IST 2003 will address European policies, strategies and research activities in all areas of the Information Society.

This year, the IST conference will take place in Milan on 2-4 October, in partnership with SMAU , one of Europe's largest ICT events.

IST 2003 has three elements: Conference, Exhibition and Networking:

1. The conference will gather high-level decision-makers from the public sector, private industry and the world of research in the same place, tackling the same challenge: to improve the prosperity, security and quality of life for all Europeans through the development of a user-centric European Information Society.
2. The IST 2003 Exhibition will display the best European research projects in the sector, whether they stem from EU, national, regional or corporate research programs.
3. Networking sessions complement the conference and exhibition, bringing together people to discuss project ideas, research activities and business partnerships.

Most of the conference exhibits fall under one of 5 topics:

1. SMEs as an engine for innovation and new business models;
2. Broadband and wireless applications;
3. The "nano world" featuring the opportunities of nano-electronics and nano-systems;
4. When interaction with technology becomes natural: interfaces using all senses;
5. Harnessing computing and knowledge resources: knowledge and computing CRIDs.

The IST-EC partnering event at IST 2003 will include brokerage activities between EU and Canadian researchers at the IST-EC networking session and exhibition stand.

For details about the conference, visit the IST 2003 conference Web site .

Opportunities for EU collaborators

IST-EC networking session

A delegation of Canadian researchers will participate at the session with presentations of their research interests and project ideas. If you are attending the IST 2003 conference, we can arrange a meeting with a representative from the Canadian research team (or a meeting with IST-EC Canadian partner on behalf of Canadian research team) of your choice from the IST-EC Catalogue of Canadian organisations. We will also send you more information about the research team.

If you are not attending IST 2003 but interested in collaboration with Canadian partners, please contact us for more information about support under the IST-EC project.

IST-EC exhibition stand

The IST-EC catalogue of Canadian organisations will be available at the exhibition stand. IST achievements of Canadian researchers will be presented in multimedia demonstration. You also will be able to find out more about support that the IST-EC project provides for EU and Canadian researchers in partner search and developing proposals to IST FP6.

Canadian Pavilion at SMAU: Hall 11, Stand 15

In addition to IST conference, a delegation of Canadian companies will also participate in the SMAU event. If you have any commercial interests, we can arrange a meeting with a representative from the Canadian SMAU delegation. Please have a look at the catalogue of Canadian SMAU exhibitors and contact us (see our contact below).

Opportunities for Canadian collaborators

IST 2003 is a large-scale European event where Major European strategic initiatives will be presented and debated: from IST research policies and the establishment of a European Research Area in the sector to the roll-out of broadband and mobile services and telecom deregulation.

At the IST-EC networking session Canadian researchers will be able to present their IST expertise and research interests and have brokerage meetings with EU partners to discuss opportunities for collaboration under IST. If you are interested to attend IST 2003 as a member of the Canadian delegation of the IST-EC project, please contact Jim Burt at jim.burt@dfait-maeci.gc.ca .

Your IST-EC contact in Europe and Canada

In Canada: Jim Burt at jim.burt@dfait-maeci.gc.ca

In Europe: Pierre Simay at pierre.simay@get-telecom.fr and Olga Pekushkina at olga.pekushkina@singleimage.co.uk