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European Infrastructure for Repositories of Scientific Information

8-9 June 2006, Brussels (the venue will be confirmed to registered participants)

Digital Repositories are knowledge resources essential for the European Research Area much in the same way data transport network, grid computing resources or data storage are.

There is, in fact, a growing strategic relevance of Scientific Digital Repositories for Europe's objectives of a Single Information Space. Digital technologies provide the possibilities for exchanging and sharing information and knowledge and, on the other hand, massive quantities of information need to be managed to be really of use. Therefore, there is an opportunity to build in Europe a strong base of scientific and educational digital repositories as part of the European Research Infrastructure which is witnessed by the e-IRG and ESFRI roadmaps and the key initiatives in several European Member States.

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IBM, Public Health Groups Form Global Pandemic Initiative

IBM and over twenty major worldwide public health institutions, including the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, announced the Global Pandemic Initiative, a collaborative effort to help stem the spread of infectious diseases.

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Online portal helps build IST partnerships

Navigating Europe's maze of research organisations to find the right partner is no easy task. A new portal aims to lower the barriers to collaboration by raising the visibility of organisations, researchers and projects to facilitate community partnership building.

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Getting all stakeholders on the same track is the key to success

The European Commission used to concentrate primarily on funding research topics related to eHealth such as medical informatics and telemedicine. The EU's eHealth office has now expanded its eHealth repertoire to include deployment strategies and policies that support citizen-centered health systems across Europe. The Commission's eHealth vision is laid out in a Communication published in April 2004. A first crucial stepping-stone towards the plan’s achievement has already taken place: regional eHealth networks are functional and many examples can be found all over the EU. Today's focus is on interoperability and certification issues, according to European Commission official, Ilias Iakovidis, Deputy Head of the ICT for Health Unit of the Information Society and Media Directorate-General.

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ICT for BIO-Medical Sciences 2006

Charlemagne Building, Brussels, 29-30 June 2006

The conference is organised by the European Commission DG Information Society and Media and DG Research and with the support of three roadmapping projects of DG INFSO (SYMBIOMATICS, STEP & SHARE).

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Electronic Personal Health Records Come of Age

Special Supplement to American Journal of Medical Quality explores Personal Health Records

San Mateo, CA, May 15, 2006 – A special supplement to the May/June issue of the American Journal of Medical Quality (AJMQ) entitled "Electronic Personal Health Records Come of Age" provides a detailed explanation of Personal Health Records (PHRs) citing InterComponentWare's (ICW) PHR LifeSensor® and includes contributions from eHealth industry leaders and the Department of Health Policy faculty at Jefferson Medical College. It is anticipated that the AJMQ supplement will generate serious discussions about the use and functionalities of current PHR technology and the fuller potential and benefits of implementing PHRs with interoperable capabilities.

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The World of Health IT e-newsletter

The e-Newsletter Meeting the Challenges in Healthcare IT Across Communities is now online. In the run up to the inaugural World of Health IT Conference & Exhibition to be held in Geneva 10 - 13 October, an issues-based e-newsletter has been launched.

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European Commission's recent Calls for tenders

The European Commission's Information Society and Media DG has published:

• I - a call for tenders for recommendations on exploiting research infrastructure potential in key areas of the information society (e-government, e-health, e-learning);
• II - a call for tenders for the move towards a European e-infrastructure for e-science digital repositories.

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The World of Health IT: 2006 Conference & Exhibition

For the first time in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, representatives from all spectrums of the world of health IT will come together (10-13 October, 2006) in Geneva, Switzerland.

The World of Health IT Conference & Exhibition is a new concept for the healthcare community. Bridging the gaps between public policy and the realities of day-to-day implementation, The World of Health IT has been designed for and by the healthcare IT community in Europe, the Middle East and Africa - be they buyers, vendors, technology users, providers or healthcare regulators.

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European Commission launches new Health Portal

In 2005 at least one third of the European adult population, 130 million EU citizens, browsed the web in search of information on health. However, searching for health-related information is not always easy. Researchers can be confronted with thousands of sites, many of them complex, and it can be hard to know which are reliable or up to date. To help European citizens answer their health questions, the Commission has today launched the "Health-EU Portal". The launch event took place in Malaga, Spain, within the Commission-sponsored "eHealth" conference.

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