Several leading academics and ambassadors attended. Keynote speakers were Petros Kokkalis, AIT President, Finn Kjærsdam, Rector of Aalborg University, Ramjee Prasad, Director of CTIF Global and Mette Knudsen, Ambassador of Denmark.

The initial partners of CTIF SEE are: Athens Information Technology (Greece), University of Zagreb (Croatia), Technical University of Sofia (Bulgaria), University Politehnica of Bucharest (Romania), University of Montenegro (Montenegro), Ss Cyril and Methodius University (Republic of Macedonia). Each country will expand its participation with more partners that can be identified by the initial partners.

The mission of CTIF SEE is to build upon the cooperationframework of CTIF Global to establish a Telecommunications Laboratory for fundamental and transformative research with global impact and to support virtual student and research staff mobility. CTIF SEE will function as a research and academic center within CTIF Global with focus on fundamental telecommunications research and education. Both, fundamental theory and business perspectives will be part of the educational program. Major outcomes of the CTIF SEE activities will be innovation, standardization and creation of start-ups.

CTIF SEE offers students the opportunity to pursue single or joint degrees with one or several of the partner institutions, and makes possible the active scientific and cultural exchange among leading scientists in South East Europe at a low cost. Financial support for participants will be sought through project funding from industrial, EU and national funds.