Benoit Cerexhe welcomes the ICT forum
Within the framework of the Belgian EU presidency, it is the Brussels Capital-Region which is awarded the presidency of the Competitiveness Council/Research. Minister of Research Benoit Cerexhe is in charge of organizing the presidency and is presiding over its activities.
On this occasion Benoit Cerexhe is happy to welcome in Brussels the biggest two-yearly european event dedicated to research and digital innovation, the ICT forum. The event is organized by the European Commission, this year in cooperation with the Belgian EU presidency.
Information and communication technologies contribute to an important extent, directly or indirectly , to the economy of a country. They provide for the creation of jobs and an increase in productivity, added value and exports. In Belgium the ICT sector’s contribution to growth is estimated at 20%. About one third of this proportion is realized in the Brussels Region, which possesses a unique growth potential given the strong concentration of companies in this sector and its central position in Belgium. The ICT-sector is growing, with an increase of 30% in the number of jobs between 1997 and 2007, well above the total growth in employment. Through a series of initiatives (reference center, clusters, incubators, financial aid), the Brussels government largely supports this sector, designated in "Le Contrat pour l'Economie et l'Emploi" (Contract for Economy and Employment), as one of the three key innovating sectors for Brussels.
With the support of the Brussels Region, a dozen projects from companies and universities which illustrate the most recent trends as regards information and communication technology are presented in the Belgian exposition pavilion: company software with applications online (ASP or Software as a Service), gesture recognition software, 3D images, IT intelligence, merging of WiFi and GSM networks, new organic material for electronics and photonics. (see added complete list)
Additionally and within the framework of the ICT forum, the Brussels Region will organize two particular activities, one dedicated to the Regions' added value in innovation policies and the other to the regional "success stories" in the sector of information and communication technologies.
Brussels has played its trump cards in order to attract this major event to the capital of Europe, and mobilized its important players to buttress its organization, in partnership with the Federal level and the other Regions of the country. The Region could rely on the collaboration of different operators in Brussels: the Brussels Enterprise Agency (BEA), the Institute for the encouragement of Scientific Research and Innovation of Brussels (ISRIB), research in Brussels, Brussels Regional Informatics Center (BRIC) and the Bureau of major events of Brussels International Tourism and congress (BITC).
