What does the abbreviation EPRI mean?
What is EPRI knowledge?
What is IST?
What is the EPRI community?
What is the EPRI Secretariat?
What does EPRI knowledge do?
What is the difference between EPRI workshops and EPRI working groups?
Who is behind EPRI knowledge?
Who can join the EPRI community?
Who is organising the EPRI studies?
Who is organising the EPRI conferences?
Who is organising the EPRI workshops?
Who is organising the EPRI working groups?
Where can I subscribe to be part of the EPRI community?

EPRI stands for European Parliaments Research Initiative.

The EPRI conferences were traditionally organised by the EPRI secretariat which became part of the EPRI knowledge project in August 2004. EPRI knowledge is a European project - financed by the European Commission - which aims to promote debate and the exchange of opinions between European parliamentarians information society technologies. EPRI knowledge will build on the EPRI Initiative through organising EPRI conferences and workshops and producing studies and reports on different aspects of ICT.

IST is a research and development programme together with a number of related industrial take up measures funded by the European Commission. IST operates in the area of information society technologies. You can find out about IST's current activities from the IST home page, and also obtain some overview information.

The EPRI community consists of all already registered users as well as those who would like to join.

The EPRI Secretariat coordinates the EPRI studies, workshops and working groups. It further contributes to the organisation of the annual EPRI conference, which is based on an invitation of an hosting parliament.

EPRI knowledge provides a wide range of services. As an example studies carried out by the project are directly involved in the preparations of the EPRI workshops, working groups and conferences. They are one basis for organising the annual EPRI conference which facilitates access to other MPs for exchanging experiences and aims to expose its participants to general and specific IST issues and debates. The relevance of the EPRI conference is based on the combination of exchanging experiences, vision building and leadership development.

The working groups are an additional service organised by the EPRI Secretariat on inquiry of the Parliamentarians during the 7th EPRI conference 2004 in Stockholm. Although the results of the working groups will be combined  with those from the workshops, the working groups are independently organised by the EPRI Secretariat. While the workshops are essentially based on the personal attendance on the workshop location, the working groups are intended to be on a virtual basis and on communication via Email.

EPRI knowledge is 36-month project funded by the EUROPEAN COMMISSION. The project consist of two partners. Teleport Sachsen- Anhalt GmbH (www.tsa.de) as project coordinator and Polpit Ltd (www.polpit.com).

The project focuses particularly on Parliamentarians from European , national and regional levels, already involved or interested in Information Society Technologies and IST related themes. Also members of the Information Society Technologies community interested in political contacts are welcome to join the EPRI community.

The EPRI studies are organised by the EPRI Secretariat with support by well established scholars such as Prof. Stephan Coleman e-Democracy Chair of the Oxford Internet Institute.

The EPRI conferences are organised by the hosting Parliament. Thus, the continuity of the conference depends on the attendance and initiative of each European Parliament which would like to continue with this tradition of almost 6 years.

The workshops are organised by the EPRI secretariat with help  of an Advisory Board consisting of Members of Parliaments as well as a scientific panel.

The working groups are basically organised by the participants themselves. The EPRI Secretariat provides the opportunity to use a member area on the EPRI website. The participants of the working groups are supposed to exchange their experiences and their views upon two themes (1) eDemocracy and (2) ICT for Parliamentarians. The themes for the working groups are determined by demand and are a result of the EPRI conference 2004 in Stockholm. The role of the working groups is further intended to facilitate the coming EPRI conferences  by allowing a targeted exchange in the fields mentioned above.

Just fill out the contact form and send it to the EPRI Secretariat.