The FP7 EXTEND project has been officially launched at the Opening Conference in Chisinau, Moldova, on 19 June 2009.

The Conference aimed to introduce to the Information Communication Technologies (ICT) stakeholders of Eastern Europe and the Southern Caucasus the EU concept of and the opportunities for cooperation in Research and Technological Development within the ICT domain. The event was attended by 100 participants, experts and researchers from all the countries of the region (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Romania, Ukraine) and Russia.

The Conference provided an opportunity for ICT researchers from the region to network with European experts and the Commission’s delegates and discuss future collaboration perspectives and projects. The participants had also the opportunity to get information on other related support activities (SCUBE-ICT, ISTOK-SOYUZ) and were informed about the EECA cluster initiative (www.eeca-ict.eu)

The Opening Conference was organised at the premises of the Academy of Sciences of Moldova (ASM). Opening addresses were made by Prof. Ion Tighineanu (Vice-President of ASM), Mr. Raphael Koumeri (EXTEND Project Coordinator, PLANET S.A.), Vitalie Rabovila (representative of the Ministry of Information Development of the Republic of Moldova), and Mr. Klaus Pendl (European Commission – DG Information Society and Media – International Relations Unit). Mr. Pendl in particular made a presentation of the FP7 Programme, with an emphasis on the ICT cooperation between EU and the EECA countries.

Two panel sessions discussed the ICT environment of the EECA countries and the best practices and experiences from the participation in FP projects.

The conference concluded with a detailed session on various aspects of participation in FP7 Programme like the ICT Challenges of FP7 in Call 5, useful hints on writing a successful proposal and finding partners and information using IDEALIST and CORDIS.

More information on the Opening Conference, including the Agenda and the main presentations, as well as other EXTEND project activities is available on the project website: www.extend-ict.eu.