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MEP Ulrich Stockmann supports HALIRIS +++ New: Search for a partner in Halle ! +++ Halle congratulates Ireland to the Good Friday Agreement and Ireland's clear vote on it !

The objectives of this proposal are:

1. To bring to SMEs the benefits of the Information Society. The demo action will be the maintenance of a web site designed to allow SMEs to contact one another for purposes of sales or supply.
2. To create new contacts for the new environment between SMEs and sources of skill, technologies and information. It will do this by organising workshops between SMEs and local 3^rd level institutions e.g. universities and regional technical colleges.
3. To create a mutual benefit between two regions of Europe engaged in these activities. This will be done by using a joint WWW site and by an exchange of experience and best practice between the two tasks and regions of this project.

Benefits

Since there is no existing geographical or trade relationship between the regions, this possibility of partnership is a direct benefit from membership of the EU and its concern to help its citizens to cooperate with oneanother as a community. Very real gains are anticipated by both regions, in the area of preparedness as well as possible commercial and trade growth. So convinced are the partners of the potential of the projects, that it will be carried out, at least at a reduced level, even without further funding. Each side has already committed resources to the perceived actions and seeks to enhance their own actions by cross-pollination from the other region via this proposal.

A very important purpose of this project is to enable SMEs of all branches (mainly from the information sector) to find potential partners in both regions in order to increase their competitiveness in the European Single Market and to develop new products and services, that can be distributed via electronic commerce.

The co-operation of companies from both regions especially makes sense, because both regions are structurally weak Target 1 areas of the EU and have to find their way towards Information Society in order to realise the benefits of the future. This "European", transborder set of projects serves as practical assistance in supplying interested partners with information and a platform to succeed

Project Management

Each region in the project will carry out its own project management. The prime partner will carry out co-ordination of the two management teams. The tasks are kept separately so that they can be carried out independently.

Telecom Eireann will have one employee directly employed in this project. This employee will act as overall project manager and also will lead the seminars in the two regions.

The Telecom Eireann employee will also link this work to other projects on the Information Society within Ireland with other Information Society projects at a national level within Telecom Eireann and 3^rd level institutions.

The partnership

Ireland is a complete region within the Member States. Halle is also a region. There are similarities and differences. Both are disadvantaged, one in relation to size, both in relation to location. The experiences of each are expected to be complementary and the exchange of experiences will give insights of one region into the somewhat different ways of working of the other. These should prove useful to marketing and the operation of the commercial world as it as it is seen outside the regions concerned.

European dimension

This will be the first time that the is concept has been jointly addressed by Ireland and another region within Europe. It is proposed to show SMEs that the world is now shrinking and that the people in Halle are not on a distant planet but are colleagues and collaborators in a new future. The proposed liaison between 3^rd level institutions and local SMEs could serve as an example for many regions of Europe which are outside the main cities

The very co-operation of two regions not already having close trading relations will underscore and demonstrate the practicability and value, not only of the IS concept, but also that very EU ideals themselves.

Social impacts

There are 3 social impacts sought by this proposal

• Within 3^rd level institutions there will be contact across boundaries of professions that did not exist previously, due to the isolated nature of the existing 3^rd level structures. Connections between sociologist, engineers, technologist, software scientists and legal persons will occur in a common discussion that have not existed so far.
• There will be exchanges the above groups in the 3^rd level institutions and SMEs that have had not taken place so far and it is hoped will continue to the benefit of the whole society in the area.
• The European dimension will have an integrating effect on the social outlook of the SMEs and 3^rd level institutions in the region leading them to a closer community in the day to day life of other people within Europe