The first of the twin centres designed to promote common standards in electric mobility and smart grids on both sides of the Atlantic was today inaugurated near Chicago. Converging standards and interoperability between smart grids and electric vehicles will allow for deeper penetration of renewable energies in the electricity systems, thus facilitating the way to a low-carbon economy. Technology harmonisation will drive product and service innovation in the two world’s largest economies and could prove instrumental in establishing global...

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“As I will tell the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors in Moscow today, the EU economy is slowly emerging from the recession. We enter the second half of 2013 against a backdrop of stabilizing economic activity and improving confidence, with short-term indicators now consistently confirming a gradual move into positive territory. This points to a resumption of growth in the second half of the year. We also expect modest employment growth in 2014. However, unemployment remains at unacceptably...

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By Sir Evelyn de Rothschild The single most important commodity traded in the City of London is confidence. The public, bankers and the markets need to believe that the UK will continue to be a global financial centre. They must have trust in the quality, ethics and skills of its bankers. And they must believe in the wisdom and careful regulation of its government. Without confidence, it will be impossible to achieve the “twin challenges of engineering a recovery and reforming...

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July 2013 Economic, monetary and financial situation Agreement on the operating procedures for an exchange rate mechanism in Stage Three of Economic and Monetary Union On 21 June 2013 the European Central Bank and the national central banks of the Member States whose currency is not the euro signed an agreement amending the Agreement of 16 March 2006 between the European Central Bank and the national central banks of the Member States outside the euro area laying down the operating procedures for an exchange...

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On July 4, 2013, Ms. Fleur Pellerin, Minister Delegate for SMEs, Innovation and the Digital Economy, unveiled the French government’s five-part support plan for Big Data. A five-part support plan The five parts of the plan involve: introducing data-scientist educational programs; setting up a technology center to give startups access to databases and web archives; boosting finance for innovation through a new seed capital fund for Big Data; creating flagship projects in the field; and utilizing social networks both at local...

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If you are a researcher currently based in North America (US and Canada), enter the competition by posting a video featuring your science slam on our LinkedIn site, or upload it on YouTube or DropBox and send the link directly to northamerica@euraxess.net before 10 September 2013. Up to 7 entries will be invited to join the EURAXESS Science Slam North America 2013 finals to be held on the campus of the American University in Washington, DC on 24 September 2013. The...

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Lowered tariffs and harmonised standards – this is where the real savings for businesses and consumers will be achieved in the future free trade agreement between the EU and the US. To help reach the goal of having compatible standards across the both sides of the Atlantic, the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) and the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) today agreed to expand their current scientific co-operation to 10 different areas. The trade and investment...

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