Political Welcome Address to Conference Participants

AbstractThis video welcomes the participants to the European Future Technologies Conference and Exhibition 2011, held May 4th through 6th in Budapest, Hungary.The European Future Technologies (FET) Conference and Exhibition aims to be the European forum for facilitating international cross-disciplinary dialogue and discussion on visions and challenges for frontier research in future and emerging information technologies.While there are a large number of scientific conferences targeted at specific scientific domains, the FET Conference focusses on bridging disparate disciplines and communities, and fostering the interplay between science, policy and society.FET funded projects increasingly rely on fresh synergies, cross-pollination and convergence with different scientific disciplines and with the arts and humanities. This transdisciplinary and high-risk research requires new attitudes and novel organisational models in research and education. The multidisciplinary creative process that is at the heart of future and emerging technologies is a constant challenge to conventional academic boundaries.More than a traditional scientific conference, the FET Conference is thus a unique intellectual event which aims at creating an atmosphere of excitement for the opportunities presented by FET-type research in Europe through its distinctive content and structure