Over 50 high profile participants representing both European and African countries attended the 5th EuroAfriCa-ICT Concertation Meeting organized by Orionis this week in Brussels. Participation included key stakeholders from private sector, academia, research organizations, NGOs, European Technology Platforms (ETPs) and Joint Technology Initiatives (JTIs). The one day meeting was moderated by Thierry Devars from the European Commission DG INFSO and Karine Valin from Orionis, with a special focus on "Science and Technology partnerships:The private sector's capacity". Khalil Rouhana from the European Commission started off the meeting with a presentation on the Seventh Framework Program (FP7). This was followed by keynote addresses presented by Daniel Annerose from Manobi, a mobile and internet services operator in Senegal, Susie Hendrix of GSM Association based in United Kingdom and Paulo Nordeste from Portugal Telecom, ranging from innovations, research and development initiatives that have been carried out by European organizations with a focus on Africa. The ETPs NEM and ISI were introduced by Julian Sesena board member and vice-chairperson respectively. The first achievements of the FP7 were highlighted under the FlossInclude project by Rishab Ghosh and Stéphane Boyera from the Digital World Forum and these generated fruitful feedback and dialogue on FP7. The IRMA (Integrated Risk Management in Africa) project, presentation made by Guy Weets, underscored the need for African countries to integrate disaster risk reduction policies in their development and crisis management agendas. Andrew cherry from the Association of Commonwealth universities, a partner on the EuroAfriCa-ICT project, introduced the CAAST-net project that aims at increasing the quality and quantity of bi-regional (Europe and Africa) cooperation in science and technology. The meeting also gave the opportunity to participants to get detailed information on a call for proposals under the @CP-ICT program of the African Caribbean and Pacific states (ACP) secretariat. Participants were informed that it carried a budget of 20 million euros funded by the European development fund (EDF). It has been reminded that the FP7/ICT Work Program focusing on main European research priorities is open to third countries participation and that African countries can share interest with regard to ICT research applications. This can been exemplified by ICT4health where new technologies are of interest to both European and African governments. A new area that was mentioned for intervention is the ageing society that should be able to live independently in its preferred environment with the support of ICTs. All in all the meeting yielded fruitful feedback in the area of future FP7 calls, collaborations with various organizations and initiatives in the area of ICT research. Contact