Rural Inclusion
Definition:
Rural Inclusion is a European research initiative that targets to redefine the way most common transactions between rural SMEs and public authorities are carried out today. Such a redefinition is based on the adoption of advanced web technologies (semantic web / Web2.0) in order to increase the efficiency and flexibility of the aforementioned transaction while at the same time targeting the upgrade of existing web infrastructures of the authorities and the appropriate training of local agents in the effective exploitation of such a technology.
Project Duration :
36 months , June 2009 – May 2012
Objectives :
Rural Inclusion’s main objectives are the following
• Systematic analysis / modeling / documentation of basic transactions that take place between rural SME’s and local public authorities
• Efficient exploitation of the aforementioned processes so as to design and deploy efficient techniques for lowering the administrative burden, inherent in such transactions, using advanced web technologies (semantic web / Web2.0)
• Actual pilot deployment of selected services, through the appropriate web infrastructures
• Creation of the necessary framework that will allow effective long term exploitation of the project outcomes both through deployment and maintenance of the necessary infrastructures and through the training of involved agents / stakeholders.
Funding:
The Project is supported by the Information and Communication Technologies Policy Support (ICT PSP) Programme of the European Commission
Partners:
The project is coordinated by ATOS ORIGIN SA and involves 14 partners from 5 European countries. The complete partners’ list is the following:
1. ATOS Origin Sociedad Anonima Espanola (ATOS) - Project Coordinator – Spain
2. Greek Research & Technology Network S.A. (GRNET) - Greece
3. Centre For Research And Technology Hellas – Informatics & Telematics Institute (CERTH - ITI) - Greece
4. Agricultural University of Athens (AUA) - Greece
5. Ellinogermaniki Agogi Scholi Panagea Savva AE (AE) - Greece
6. Centre Europeen d´Education Permanente (CEDEP) - France
7. National University of Ireland, Galway (NUIG) - Ireland
8. Chios Chamber of Commerce (CHIOS) - Greece
9. Ayuntamiento de Alburquerque (MA) - Spain
10. Sociedad Cooperativa Ganadera Sierra de San Pedro (SCSSP) - Spain
11. Tehnologiju Attistibas Forums (TDF) - Latvia
12. Baltic Open Solutions Centre (BOSC) - Latvia
13. Communauté de Communes des Deux Fleuves (CC2F) - France
14. Communauté de Communes du Nord Martinique (CCNM) - France
Project Manager:
Nikos Manouselis
