Press Release: EU Research in Information Society Technologies vital for competitiveness but needs more investment and less bureaucracy, says Assessment Panel

According to a report, released by the European Commission on 17 January 2005 Europe's research and development in Information Society Technologies (IST) made a vital contribution to efforts to become the world's most competitive knowledge economy. But Europe had to step up this investment if it was to achieve 'critical mass' in these technologies. The report also highlighted the need to reduce bureaucracy, which threatened to stifle research. The report was written by a high-level panel of independent experts chaired by Professor J.M. Gago, former Portuguese Science Minister and one of the authors of the Lisbon strategy.