Welcome

eChallenges e-2003 is the thirteenth in a series of annual conferences, which regularly attract over 500 delegates from commercial, government and research organisations around the world. Focusing on e-business, e-government, Organisational Knowledge, e-work and Knowledge Work and eEurope 2005, the goal of e-2003 is to stimulate rapid take-up in Europe of Research and Technology Development (RTD) results and to help open up the European Research Area (ERA) to the rest of the world.

This conference series is recognised as an important event in the international research calendar, attracting delegates and speakers from around the world. Formerly known as the eBusiness and eWork Conference and supported by the European Commission under the Information Society Technologies (IST) programme, the scope of eChallenges has evolved with the transition from Framework Programme Five (FP5) to FP6.

e-2003 is a prestigious international forum to increase awareness of exploitable research results and applications, whether funded privately or at regional, national or European level. Increasingly, it is also being used as a forum for speakers from outside Europe to share their experience, as it provides an excellent networking environment to discuss problems and new ideas, share knowledge and experience and obtain feedback from potential partners and users. This supports the goals of the ERA by increasing Return On Investment (ROI) through better exploitation of results and better coordination of research activities.

The 3 day programme brings together an interesting mix of case studies, technical and policy papers and interactive workshops. As well as three plenary sessions, there are parallel streams focused on broadband and mobility, e-business, e-Europe, e-government, e-learning, e-work, knowledge management, media and entertainment applications, security, smart and virtual organisations and SME related issues. The conference programme will be complemented by an exploitation-focused exhibition, social events including a Gala Reception, a partner programme and post conference tours.