Description (EN): Information technologies are an ideal tool for improving citizens’ quality of life, but they have to be affordable, reliable and user-friendly. The regions and cities in the consortium are all interested in the use and promotion of new technologies and citizen training. This interest is evident in regional plans and policies on information technologies (ICT). Such plans of action have been supported in a sustainable way through the creation of ICT competency centres which carry out promotion of ICT among citizens. They show their advantages, suggest business opportunities, carry out innovative pilot projects and offer training. All the partners have set up actions for creating citizens’ wireless networks, deploying hotspots to offer the first public services for citizens. However, use of this technology incurs some common problems: - Wireless infrastructure has to be supported by public and private services to encourage citizens to use it. - Local services have a limited impact, making transnational services necessary. - The cost of developing services for local application is very high for public or private entities. Certain organisations exist which work to introduce this technology (universities, business associations, etc.) but there is no meeting-point where possible cooperation and synergies can be analysed. The partners in this project have therefore set up a wireless network, ICT competency centres and cooperation for developing services. The need for public services to be created at a European level has led the partners to draw up this project in the framework of the Interreg IIIC programme. Overall objective / Objectif général The general objective of the project is to improve citizens’ quality of life and to promote economic development in the regions through the promotion of wireless networks as tools for information, training, communication, work, etc.The specific objectives are as follows: - To create a network for sharing experiences and for cooperation among participants in order to create a network of centres of competency to support promotion of this technology; to analyse the needs shared by all the cities; to detect good practices in services and in business models that support the promotion of wireless networks; to define services which are based on existing public wireless infrastructure and which are applicable for citizens. - To increase general awareness and show citizens and SMEs the benefits and opportunities arising when wireless networks are used; to disseminate this technology and possible applications among social and economic agents in cities (companies, associations, citizens, schools, etc.); to provide assistance to local SMEs in understanding and using such networks and to show them their economic potential: To offer demonstrations of wireless services; to offer training in new technologies. - To encourage the use of wireless devices among citizens through joint definition and development of a location-based service (LBS) that could be replicated in all the partners’ regions and could allow users to gain access to the project partners’ information (leisure, transport, tourist information, cultural information, etc.) in regard to their location; to collect dispersed information in a place that is accessible to the service; to specify and develop the service; to carry out pilot implementations in some of the participating cities. Expected results / Résultats attendus - Definition of the organisation and tasks for a wireless centre of competency in each region, by creating technical working groups among the partners to carry out joint definition of the wireless information services for citizens (no. of specialists trained in the technology). - Creation of a network for consolidating 6 WIC within ICT centers of competency to support projects by the administration and to act as coordinator of these initiatives (no. of new projects in the regions). - Shared development of an LBS services platform to act as the key application for the development of new services and businesses in each region (no. of different sub-services to be offered on demo platforms). - Strengthening of European inter-regional cohesion. The project helps to create mechanisms for coordinated management among six regions (no. of new towns in the network). Long-term impact: Greater mobile access to advanced digital services (LBS) for citizens (no. of people with PDAs). New market niches as a result of worker mobility (no. of workers / new enterprises). Promotion of virtual communities to provide new knowledge and added value to the service (no. of fora created).
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