Paris, 21 March 2006

EFITA newsletter / 252 / European Federation for Information Technology in Agriculture, Food and the Environment

Prague conference - Info and registration and call for paper
16-17 May 2006 - Prague
See: http://www.iszl.cz/
Contact: Karel CHARVAT
Email: lesp.charvat(a)netart.cz

RuralGIS: Objective of the competition
To promote the European best practice in the field of GIS applications for agriculture, forestry and rural development. The competition is international and it will focus on promotion of applications, which:
- have a direct influence on the economic development in rural regions
- appeal to wider public and provide space data to regional inhabitants such as farmers, foresters, businessmen, as well as tourists visiting the region
- application is implemented in practice
- application supports implementation of INSPIRE principles in rural regions
- application is interoperable and significantly simplifies use of space contents in different levels
- application has a potential for other countries apart from the one it´s been created in

Requirements for participants of the competition
- submission of technical and business description of application in English
- submission of a ppt presentation in English
- submission of a poster in digital form (pdf, tiff) in English
- accessing a functional demo version application if it is a desktop application
- accessing a website address of the application if it is a web application
Deadline for offers by 26.4.2006

Competition
Competitive drafts will be displayed on www.iszl.cz from 5.5.2006. Each application will be independently evaluated by two groups of evaluators, the best one will be awarded with a prestigious prize:
- Prize of European public
- Prize of scientific committee

Prize of European public
Anyone who is registered on the competition website (a double registration is not allowed) can vote for the prize of European public. Each person who votes evaluates three projects in order 1, 2, 3.
The positions are given 5, 3 and 1 points. The winning application receives the most points.

Prize of scientific committee
The Prize of scientific committee will be evaluated by 10 experts from all over Europe. Each one evaluates all the projects according to the following criteria:
- Technological level of solution
- Solution supports an access to landscape (mobility)
- Solution supports cooperation between different participants of 9e collaboration
- Originality of solution
- Economic benefit of solution
- Benefit for sustainable development
- Implementation level in practice
- Possibility of distribution in more European countries
- Interoperability of solution
- Application in accordance with INSPIRE principles
Each member of committee evaluates each project according to all the criteria, every criterion is marked in the scope of 5 (the best) to 0 (the worst). Points of individual criteria are counted together by each member of committee. The highest and the lowest rating is crossed at each project.

Announcement of results
The results will be announced during the ISAF conference gala dinner.

Organising body, patronage
The competition is organised by: CUA, CCSS and CAGI
It is under patronage of: DGagr.., EFITA, EUROGI, Ministry of Agriculture CR

Do not forget to mention:
- Which competition is concerned?
- Submitter (address, contact details)
- Application (project) name
- Application (project) characteristics
- Benefits of the project on information and knowledge society development in rural areas
- WWW link, demo version etc.

Further information
Ing. Simona Kolková – kolkova(a)pef.czu.cz


eLearning: objective of the competition
The Goal of eLEARNING Competition based on GI&SDI Solutions for Awareness, Education and Training of Stakeholders on Sustainable Development of Rural Areas & Regional planning across EU borders, is to publicise European best practice of eLEARNING application in agriculture, forestry and rural development. This international competition will promote:
- Applications directly influencing the sustainable economic development of rural areas
- Applications focusing on training of citizens of regions, such as farmers, foresters, - businessmen, but also tourists visiting regions and remote rural areas
- Applications which are already used in practice
- Applications based on interoperability standards in eLEARNING for rural areas which simplify the accessibility and usability of eCONTENT for increasing awareness of stakeholders
- Applications with high potential for export out of the country of its origin

Requirements for participating in the competition
- sending technical and business description of the application in English
- sending PPT presentation in English
- sending a poster in digital format (either PDF, or TIFF) in English
- accessing the working DEMO version of the application, if it is a desktop application
- accessing the web address of the application, if it is a web-based application
Deadline for proposals is 26.4.2006

Competition
Proposals will be published on URL address www.iszl.cz and from 5.5.2006 each of the applications will be evaluated by group of evaluators. The best proposals will be awarded two prestigious prizes:
- Prize of European public
- eLearning prize of EFITA scientific committee

Prize of European public
Anyone who is registered on the competition website (anti-double voting prevention) can vote for the prize of European public. Each person who votes evaluates three projects in order 1, 2, 3. The positions are given 5, 3 and 1 points. The winning application receives the most points.

Prize of scientific committee
The Prize of scientific committee will be evaluated by 10 experts from all over Europe. Each one evaluates all the projects according to the following criteria:
- Technologic level of the solution
- Solution supporting data learning anywhere anytime
- Solution supporting co-operation between different participants (e-Collaboration)
- Originality and innovation level of the solution
- Economic benefits of the solution
- Benefits for sustainable development in rural areas
- Level of its use in practical awareness, education and training
- Crossborder multi-linguality for application in other European countries
- Interoperability of the solution based on open standards
- Application of SUSTAINABILITY principles.
Each member of commitee evaluates each project proposal according to all the criteria mentioned above. Every criterion is marked in the scope of 5 (excellent) to 0 (insufficient).
Points of individual criteria are counted together by each member of committee. The highest and the lowest rating is crossed at each project.

Announcement of results
The results will be announced during the ISAF conference gala dinner on 16th May 2006.

Organizer
The competition is organised by EFITA in co-operation with ISAF & NATURNET and will be supported by industry sponsors.

Do not forget to mention:
- Which competition is concerned?
- Submitter (address, contact details)
- Application (project) name
- Application (project) characteristics
- Benefits of the project on information and knowledge society development in rural areas
- WWW link, demo version etc.
> Further information:
Ing. Simona Kolková – kolkova(a)pef.czu.cz


Q.: What kind of an Irish lass would stay outside, rain or shine, cold or hot, in all kinds of weather?
A.: Why none other than Patty O'Furniture.
Contact: Bill PARLETTE
Email: billparlette(a)tele2.ch

Filantropia - honor al merito
Un visitante en Israel fue a un concierto en el "Auditorio Moskovitz".
Maravillado e impresionado con la arquitectura y la acustica del lugar, le pregunta al guia:
-Este maravilloso auditorio debe su nombre a CHAIM MOSKOVITZ, el famoso sabio talmudista?
- No, replico el guia; "este auditorio lleva el nombre en honor de SAM MOSKOVITZ, el escritor".
- Nunca escuche hablar de el. Que escribio?
- Un cheque!
Contact: I. KITRON
Email: kitron1(a)terra.com.br

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