Key Features
Technology Platforms have the primary objective of defining a coherent and unified approach to tackling major economic, technological or societal challenges of vital importance for Europe’s future competitiveness and economic growth.
“The development of effective European Technology Platforms can help ensure European investment in R&D rapidly and effectively: delivers benefits to the European citizens, creates competitiveness for our companies and ends the situation in which high EU R&D investment often produces fewer than expected benefits.”

Key factors for Success of Technology Platforms:

• Industry-led with growth and competitiveness goals (Lisbon objectives and beyond)
• Flexibility: no “one size fits all”
• Openness and transparency: clear rules of participation
• Wide stakeholder involvement (industry, public authorities, research community, regulators, civil society, operators, users and consumers)
• Real Community added value – significant benefits for a wide range of policies (environment, transport, energy, information society etc.)
• Strong commitment of national authorities
• Operational focus from an early stage
• Consider financial aspects at an early stage
• Mobilisation of a range of public and private funding sources (National, regional and private research funding, Community Framework Programmes, Structural Funds, EUREKA)
• Education & Training; dissemination.

Role of the European Commission

In the course of the development of Technology Platforms, the Commission services have clarified that:

• The Commission is not the “owner” of technology platforms, nor is it directing the way in which they are undertaking their activities.
• The Commission is, however, encouraging this bottom-up, industry-led approach to defining medium to long-term research needs through:
  - Its active participation as an observer in many of the platforms;
  - Playing a guiding role, where necessary;
  - Providing limited Community financial support for operational entities (for example a Secretariat) to some of the platforms where their objectives and activities correspond closely with he thematic areas of the current 6th RTD Framework Programme;
  - Maintaining the Community’s sponsoring role through the continued funding, where appropriate, of collaborative research projects in many of the areas concerned.
  
• Whilst not bound by the views of Technology Platforms, the Commission services are closely co-ordinating their activities in this area, monitoring developments on an ongoing basis and, where appropriate, using their deliverables in the course of developing research policy.

In the near term, Technology Platforms will provide a significant input to developing the Commission’s proposal for FP7, given that:

• The majority of the Strategic Research Agendas, defined within Technology Platforms, are expected to be suitable for support through the main, existing collaborative research instruments which will be maintained under FP7.
• A specific new mechanism is envisaged to be introduced in FP7 which will enable coherent, large-scale structures, to be known as “Joint Technology Initiatives” (JTIs) to be set up, in order to support the implementation of a part of a limited number of research agendas which are of such an ambitious scale that they will require the mobilisation of a very high public and private investments, as well as huge material and human research resources.

In the run up to FP7, specific, technological challenges have been identified through their potential contributions to a number of key policy objectives, which are vital for Europe’s future competitiveness, including:

• New technologies leading to radical change in a sector, if developed and deployed appropriately and in time (examples: Hydrogen and Fuel Cells, Nanoelectronics);
• Reconcilation of different policy objectives with a view to sustainable development (examples: Water Supply and Sanitation, Plant Genomics and Biotechnology);
• New technology based public goods or services with high entry barriers, uncertain profitability, but high ecomonic and social potential (examples: Mobile and Wireless Communications, Innovative Medicines for Europe);
• Ensuring the development of the necessary technology breakthroughs to keep at the leading edge of technologies in high-technology sectors which have significant strategic and economic importance for Europe (examples: Aeronautics, Embedded Systems);
• Renewal, revival or restructuring of traditional industrial sectors (examples: Steel).

Existing or planned Technology Platforms (at the different stage of development):
1. The European Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology Platform (HFP)
2. ENIAC – European Nanoelectronics Initiative Advisory Council
3. NanoMedicine – Nanotechnologies for Medical Applications
4. The Gas Cooled Reactors Technology Platform
5. Plants for the Future
6. Water Supply and Sanitation Technology Platform (WSSTP)
7. The European Technology Platform on Photovoltaics
8. Technology Platform on Sustainable Chemistry
9. Innovative and Sustainable Use of Forest Resources
10. European Technology Platform for Global Animal Health (GAH)
11. ERTRAC European Road Transport Research Advisory Council
12. ERRAC European Rail Research Advisory Council
13. WATERBORNE Technology Platform
     (Supported by ACMARE Advisory Council) [364 KB] .
14. The Mobile and Wireless Communications Technology Platform (eMobility)
15. Innovative Medicines for Europe
16. Embedded Systems (ARTEMIS)
17. ACARE – Advisory Council for Aeronautics Research in Europe
18. The European Space Technology Platform (ESTP)
19. The European Steel Technology Platform
20. The European Technology Platform for the Future of: Textiles and Clothing (ETP-FTC)
21. MANUFUCTURE – Platform on Future Manufacturing Technologies
22. The European Construction Technology Platform (ECTP)
23. EuMaT – European Technology Platform for Advanced Engineering Materials and Technologies
24. The European Technology Platform on Industrial Safety
25. The NEM Initiative – European Initiative on NETWORKED and ELECTRONIC MEDIA

The next steps:

• to further develop and support Technology Platforms in the period leading up to the launch of FP7
  and

• in close collaboration with EU Member State authorities, to further refine the methodology to identify and decide upon those technological fields being explored within these platforms which most merit to be supported with substantial Community funding under FP7 through use of the new mechanism – Joint Technology Initiatives.

For further information on the development of technology platforms, please visit:
http://www.cordis.lu/technology-platforms/summaries.htm
http://www.cordis.lu/technology-platforms/publication.htm