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A Memorandum of Understanding on closer collaboration has been signed by two European standardisation bodies in the field of information and communication technologies (ICT) research, the European Research Consortium for Informatics and Mathematics (ERCIM) and the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) signed the agreement at a high level seminar in Sophia Antipolis, France - the first in a series of envisaged joint events.

The Memorandum states that both organisations will exploit areas of synergy between research and standardisation in the innovation chain and accelerate research and development (R&D) innovation cycles. Both bodies share the goal of eventually reducing time-to-market.

'ICT markets are shaped by standards which enable the widespread use of new technologies developed after extensive research led by organisations such as ERCIM, and so cooperation between our two communities can only be beneficial,' said ETSI Director-General Walter Weigel. 'This is an exciting development for all innovation food chain stakeholders and our corridors are already buzzing with ideas for the future,' he added.

ERCIM President Keith Jeffery spelled out what researchers have to gain from the collaboration: 'The greatest satisfaction for researchers is to see their ideas carried forward to products and services that are used widely. There are many examples where ERCIM researchers have achieved this. However, this cooperation with ETSI allows us to accelerate the innovation chain by overlapping research, testing, standardisation and exploitation, thus creating a leading position for the ICT industry within Europe, the results of which will then spread - like the World Wide Web - to the rest of the world.'

The agreement envisages a number of joint events, including workshops, seminars and meetings.