Sigma Orionis organizes today and tomorrow in Nice, France, the kick-off meeting of the EuroAfrica-P8 FP7 project. Coordinated by Sigma Orionis, EuroAfrica-P8 aims at supporting policy dialogues and S&T cooperation between Europe and Africa in the ICT field in the framework of the ‘Africa-EU Strategic Partnership on Science, Space and the Information Society’ (the so-called ‘Partnership 8’ - P8). This new project will extend the significant momentum created by several EU-funded projects that Sigma Orionis has coordinated over the period 2006-2011 and aiming at strengthening cooperation links with Africa in ICT research and e-Infrastructures: START, EuroAfriCa-ICT, EuroAfrica-ICT.org and eI-Africa (see www.euroafrica-ict.org and www.ei-africa.eu). The EuroAfrica-P8 project - part of the International relations Unit’s portfolio of the European Commission’s DG INFSO - includes 11 organisations from Europe and Africa in its partnership and will run until the end of 2013. For more information, please contact us.

Sigma Orionis has just been selected by DANTE following a RFP aimed to support the efforts of DANTE’s TEIN3 initiative in Southeast Asia, promoting the development of RENs (Research & Education Networks) in the region, and their connection to GEANT2. Building upon its longstanding experience of cooperation with Southeast Asia (gained in particular through SEACOOP), Sigma Orionis will organise in May 2012 a series of cooperation workshops in three Southeast Asian countries: Cambodia, Lao PDR and Myanmar. The third generation of the Trans-Eurasia Information Network (TEIN) provides a dedicated high-capacity Internet network for research and education communities across Asia-Pacific. TEIN3 already connects researchers and academics in China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam and Australia. Bangladesh and Bhutan are also in the process of getting connected. Through the support brought by Sigma Orionis, it is expected that Cambodia, Lao PDR and Myanmar will soon be officially added to this list.

Sigma Orionis and the NEM European Technology Platform are very pleased to announce that the next NEM Summit will be held in Istanbul during the week of October 15-19, 2012. Sigma Orionis is a member of the NEM Steering Board and of the NEM Executive Group and chairs the NEM Summit Organising Committee. The NEM Summit, now in its 5th year, is an annual conference and exhibition organised by the NEM ETP. The 2011 edition has been organised on Sept. 27-29, 2011 in Turin, Italy and attracted over 300 delegates, 50 exhibitors, and 20 artists participating in the “NEMArt Contest”. Detailed information on the 2012 NEM Summit will be provided in the next weeks on the NEM Summit website.

Sigma Orionis is proud to announce today its involvement in the OpenChina-ICT project, coordinated by the Fraunhofer Institute, Germany, and officially launched today. OpenChina-ICT is a 24-month project supported by the European Commission through its FP7 research funding programme, aimed to increase S&T cooperation with China in ICT. Planned activities include the preparation of a EU-China ICT Cooperation Plan, detailing current and emerging priorities for cooperation between Europe and China in ICT research, and including recommendations to the European Commission and the Chinese authorities on future steps. Beyond Fraunhofer and Sigma Orionis, the consortium includes three Chinese partners: CECO, BSEAC and CATR. For any further information please contact us.

Sigma Orionis is very pleased to announce today its involvement as a full partner in the EINS FP7 Network of excellence, officially launched on Dec. 1, 2011 for a period of 42 months. This NoE, coordinated by the University of Thessaly (Greece) and in the portfolio of the FIRE Unit of DG Infso, focuses on Internet Science and aims to strengthen S&T excellence by developing an integrated and interdisciplinary scientific understanding of Internet networks and their co-evolution with society, and also by addressing the fragmentation of European research in this area. It will enable an open and productive dialogue between all disciplines which study Internet systems from any technological or humanistic perspective, and which in turn are transformed by continuous advances in Internet functionality. EINS will bring together research institutions focusing on network engineering, computation, complexity, security, trust, mathematics, physics, sociology, game theory, economics, political sciences, humanities, law, energy, transport, artistic expression, and any other relevant social and life sciences. For more information, please visit the EINS project website.

Sigma Orionis, a founding member of The PARADISO Foundation, is very pleased to announce that the 1st annual event of the Foundation has successfully taken place today at the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, on the theme "ICT for a global sustainable future". Designed as a “Symposium”, it was held in continuity with the 2011 high-level conference organized at the European Commission in Brussels, on September 7-9, 2011, on the theme “Internet and Societies: new innovation paths”, by the partners of the PARADISO EU-funded project: Sigma Orionis and the Italian Chapter of the Club of Rome. The Symposium included speeches and presentations from key experts and invited participants to discuss how to promote and support ICT solutions, projects and initiatives contributing to a more sustainable future, and to identify promising projects and initiatives to be launched. The event also included the announcement of the 1st Award of the PARADISO Foundation. Agenda and proceedings can be accessed through the web site of the PARADISO Foundation.