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The EPN Consulting Newsletter - 072 - August 2016
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Dear Colleague,
In a couple of weeks all of us will experience what for many people is considered the 1st day of the new productive year: 1st September. Back to work, back to school, back to everyday's routine will push each of us to think of New Year's (personal, professional & commercial) resolutions.
There will be a lot of effort to polish our post-holiday life and several many plans to learn foreign languages, practise new sports, become members of some associations, etc. will be designed. Resolutions (must) regard also the Business and the Professional fields such as design new strategies, conquer new markets, acquire new clients, find new business streams and so on.
In line with the EPN Consulting expertise and recognition in EU projects and EU affairs I would like to remind you of the great opportunities of EU funding available to realise your business expansion, carry out new technical research, implement improved and brand-new devices, systems, products, services. In particular I refer to the Horizon 2020 framework that is going to open the 2017 calls for proposals on several themes between September and November. As a matter of fact, new Energy Efficiency calls were already opened at the end of July. Transport calls will open on 20 Sept, Sustainable Food Security on 04 Oct, Climate Change on 08 Nov, just to mention a few. Many others will follow and you can find them online or ask ourselves.
To introduce these new 2017 calls, the EC will organise Information Days in Brussels that are free to attend provided that your participation is registered in advance and accepted.
We should also keep in mind the last chance to submit your proposals to the Fast Track to Innovation scheme is by 25 Oct as well as the two deadlines for the SME Instrument (07 Sept for Phase 1 and 13 Oct for Phase 2). If you would like to know more, please get in touch.
As you can see, there is an abundance of opportunities for every theme and need. The important is preparing high-quality proposals as competition is very hard. In this regard, EPN Consulting could help you with exclusive and bespoke services.
Last but not least, applications of UK companies are (still) fully accepted: don't miss the chance!
Founder, CEO
You receive this newsletter because you have been in touch directly or indirectly with EPN Consulting and/or its Founder & CEO. Please be assured that all your data stored in our systems will never be given away/sold/disclosed as EPN Consulting enforces a strict privacy policy.
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Horizon 2020 & other calls close to deadline
06 Sept 2016 - Deadline of No. 7 Horizon 2020 calls. Visit our Events Section for more details
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Remote-controlled and crewless: is this the Cargo Ship of the Future?
12 July 2016 - The future of cargo transportation will be autonomous, according to Rolls-Royce, which has revealed plans for a remote-controlled, unmanned ship that could take to the seas as early as 2020.
The company, better known for making luxury cars and jet engines, has published a white paper setting out its vision for cargo vessels that can be monitored remotely by a "captain" stationed at an on-shore command centre.
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Smart Cities: Six Essential Technologies
01 Aug 2016 - Smart Cities are no longer the wave of the future. They are here now and growing quickly as the Internet of Things (IoT) expands and impacts municipal services around the globe.
The Smart City industry is projected to be a $400 billion (£305bn, €355bn) market by 2020, with 600 cities worldwide. These cities are expected to generate 60% of the world's GDP by 2025, according to a McKinsey research.
While there are many definitions of a smart city, in general, a smart city utilizes IoT sensors, actuators and technology to connect components across the city, and it impacts every layer of a city, from underneath the streets, to the air that citizens are breathing. Data from all segments is analysed, and patterns are derived from the collected data.
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Electric Cars are coming. But are Cities ready for them?
03 Aug 2016 - Researches on megatrends have shown that more and more people are living in cities. For instance, roughly half of China's population lives in cities and the government plans to push that to 70% by 2025. This is not only happening in emerging countries; cities in developed economies are also growing. London is a case in point.
Urbanisation brings certain benefits, such as private and public investment, and increased job opportunities, that raise economic prosperity. At the same time, however, urbanisation is producing new challenges. One of these is no doubt air pollution. And this is a tough one: London, which is not the worst major city for air pollution, breached the EU's annual pollution limits just one week into 2016. Alongside their lower carbon footprint, this is why electric vehicles have been hailed as an important way to improve our environment.
By one estimate, London will have some 20,000 electric cars by 2020. And this would possibly grow by five times to 100,000 in the five years that follow, according to Transport for London.
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Brexit Bulletin: What the Rest of the EU wants
09 Aug 2016 - What are the 27 other EU countries hoping to get out of Brexit talks? Bloomberg reporters put that question to governments across the continent and came away with a web of priorities and red lines that can't be crossed.
Several countries including Germany, Portugal and the Czech Republic say the UK must accept freedom of movement rules in return for single-market access. France may be ready to go even further and link free movement to Britain's ambition of keeping the so-called passport rights that allow banks to sell services on the continent.
Just three EU members (Denmark, Austria and Bulgaria) cited a shared concern with Britain over free movement.
Other highlights from the survey include:
France and Denmark are concerned with reciprocal access for fishermen to their respective waters; Spain will press for joint sovereignty over Gibraltar; Cyprus and Greece want to avoid further damage to the pound, which could keep British tourists away; Baltic and Eastern European states want reassurances about security in the face of Russian aggression; Malta wants to keep preferential access to British universities for its young people.
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Countdown to a non-stop Capital: London goes 24-hour
14 Aug 2016 - "I'm really excited that at last we're going to have a night tube", says the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan.
The night-time economy - made up of pubs, clubs, bars, restaurants, music venues and so on - is the UK's 5th biggest industry: according to economic research consultancy TBR, it accounts for 1.3m jobs, and has a yearly revenue of £66bn (6% of the UK total). This week a report for independent body London First estimated that London's night-time economy could be worth nearly £30bn annually by 2030.
As of 19 August on Fridays and Saturdays, underground trains will run every 10 or 20 minutes on the Victoria and Central lines. Jubilee, Northern and Piccadilly lines will follow in the Autumn 2016.
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EPN Consulting News
On 14 July 2016 in Athens (GR) EPN Consulting CEO Dr Ing Stefano Mainero attended the EC-funded Aquasmart project meeting as one of the Advisory Board members. The Aquasmart project is about enhancing innovation capacity within the aquaculture sector, by helping companies to transform captured data into knowledge and use this knowledge to dramatically improve performance. It also supports production benchmarking through access to global data.
The project is based in the real world, addressing actual problems that aquaculture producers face and is run by a skilled and experienced consortium including top research institutes, a major player in the aquaculture IT sector and three highly innovative aquaculture companies.
Great developments have been achieved so far.
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Upcoming Professional Events in Europe
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The Website of the Month:
AVERE
AVERE is the European Association for Battery, Hybrid and Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles.
It was founded in 1978 and comprise members including Users, NGOs, Associations, Interest groups, Public Bodies, Research & Development entities, Vehicle and Equipment Manufacturers, Electricity Utilities.
Its main objective is promoting the use of Battery, Hybrid and Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles - individually and in fleets and for priority uses - in order to achieve greener mobility for cities and countries.
The main activities to achieve these objectives are related to dissemination, networking, monitoring, participation in European and multilateral projects, lobbying, research and development, among other. In public policy advocacy AVERE presents the electric drive industry's and R&D bodies' concerns to the European Commission.
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The EPN Consulting Galaxy
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EPN Consulting
Based in London. Engaged with Europe. |
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