The European Commission will present the 4th edition of the prestigious European eGovernment Awards at the 5th EU eGovernment Conference in November 2009. Since their launch in 2003, outstanding practices on the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in various European public sector organisations have been awarded.

Making Europe the world leader in ICT is the goal of the new strategy proposed by the European Commission. Today Europe represents 34% of the global information and communication technologies (ICT) market, and its value is growing by 4% per year. However, the value added produced by the EU's ICT sector amounts to only 23% of the total, because both Europe's market and research efforts are fragmented.

VTT is launching an extensive EU project called ETHERPATHS, studying the effects of dietary effects mediated by gut microbiota on lipid metabolism. The aim is to accelerate the development of health-promoting foods. The project develops computer assisted models with which food companies and research institutions, for instance, will be able to predict the effects of foods in the body.

Scientists have been making strides in the field of nanomedicine, a key subfield of nanotechnology tackling disease treatment, drug delivery and medical diagnostics. The EU-funded NANOMED (Nanomedicine ethical, regulatory, social and economic environment) project is focusing on all aspects of nanomedicine, with emphasis on providing an objective answer to claims that this field will have a huge impact on the healthcare sector.

The survey aims to characterize research groups that work in eHealth, Medical Informatics, Bioinformatics, High Performance and Grid computing and Nanoinformatics included in the following geographical areas: European Union, Latin America, Western Balkans and North Africa.

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The World Health Organizations recognizes the impact of ICT on health and the potential of eHealth in strengthening health systems. With the passage of the eHealth Resolution in May 2005, WHO further endorsed ICT for Health. The Resolution mandated the organization to lead global efforts in Health and to report regularly on the status of eHealth worldwide.

eHealth investment totalling £1.6 million - including funding from the NHS's major IT contractor - was announced today by Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon. Speaking at the first annual Scottish Telehealth and Telecare conference, Ms Sturgeon unveiled details of projects extending the use of electronic technology in the NHS, including: