€80 million available for Europe’s SMEs through FIWARE programme

Met dank overgenomen van Europese Commissie (EC) i, gepubliceerd op woensdag 17 september 2014.

European Commission

Press release

Brussels, 17 September 2014

€80 million available for Europe’s SMEs

Today the European Commission launched the FIWARE Accelerator Programme. €80 million will be awarded to SMEs, Startups and web-entrepreneurs using FIWARE Technologies. The FIWARE Accelerator is a network of European organisations which has already launched first calls for proposals earlier this month. The remaining calls will be presented in Munich on 17th & 18th September on the occasion of the European Conference on Future Internet.

Vice-President of the European Commission @NeelieKroesEU, responsible for the Digital Agenda, says: "Many apps have already been built using the FIWARE programme - from warnings of earthquakes to preventing food waste to Smartaxi apps. I am happy to put into your hands today a new tool for SMEs and entrepreneurs. Use this innovative technology to develop Internet services faster and better. "

Watch the video about FIWARE

http://youtu.be/tPiL7CcnlyU

A series of large scale trials have been running in companies working in the energy, health, smart manufacturing, logistics, agriculture and creative industries to test the FIWARE technology building blocks in large-scale and real-life settings. Now this opportunity is opened to SMEs, startups and web entrepreneurs.

The FIWARE Accelerator will select, mentor and sponsor the most talented teams and business proposals building upon FIWARE technology. More than 1000 enterprises and app developers using FIWARE will benefit from funding up to 150.000 Euro.

3 steps to join the FIWARE Accelerator Programme:

  • Have a good idea for a new online service and assemble your team;
  • Put a proposal online.

Background

FIWARE is part of the EU Public-Private Partnership on the Future Internet and of the EU commitment to help entrepreneurs thrive in Europe via the Startup Europe initiative.

FIWARE is an open alternative to existing proprietary Internet platforms. It enables an easy development and deployment of advanced Internet applications. FIWARE provides enhanced OpenStack-based cloud hosting capabilities and a rich library of components. These components, called the “Generic Enablers”, provide open standard APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) that make it easier to connect to Internet of Things (IoT) devices, process data and media in real-time at large scale, perform Big Data analysis or incorporate advanced features to interact with the user. In FIWARE, API specifications are public and royalty-free, supported by open source reference implementations. Thanks to that, alternative FIWARE providers can emerge faster in the market.

Useful links

More information: www.fiware.org

Follow: @FIWARE, @EC_FI_PPP #FIWARE

Neelie Kroes Follow Neelie on Twitter

Contacts :

Email: comm-kroes@ec.europa.eu Tel: +32.229.57361, Twitter: @NeelieKroesEU

For the public: Europe Direct by phone 00 800 6 7 8 9 10 11 or by e­mail