Special Presentation

Towards an European Information Infrastructure
(The Role of the EU "ACTS" Programme)

The presentation is scheduled on Monday 11th, 1996. from 11:00 to 12:00.
All participants registered either for any of tutorials or the workshop programme are invited to attend.

Abstract: Advances in telecommunications are some of the major driving forces of change in the world today. Telecommunications is no longer important just as an industry in itself (though it is estimated that this sector alone will account for 6% of the European GDP at the end of the century), but has much more significant impact as the provider of an essential infrastructure for other services, such as manufacturing, trading, transportation, education and entertainment. Today, Europe stands on the edge of a communications revolution; a new generation of technologies and services is emerging which will have momentous consequences for everyone. The new communications will change the way we live, work and play. In order to guide these changes in a consistent direction, the European Union initiated the RACE (Research and development of Advanced Communications in Europe) and ACTS (Advanced Communications Technologies and Services) Programmes, through which it is sponsoring a series of research and technology development projects in the area of information and communications technology. The ACTS Programme (like the forerunner RACE Programme) is a framework for industry, research and educational institutions, and the public at large, to steer the introduction of new technologies and new services - ensuring that Europe enters the 21st century benefiting from the new communications environment. This presentation is intended to give a brief overview of the role of the European Union in the provision of the European Information Infrastructure, specifically through the ACTS Programme. It illustrates the philosophy with specific examples of some projects in this Programme.

Martin Potts received a BSc. degree in Electronic Engineering in 1971, and has been involved in the field of ATM since 1985.

He currently works on behalf of an Association comprising members of the Swiss Telecom PTT and the Swiss telecommunication equipment manufacturer Ascom.

He is the project manager of the European Union ACTS project "EXPERT", which operates one of the largest ATM platforms in Europe.

He is the Chairman of the so-called "Chain" of ACTS projects examining the issues concerning broadband deployment, and is also Chairman of the group of "Chains" which are together investigating all issues of future network interoperability.