SEACOOP-fp7

The SEACOOP project launched in October 2007 with the support of the European Commission (DG Information Society and Media), aims at identifying strategic cooperation opportunities in ICT research between Europe and Southeast Asia.

Project Vision

The SEACOOP project addresses the development of S&T cooperation on ICT between Europe and Southeast Asia. The main project objectives are to identify, promote, and support strategic cooperation opportunities of mutual interest, and to support bilateral and multilateral dialogues. The project also aims at increasing awareness on EU-Southeast Asia S&T cooperation on ICT in Southeast Asia, at widely disseminating project perspectives and results in the European and Southeast Asian ICT communities and at developing synergies with other national and international programmes and initiatives similarly addressing EU-Southeast Asia S&T cooperation on ICT.

Project Objectives

The project is supported by the European Commission’s DG Information Society and Media [http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/information_society/text_en.htm] and builds upon the achievements reached by former supported projects, namely BASIC, ENGAGE, and GAPFILL. Project outputs include:
• The identification of, and support to 10 to 15 key opportunities of strategic cooperation, the project ambition being that these opportunities can be transformed, before the end of the project, into major cooperation initiatives between the two regions,
• The organisation of a EU-Southeast Asia cooperation event in Europe and of awareness workshops in Cambodia, Lao PDR and Vietnam,
• The development of a web-based communication platform devoted to EU-Southeast Asia S&T cooperation on ICT, part of an extensive set of promotion and dissemination activities.

Project Partnership

Coordinated by Orionis, a European organisation who had already coordinated the GAPFILL project, the SEACOOP partnership includes, on the Southeast Asian side, the national Agencies managing ICT research in the 7 most advanced countries:
• The Advanced Science and Technology Institute (ASTI [http://www.asti.dost.gov.ph] ), Philippines
• The Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT [http://www.bppt.go.id] ), Indonesia
• The Institute for Infocomm Research (I2R / A*STAR [http://www.i2r.a-star.edu.sg] ), Singapore
• Mimos Berhad [http://www.mimos.my] , Malaysia
• The National Council for Science and Technology Policy (NCSTP [http://www.ncstp.gov.vn/english/default.asp] ), Vietnam
• The National ICT Development Authority (NIDA [http://www.nida.gov.kh] ), Cambodia
• The National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA [http://www.nstda.or.th/en] ), Thailand

Other Southeast Asian national Agencies are also involved in SEACOOP activities as associate partners, such as NAST/STEA [http://www.stea.gov.la] (Lao PDR).

The nature of the SEACOOP partnership, added to the fact that ASEAN [http://www.asean.org] has brought its support to the project, ensures the largest participation of the Southeast Asian ICT community in project activities, and provides an ideal environment for the development of EU-Southeast Asia policy dialogues.

The SEACOOP project is formally supported, on the European side, by major European Technology Platforms [http://cordis.europa.eu/technology-platforms/home_en.html] , and by leading companies, academia, and research organisations already involved in EU-Southeast Asia cooperation on ICT, which ensures the highest involvement of, and the highest project impact on, the European ICT community.
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Background Info

The development of a strategic cooperation between Europe and Southeast Asia on ICT research

Europe and Southeast Asia are two key players in today's global economy who have much in common. Their populations are nearly identical in terms of size, they have both moved towards regional economic integration, and they share many of the same values.

For over 30 years, the European Union (EU [http://europa.eu/] ) and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN [http://www.asean.org/] ) have enjoyed a positive dialogue. The signing in 1980 of a Cooperation Agreement laid the foundation for cooperation between the regions to promote trade, investment and business. In recent years, efforts have been made by both sides to further strengthen the relationship. In July 2003 the European Commission adopted a Communication on a New Partnership with Southeast Asia [http://www.eurosoutheastasia-ict.org/docs/anewpartnership.pdf] , setting out a comprehensive strategy for future EU relations, both regional and bilateral, a strategy that was later endorsed by the European Council in 2004.

ASEAN is now a more important trading partner for the EU than Japan, South Korea, or India. The Nuremberg Declaration on an EU-ASEAN Partnership of 15 March 2007 [http://www.eurosoutheastasia-ict.org/docs/0315NurembergDeclaration.pdf] recognises the importance of Southeast Asia as a region, and calls for the deepening of the level of cooperation, including science and technology, between the EU and ASEAN.

At a time when science and technology (S&T), information and communication technologies (ICT), and international cooperation are considered by all modern economies to be key drivers in achieving sustainable development, prosperity, and economic growth, cooperation on ICT research between Europe and Southeast Asia can only support the strengthening of relations between the two regions.

Such cooperation has been evolving well over the years, and this is reflected in the fact that many European and Southeast Asia companies and research centres have strengthened and reinforced their R&D links, in particular through joint projects funded by the European Commission in the framework of the FP6 IST programme which operated between 2002-2007.

The success of this cooperation suggests that the time has come for the EU and Southeast Asia to enter into a new phase of S&T cooperation in ICT, both at the bilateral and multilateral level. This new phase should build upon what has been achieved thus far, should be balanced and of mutual benefit, and should focus on a set of well defined strategic cooperation priorities.

The SEACOOP project (see the About us section [http://www.eurosoutheastasia-ict.org/index.html] ) is built on this rationale and will contribute to the development of S&T cooperation in ICT between Europe and Southeast Asia. It is expected that with the support of the FP7 ICT programme [http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/home_en.html] (2007-2013) the SEACOOP project will significantly increase the level of R&D cooperation between European and Southeast Asian companies and research organisations.

Useful Links

• SEACOOP Official Website [http://www.eurosoutheastasia-ict.org]