— Posted by DG INFSO’s team attending the Future Internet Week

Last week hundreds of delegates – top researchers in Future Internet architectures, services and applications from across Europe and beyond – met up for the Future Internet Assembly (FIA) which took place as part of the Future Internet Week  in Poznan, Poland.

Over the past three years FIA has left no stone unturned during its discussions of how the Future Internet should be built, how it should work and what it should offer society in the coming decades. Which makes the people filling the lecture halls and meeting rooms very special people indeed. “If we all agree that that ICT is the main drivers of the economy in Europe then perhaps it is not an overstatement that ICT researchers are an irreplaceable human asset,” noted Maria Elżbieta Orłowska, Poland’s Secretary of State for Science and Higher Education, in her opening speech. “We should treasure this group, and I say this not to make you feel good but to highlight the importance of this human capital.”

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— Posted by DG INFSO’s team attending the Future Internet Week

Step from the cold October air and into the atrium of the Lecture-Conference Centre on the campus of the Poznań University of Technology. Banks of plasma screens display super crisp, high resolution images. Delegates use their mobile phones to manipulate images on monitors. Or perhaps you would like to see your future home and office? You can wander through several ‘rooms’ and see how devices adjust to your preferences – thanks to the RFID tag in the conference pass.

As you leave one room the TV switches off, only for the one nearest you to spring to life and continue your film from exactly where you left it. Your favourite jazz is playing and the personal profile you filled in online also tells the PC on your desk to boot into Windows, not Linux. Even the lights adjust to your preferred levels! It might sound like a gimmick, but this exhibit is just one demonstration of the Future Internet in action. And if you want more serious  stuff, then simply listen to the talks and sessions.

The Future Internet Week   kicked off on Monday with the Future Internet Conference, a day to explore  some of the strategic policy issues which Europe, Member States and the  regions must tackle to make sure that they don’t miss out on the great   opportunities that are springing from the digital revolution. “Now is a   perfect time to take a huge step ahead,” asserted Maria Elżbieta  Orłowska, Poland’s Secretary of State for Science and Higher Education, in her address.  “The Internet is a driver for growth and we must build economic growth on this   new technology backbone.” 

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— Posted by Gérald Santucci, DG INFSO, Head of unit: Networked Enterprise and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)

On the 26^th of October 2011, the Polish Presidency of the EU will host a conference on the Internet of Things at Poznań University of Technology during Future Internet Week. This is an important milestone in Europe’s commitment to sustainable economic growth and better quality of life for citizens.

I’m pleased to stress that this conference will be the fifth since 2007 in the series of Internet of Things events during an EU Presidency. The outcome of the conference will be determined not by whether the Internet of Things community can sit together in Poznań on 26^th October, but whether its different components can work together in the months and years ahead – in other words, the commitment and convergence of decision makers from government, industry and civil society in Europe.

The conference will also underline how and why an Internet of Things will lead to great opportunities for growth and jobs in European economy and industry. This is essential. We are poised for progress. Three years after the beginning of the worst recession most of us have ever known, and being aware of the threats that continue to affect our economic environment, harm our capacity to remain at the cutting-edge of technology to meet the current and future challenges of technological development, and haunt the very future of Europe’s welfare and competitiveness, time has come to recognize the potential of Internet-enabled communications with and among objects for a better life that we pass on to our children.

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