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Summary of Activities
MISSION The mission of PIAS is to protect, sustain, and enhance the quality of life in the Czech Republic. PIAS strives to achieve its mission especially in the context of European integration, and the accession partnerships between EU and the Countries of Central and Eastern Europe. It aims at the development of knowledge-based and ethical Society.
PIAS developed five programs in the period of 1991 - 1998: 3. EPTA and Sigma Xi partnerships 4. EU-PRONET
PIAS implemented eleven international research projects since 1992, valued at over 5M ECU. Based on these projects, a number of Czech university and research laboratories received training, know-how, and supplies, or were loaned valuable scientific instruments. A project of electronic delivery of scientific articles with the U.S. Sabre and Mellon Foundations made possible fast access to valuable information to several central libraries and their clients, as well as to individual scientists, physicians, and engineers. Newsletter TERRA of the network AGNET financed by EU is produced and published at PIAS, and reaches over 3000 readers in 35 countries.Subscribe e-mail today for free electronic version! Two major international conferences were organized in Prague, as well as a number of other seminars and meetings.
The preparation of the Prague Science Park (PSP) was based on the 1992 EU expert study, the largest study of the science and technology sector in a CEE country at that time. The recommendations of the study
called for a land grant of a minimum of 50 hectares in
Western Prague by the Czech side, and for a EU grant of
approximately 27M ECU for institutional development. Both were
accepted by the representatives of the EU and CR. The Czech
side asked for a certain delay in implementation due to
the political situation (ie. the division of former
Czechoslovakia), and up until recently it did not
act on the issue. The last stage of preparation of PSP,
including the building permits, was planned to be
concluded in 1999, and the first stage of the park
to be opened during the year 2000.
In 1995 PIAS was invited to EPTA (European Parliamentary Technology Assessment organization) meeting in The Hague. The Czech Parliament reacted to the Council of Europe recommendation to the CEE countries to join EPTA by nominating PIAS, and our organization was accepted by EPTA as an Observer in London 1996, as the first organization from the Central and Eastern Europe. PIAS also opened the first Chapter of
the Sigma Xi Society in CEE in 1995. Sigma Xi, formed in
1886 in the USA, has a membership of over 100 000
scientists and engineers, with over 150 Nobel prize
laureates among them during its existence. A number of
Sigma Xi Society presidents went on to become Science
Advisors to the President of USA. Return toTOP
Czech Republic signed a communiqué on joining the European Information Society with the Commission in the Fall of 1996. Soon after that, PIAS PIAS was asked to participate in an IADS Program (Integrated Applications for Digital Sites), and it subsequently created the EU-PRONET (Enhanced Use of Professional Networks) initiative. Regional centers of EU-PRONET ("intelligent buildings") will be networked and will function as a distributed knowledge society support system for transfer of know-how and technologies, services and electronic commerce. The clients will be cities and local governments, hospitals, SME's', NGO's (chambers of commerce, agriculture, etc.), professionals, and citizens. Several regional EU-PRONET associations were already formed, and they are proposing new projects.
In 1997 PIAS became involved in the
search for and development of House of Europe (HE) in
Prague. The tasks of HE are to assist NGO's in the
European integration efforts, and in cultural
cooperation. PIAS renamed its Foundation as the Czech
Fund for European Development (CFED) to reflect its
broader mission to support HE, PSP, EU-PRONET and PIAS
itself in their various tasks. Within CFED a Task Force
was created, together with representatives of various
cultural associations. The Task Force, that is open to
other cultural groups, will organize various cultural
activities in HE. |
