themes in Appendix 3 as may be amended from time to time by the IMS International Steering Committee- Scientific and technical merit- Adoption, commercialisation and exploitation potential- The IMS International Steering Committee shall assess compliance with the IPR provisions in Technical Appendix 1- Value-added.2. Consortium SELECTION Criteria- Inter-Regional DISTRIBUTION OF PARTNERS. Consortium partners must be from at least three participants. Partners from applicant Regions may participate in consortia on a case-by-case basis.- Balanced Contributions and Benefits. The consortium partners will show how the contributions to, and the benefits from, participation are equitable and balanced. To this end, partners' contributions to the project should be identified by scale and scope.- Inter-regional leadership. The inter-regional consortium must appoint an international coordinating partner for the consortium to carry out the duties described in Section B above.- Dissemination of results. The consortium must commit to and submit a plan to disseminate project results, including the lessons learned in forming and managing IMS consortium, and non-proprietary technical results permitted by the IPR provisions.3. Project endorsementThe project endorsement process consists of three stages. The IMS International Steering Committee and Inter-Regional Secretariat will endeavour to move the entire endorsement process expeditiously.- Project abstract evaluation. The consortium must submit an abstract of the planned research. This abstract shall be submitted to the Regional Secretariats for initial regional reviews. Each delegation will make a recommendation to the International IMS Steering Committee. Proposers of unapproved projects will be given feedback as to why they did not receive support.- Full proposal evaluation. The consortium must submit a final proposal using a standardised format for detailed evaluation by all regions. The final proposal shall include the formal commitment of each partner to the principles, the structure and the IPR provisions of the IMS scheme, and will include a signed consortium cooperation agreement.- Final endorsement. Final endorsement will be made by the IMS International Steering Committee based on the regional recommendations and the submitted proposals.F. Project reviewThe IMS International Steering Committee, through the Inter-Regional Secretariat, will monitor and review progress regularly. To facilitate this, each consortium will submit an annual summary report, in a standardised format, to the IMS International Steering Committee.Any region may review progress of partner(s) from its region at any time as it sees fit.Technical Appendix 8Role of IMS vis-à-vis small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), universities and government research institutesAll regions should consider activities such as:A. Clear and well documented advice on IPR issues.B. A "road map" of existing constraints in law or custom in the participants' territories, and their practical implications.C. Help desks for answering simple queries.D. An electronic partner search facility specifically oriented to SMEs.E. An electronic register of "expressions of interest" by SMEs, which are looking for opportunities to join existing or emerging project clusters.F. An ongoing "case-book" of IMS experiences with donations from project teams.G. Dissemination events specifically geared to various SME sectors.The list is not exhaustive, and research should continue alongside the evolving scheme, to monitor the participation of SMEs, and to identify further needs.The items listed above also are useful for encouraging the participating of universities and government research institutes. Harnessing the educational role of universities in dissemination of results of research through to the next generation of practitioners is necessary.B. Carta da AustráliaExcelência,Tenho a honra de me referir à carta de Vossa Excelência de ..., do seguinte teor:"Reporto-me ao Acordo relativo a actividades de investigação e desenvolvimento no domínio dos sistemas inteligentes de fabrico (IMS) concluído em 1997 e 2001, respectivamente, entre a Comunidade Europeia e a Austrália, o Canadá, os Estados membros da EFTA Noruega e Suíça, a Coreia, o Japão e os Estados Unidos da América.O objectivo da presente carta é estabelecer o entendimento comum obtido sobre a renovação e alteração do referido Acordo de cooperação, tal como exposto nas especificações técnicas apensas à presente carta.As regiões participantes trabalharão em cooperação no sentido de impulsionar a competitividade industrial, resolver problemas que se colocam a nível mundial no domínio do fabrico e