19^th International CODATA Conference
Category: Scientific Informatics Challenges in EurAsia

EDNES Program of EU Iinformation Society Technologies Priority Promotion in European and Asian countries

Alexei GVISHIANI
IPE RAS/EDNES, Russia

The IST promotion program of Earth Data Network for Education and Scientific Exchange (EDNES) started in 1996. At that time UNESCO and EDNES gained EU FP4 project STACCIS that delt with IST program promotion to the seven CIS countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Russia and Ukraine. The project has been successfully completed in 1999. In 2000 EDNES started its collaboration with CODATA in the field of IST promotion to Eastern European and CIS countries. The EU FP5 project WISTCIS has been launched in 2000 under coordination of EDNES. This project has been implemented in the same group of the CIS countries. At the same time EDNES, in collaboration with CODATA, extended the activity onto three Baltic states of the Former Soviet Union: Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. The IST promotion activities in these Baltic states were implemented by the EU FP5 project TELEBALT, coordinated by EDNES. Both projects were successfully completed in 2003. In 2002, EDNES in collaboration with UNIDO started the EU FP5 project TELESOL focused onto CIS Caucasian and Central Asian countries. Kazakhstan, Kirgizstan and Uzbekistan occured to be included in this promotion program. As planned, the program is finding its continuation in the EU FP6 as well. A new FP6 IST4Balt project is going to start shortly in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.