will remain open for the remaining duration of the project, even after this task has completed, in order to monitor the needs and wishes of the community. It should be stressed that the conclusions reached through this task will only serve as a starting point and are open to be adapted during the course of the project, in case that new needs or ideas arise.

T3.2 Development and maintenance of a comprehensive web portal

This is the main task of this work package as the web site will be one of the keystones for the operation of the project. Its general aim is to present all the data collected by the project in a visually appealing and easy-to-grasp way. This task will run for the whole lifetime of the project, as the web site is continually updated, with new tools and features to be added as a response to suggested or perceived community needs. The web site will allow for efficient maintenance such that information can be added and managed in a very flexible way.

The minimal features that the web site will provide are:

• News section with information items to be updated on a continuous basis and on-demand for specific events and news;
• Mission statement of the project and listing of planned activities;
• Access to existing databases;
• Reports and related information (presentations, abstracts, papers) on activities and on progress made towards the project objectives;
• Press releases and publications;
• Subscription tools and login area for potential users;
• Easy to use interface;
• Search function;
• Forum function;
• Content management tool(s) for databases, project results and documents.

The web site will be registered under the .eu domain (tentative domain name: www.quie2t.eu).

T3.3 Maintenance and update of existing QUROPE databases

This task will run for a limited period of 6 months right from the start of the project. It is designed to incorporate and integrate all the information that has been collected and processed by the QUROPE project during its lifetime. It will ensure that no relevant data will be lost and enable a long-term view and evaluation of possible evolutions of pieces of information. It will also be valuable in evaluating eventual emerging trends by providing a larger basis for statistical data evaluation.

T3.4 Information and promotion material

This task will take care of a proper presentation and visibility of the project and the QIPC community as a whole to the outside world. This will be achieved via focused PR activities, including press releases, project flyers and publication of dedicated articles. A special emphasis will be put on the presence of QIPC related articles in high-profile political magazines, in order to increase the visibility of the community to decision makers and other stake holders in the field.

The overall functionality of the Flyer is to give general information on the project to the European QIPC community and beyond. The Flyer will be regularly updated with information that has been derived from the project. It will be disseminated at international scientific Conferences and Fairs and be made available to the general public as download document through the project website.
A final issue this is going to be concerned with activities for the promotion of the QIPC documentary movie that has been initiated by the QUROPE project. Due to initial difficulties in ensuring the total financing of the movie, its production was significantly delayed and the movie could not be finished during the life time of QUROPE. It is expected that the movie will be finished at the projects mid-term, at which point this work package will contribute in disseminating information and promotional material to achieve a maximal possible impact factor of this documentary.

T3.5 Traveling professor 'Quantum Envoy'

This task will be concerned with a rather concrete kind of dissemination activity. The idea is to organize and support a 'traveling professor', i.e. a prominent scientist who, during a limited period of time, travels to various locations throughout Europe, and presents general aspects of QIPC in public lectures or presentations. The targeted audience for these lectures is the general public and interested newcomers, e.g. university and high school students. A special attention will be given at the destinations of this Quantum Envoy. On the one hand on should target prominent locations so as to ensure a maximum target audience, on the other hand destinations should also be uniformly distributed across Europe without any bias towards any particular region.

In practice it is planned to organize a lecture tour of about one week for one prominent scientist for each year of the project duration, to visit about 3-4 locations per tour. Travel costs and logistic support will be provided by QUIE2T, other expenses like lodging etc. are expected to be taken over by local organizations. The budget for the Quantum Envoy activities will rest with the coordinator, so the payments can be forwarded directly to the Envoy without administrative overhead.

T3.6 Scientific Exchange and Learning Center

The aim of this task is to stimulate and facilitate discussions on QIPC related topics, in particular among, but not restricted to, young scientists, students and the interested general public. The idea is to provide a forum where specific topics and questions may be raised and discussed.
Another task is to collect and evaluate material in order to setup a database with introductory texts and resources, like books, reviews, lecture notes etc. The entries in this database may be reviewed and discussed in the forum, with a rating system that might facilitate the choice for non-specialists.