EECA-2-HORIZON - Agency of European Innovations

Scope & results

The main aim of the EECA-2-HORIZON project is to reinforce the development of strategic and mutually beneficial partnerships in ICT between the EU and the East Europe and Central Asia (EECA) countries. The overall goal is to strengthen the links and boost cooperation among the research and industrial communities of both regions to exploit emerging opportunities for international partnerships (both under EU and EECA RTD&I programmes) and jointly address common societal challenges.

EECA-2-HORIZON builds upon the invaluable legacy in EU-EECA cooperation in ICT that was created by the PICTURE project (FP7-ICT CSA, on-going) and its preceding EECA-ICT cluster that was formed by joining forces of FP7-ICT CSAs, namely: ISTOK-SOYUZ, SCUBE-ICT and EXTEND (completed in 2011).

EAST-HORIZON and EECA-2-HORIZON are two complementary projects funded by the European Commission under the ICT Programme of FP7. Together they form a Cluster whose aim is to develop strategic and mutually beneficial partnerships in ICT between the EU and the Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA) countries and to assist ICT RTD&I policy dialogue, paving the path for EU-EECA successful strategic partnerships. Both projects started in February 2014 and build upon the invaluable legacy in EU-EECA cooperation in ICT that was created by the PICTURE project (FP7-ICT CSA, completed in May, 2014) and its preceding EECA-ICT cluster that was formed by joining forces of FP7-ICT CSAs, namely: ISTOK-SOYUZ, SCUBE-ICT and EXTEND (completed in 2011).

The overall goal is to strengthen the links and boost cooperation among the research and industrial communities of both regions to exploit emerging opportunities for international partnerships (both under EU and EECA RTD&I programmes) and jointly address common societal challenges.

Both projects will closely coordinate and align their activities to maximise their synergy and impact. This will lead to the best possible benefits for the EU and the Eastern Europe and Central Asia and in parallel will support organisations from both sides to prepare successful proposals for joint projects in collaborative ICT RTD&I, within the Horizon 2020 and in national EU/EECA ICT RTD&I programmes.Both projects work towards the same direction and complement each other. The projects have a common brand and a joint impact represented by a common dissemination strategy and combination of communication tools and measures.

Four ICT Communities will be mainly targeted (based on the priority areas depicted from the PICTURE project):